AppCompat v21 brings Material Design support to pre-Lollipop Android devices. Key additions include the new Toolbar widget (a more flexible replacement for ActionBar), color palette theming via colorPrimary/colorAccent attributes, and automatic widget tinting for EditText, Spinner, CheckBox, RadioButton, Switch, and more. The post covers setup via Gradle, migration from older AppCompat setups, Toolbar usage in both action bar and standalone modes, SearchView styling, and common troubleshooting for widget tinting issues.
