UIBarButtonItem in navigation bar programmatically?

Question

I've been looking around for this solution for a while but haven't got any. e.g one solution is

 self.navigationItem.setRightBarButtonItem(UIBarButtonItem(barButtonSystemItem: .Stop, target: self, action: nil), animated: true)

This code will add a button with "stop" image. Just like this, there are other solutions with "search, "refresh" etc. But what if I want to add a button programmatically with the image I want?

Bhavin Bhadani · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-02T12:58:04.670

Custom button image without setting button frame:

You can use init(image: UIImage?, style: UIBarButtonItemStyle, target: Any?, action: Selector?) to initializes a new item using the specified image and other properties.

let button1 = UIBarButtonItem(image: UIImage(named: "imagename"), style: .plain, target: self, action: Selector("action")) // action:#selector(Class.MethodName) for swift 3
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem  = button1

Check this Apple Doc. reference

UIBarButtonItem with custom button image using button frame

FOR Swift 3.0

    let btn1 = UIButton(type: .custom)
    btn1.setImage(UIImage(named: "imagename"), for: .normal)
    btn1.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 30, height: 30)
    btn1.addTarget(self, action: #selector(Class.Methodname), for: .touchUpInside)
    let item1 = UIBarButtonItem(customView: btn1)

    let btn2 = UIButton(type: .custom)
    btn2.setImage(UIImage(named: "imagename"), for: .normal)
    btn2.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 30, height: 30)
    btn2.addTarget(self, action: #selector(Class.MethodName), for: .touchUpInside)
    let item2 = UIBarButtonItem(customView: btn2)  

    self.navigationItem.setRightBarButtonItems([item1,item2], animated: true)

FOR Swift 2.0 and older

let btnName = UIButton()
btnName.setImage(UIImage(named: "imagename"), forState: .Normal)
btnName.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 30, 30)
btnName.addTarget(self, action: Selector("action"), forControlEvents: .TouchUpInside)

//.... Set Right/Left Bar Button item
let rightBarButton = UIBarButtonItem()
rightBarButton.customView = btnName
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = rightBarButton

Or simply use init(customView:) like

 let rightBarButton = UIBarButtonItem(customView: btnName)
 self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = rightBarButton

For System UIBarButtonItem

let camera = UIBarButtonItem(barButtonSystemItem: .Camera, target: self, action: Selector("btnOpenCamera"))
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = camera

For set more then 1 items use rightBarButtonItems or for left side leftBarButtonItems

let btn1 = UIButton()
btn1.setImage(UIImage(named: "img1"), forState: .Normal)
btn1.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 30, 30)
btn1.addTarget(self, action: Selector("action1:"), forControlEvents: .TouchUpInside)
let item1 = UIBarButtonItem()
item1.customView = btn1

let btn2 = UIButton()
btn2.setImage(UIImage(named: "img2"), forState: .Normal)
btn2.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 30, 30)
btn2.addTarget(self, action: Selector("action2:"), forControlEvents: .TouchUpInside)
let item2 = UIBarButtonItem()
item2.customView = btn2

self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItems = [item1,item2]

Using setLeftBarButtonItem or setRightBarButtonItem

let btn1 = UIButton()
btn1.setImage(UIImage(named: "img1"), forState: .Normal)
btn1.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 30, 30)
btn1.addTarget(self, action: Selector("action1:"), forControlEvents: .TouchUpInside)
self.navigationItem.setLeftBarButtonItem(UIBarButtonItem(customView: btn1), animated: true);

For swift >= 2.2 action should be #selector(Class.MethodName) ... for e.g. btnName.addTarget(self, action: #selector(Class.MethodName), forControlEvents: .TouchUpInside)

Great answer. Just want to point out that the Selector method has been updated though to `let camera = UIBarButtonItem(barButtonSystemItem: .Camera, target: self, action: #selector(Class.MethodName))` — CodeBender, Apr 05 '16 at 23:49
I found that if you want your button to also include the text you must specify the CGRect portion. There are some examples floating around SO that don't specify this. — Micah Montoya, Dec 13 '16 at 14:04

Jay Mayu · Answer 2 · 2018-11-16T09:20:28.753

It's much easier with Swift 4 or Swift 4.2

inside your ViewDidLoad method, define your button and add it to the navigation bar.

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    let logoutBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(title: "Logout", style: .done, target: self, action: #selector(logoutUser))
    self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem  = logoutBarButtonItem

}

then you need to define the function that you mentioned inside action parameter as below

@objc func logoutUser(){
     print("clicked")
}

You need to add the @objc prefix as it's still making use of the legacy stuff (Objective C).

score 17 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 06 '17 at 13:16

17

Just setup UIBarButtonItem with customView

For example:

  var leftNavBarButton = UIBarButtonItem(customView:yourButton)
  self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = leftNavBarButton

or use setFunction:

  self.navigationItem.setLeftBarButtonItem(UIBarButtonItem(customView: yourButton), animated: true);

edited Jan 06 '17 at 13:16

Caleb Kleveter

11,170
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answered May 04 '15 at 04:48

Leo

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3

I am up voting your answer as your code works as well but Bhavin's code is a one shot solution so I'll accept his answer. Thanks for your contribution mate :) – Rahul Sonvane May 04 '15 at 05:22

score 12 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 16 '16 at 15:31

I just stumbled upon this question and here is an update for Swift 3 and iOS 10:

let testUIBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(image: UIImage(named: "test.png"), style: .plain, target: self, action: nil)
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem  = testUIBarButtonItem

It is definitely much faster than creating the UIButton with all the properties and then subsequently adding the customView to the UIBarButtonItem.

And if you want to change the color of the image from the default blue to e.g. white, you can always change the tint color:

test.tintColor = UIColor.white()

PS You should obviously change the selector etc. for your app :)

score 8 · Answer 5 · edited Jul 12 '20 at 02:25

In Swift 3.0+, UIBarButtonItem programmatically set up as follows:

   override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        let testUIBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(image: UIImage(named: "test.png"), style: .plain, target: self, action: #selector(self.clickButton))
        self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem  = testUIBarButtonItem
    }

   @objc func clickButton(){
            print("button click")
     }

score 7 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 08 '21 at 06:23

FOR Swift 5+

let searchBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(image: UIImage(named: "searchIcon"), style: .plain, target: self, action: #selector(onSearchButtonClicked))
        self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem  = searchBarButtonItem

@objc func onSearchButtonClicked(_ sender: Any){
    print("SearchButtonClicked")
}

score 3 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 19 '17 at 17:18

Setting LeftBarButton with Original Image.

let menuButton = UIBarButtonItem(image: UIImage(named: "imagename").withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal), style: .plain, target: self, action: #selector(classname.functionname))
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem  = menuButton

score 3 · Answer 8 · answered Dec 20 '19 at 18:29

iOS 11

Setting a custom button using constraint:

let buttonWidth = CGFloat(30)
let buttonHeight = CGFloat(30)

let button = UIButton(type: .custom)
button.setImage(UIImage(named: "img name"), for: .normal)
button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonTapped(sender:)), for: .touchUpInside)
button.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: buttonWidth).isActive = true
button.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: buttonHeight).isActive = true

self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem.init(customView: button)

score 2 · Answer 9 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

I have same issue and I have read answers in another topic then I solve another similar way. I do not know which is more effective. similar issue

//play button

@IBAction func startIt(sender: AnyObject) {
    startThrough();
};

//play button

func startThrough() {
    timer = NSTimer.scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval(1, target: self, selector: Selector("updateTime"), userInfo: nil, repeats: true);

    let pauseButton = UIBarButtonItem(barButtonSystemItem: .Pause, target: self, action: "pauseIt");
    self.toolBarIt.items?.removeLast();
    self.toolBarIt.items?.append( pauseButton );
}

func pauseIt() {
    timer.invalidate();

    let play = UIBarButtonItem(barButtonSystemItem: .Play, target: self, action: "startThrough");
    self.toolBarIt.items?.removeLast();
    self.toolBarIt.items?.append( play );
}

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Jun 22 '21 at 15:20

addition to the above you may use the following for ios14 and above

   if #available(iOS 14.0, *) {
        let closeAction = UIAction(handler: { [weak self] _ in
           //perform action here
        })
        let closeBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(systemItem: .close, primaryAction: closeAction, menu: nil)
        navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem  = closeBarButtonItem
    }

score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Mar 17 '19 at 08:21

This is a crazy thing of apple. When you say self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem.title then it will say nil while on the GUI it shows Edit or Save. Fresher likes me will take a lot of time to debug this behavior.

There is a requirement that the Item will show Edit in the firt load then user taps on it It will change to Save title. To archive this, i did as below.

//view did load will say Edit title

private func loadRightBarItem() {
    let logoutBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(title: "Edit", style: .done, target: self, action: #selector(handleEditBtn))
    self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem  = logoutBarButtonItem
}

// tap Edit item will change to Save title

@objc private func handleEditBtn() {
    print("clicked on Edit btn")
    let logoutBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(title: "Save", style: .done, target: self, action: #selector(handleSaveBtn))
    self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem  = logoutBarButtonItem
    blockEditTable(isBlock: false)
}

//tap Save item will display Edit title

@objc private func handleSaveBtn(){
    print("clicked on Save btn")
    let logoutBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(title: "Edit", style: .done, target: self, action: #selector(handleEditBtn))
    self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem  = logoutBarButtonItem

    saveInvitation()
    blockEditTable(isBlock: true)

}

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Nov 30 '17 at 13:19

func viewDidLoad(){
let homeBtn: UIButton = UIButton(type: UIButtonType.custom)

        homeBtn.setImage(UIImage(named: "Home.png"), for: [])

        homeBtn.addTarget(self, action: #selector(homeAction), for: UIControlEvents.touchUpInside)

        homeBtn.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 30, height: 30)

        let homeButton = UIBarButtonItem(customView: homeBtn)


        let backBtn: UIButton = UIButton(type: UIButtonType.custom)

        backBtn.setImage(UIImage(named: "back.png"), for: [])

        backBtn.addTarget(self, action: #selector(backAction), for: UIControlEvents.touchUpInside)

        backBtn.frame = CGRect(x: -10, y: 0, width: 30, height: 30)

        let backButton = UIBarButtonItem(customView: backBtn)
        self.navigationItem.setLeftBarButtonItems([backButton,homeButton], animated: true)
}

}

UIBarButtonItem in navigation bar programmatically?

12 Answers12

UIBarButtonItem with custom button image using button frame

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