Changing navigation items color through the entire app?

Question

I'm trying to change the tint Color of the back button in iOS 7. Now Is there a way to change all navigation items throughout the entire app to a specific color? This is what i have in one view controller as of right now:

self.editButtonItem.tintColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem.tintColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    self.navigationController.navigationBarHidden = NO;
    self.navigationController.navigationBar.barTintColor = [UIColor redColor];
    self.navigationController.navigationBar.translucent = NO;
    self.title = @"Inbox";
    self.navigationController.navigationBar.titleTextAttributes = @{NSForegroundColorAttributeName : [UIColor whiteColor]};

I've answer a similar question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18929864/how-do-i-change-the-navigation-bar-color-in-ios-7/18934411#18934411 — RFG, Oct 25 '13 at 19:14

score 32 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

32

UINavigationItem is not a view and it doesn't have a color.

You instead want to change the UIBarButtonItem tint color.

Using the UIAppearance proxy you can do

[[UIBarButtonItem appearance] setTintColor:[UIColor whiteColor]];

This will change the tintColor of each UIBarButtonItem in the application.

You can use the same strategy to change the UINavigationBar barTintColor and titleTextAttributes:

[[UINavigationBar appearance] setTintColor:[UIColor whiteColor]]; // this will change the back button tint
[[UINavigationBar appearance] setBarTintColor:[UIColor redColor]];
[[UINavigationBar appearance] setTitleTextAttributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName : [UIColor whiteColor]}];

Unfortunately there's no way of changing the translucent property using the proxy, so you will have to do it on each bar.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

Community

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answered Oct 25 '13 at 19:26

Gabriele Petronella

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Awesomeness, that's basically what I was asking, but this works perfectly. Thanks! – Fullmetal_Alchemist_Fan Oct 25 '13 at 20:00
You are welcome, and remember that this is only iOS 7 compatible. – Gabriele Petronella Oct 25 '13 at 20:00
Hmm.. well it changed the tint of the items except for – Fullmetal_Alchemist_Fan Oct 25 '13 at 20:19
You mean the back button? Try setting also the `tintColor` property – Gabriele Petronella Oct 25 '13 at 20:22
I tried this, but it won't work: self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem.tintColor = [UIColor whiteColor]; – Fullmetal_Alchemist_Fan Oct 25 '13 at 20:26
It changed from back to home because I set a title for the previous page. – Fullmetal_Alchemist_Fan Oct 25 '13 at 20:27
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try changing the `tintColor` property of the navigation bar. – Gabriele Petronella Oct 25 '13 at 20:28
@GabrielePetronella But how do you set this for the whole app, I dont see that part of the answer? – meda Apr 04 '14 at 15:20
@meda that's the very essence of the appearance proxy. By working on `[UINavigationBar appearance]` you are setting properties for every instance of `UINavigationBar` further allocated. – Gabriele Petronella Apr 04 '14 at 15:38
@GabrielePetronella oh ok I get it now, proxy terminology confused me thanks :) – meda Apr 04 '14 at 16:09
Gabriele you mentioned further (future or still to be created presumed) allocated. I think this is exactly my problem, I want to change the color of an existing already created UIBarButtonItem (s). This is done dynamically after the application has launched. Any ideas on how to change existing already create item tint color? – Wayne Jun 21 '17 at 20:28

drpawelo · Answer 2 · 2017-02-24T11:46:33.207

Swift answer

UINavigationBar.appearance().backgroundColor = UIColor.blackColor()
UINavigationBar.appearance().barTintColor = UIColor.blackColor()
UINavigationBar.appearance().titleTextAttributes = [NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.whiteColor()]
UINavigationBar.appearance().tintColor = UIColor.blackColor()
UIBarButtonItem.appearance().tintColor = UIColor.blackColor()
UITabBar.appearance().backgroundColor = UIColor.blackColor()
UITabBar.appearance().tintColor = UIColor.blackColor()
UITabBar.appearance().unselectedItemTintColor = UIColor.darkGrayColor()

put it in your AppDelegate's func application(application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [NSObject: AnyObject]?) -> Bool {

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:30

0

Starting from iOS7 you can set a tintcolor for all the navigation items just to keep a consistent look and feel all over the app:

 if ([self.window respondsToSelector:@selector(setTintColor:)]) {
        self.window.tintColor = [UIColor redColor];
}

Also look at my answer here for recommended reading and viewing material: StatusBar bug in iOS7?

edited May 23 '17 at 10:30

Community

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answered Oct 25 '13 at 19:38

Arsalan Habib

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I think the user is asking about `UINavigationBar` and `UIBarButtonItem`, your answer applies for more than he asks. – Roland Dec 12 '13 at 18:58

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 13 '14 at 09:27

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In the superViewDidLoad method.

self.navigationController.navigationBar.barTintColor = [UIColor redColor];

it would change the color of navigation item's color. And same will happen with button.

edited Jun 13 '14 at 09:27

DanSkeel

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answered Jun 13 '14 at 08:58

ankit.jayaswal

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The question was about entire app. – DanSkeel Jun 13 '14 at 09:45

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 16 '16 at 12:56

This works for changing the back button color:

   [[UINavigationBar appearance] setTintColor:[UIColor redColor]];

Tested with iOS 9.3, iPhone and iPad. Your navigationBar title will still be colorized with the default color. It was is a little confusing.

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Dec 12 '18 at 22:50

0

For Title Label Color, we can use

self.navigationController?.navigationBar.titleTextAttributes = [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.white]

edited Dec 12 '18 at 22:50

dbc

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answered Dec 12 '18 at 22:41

Selvam Srinivasan

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Changing navigation items color through the entire app?

6 Answers6