Xcode: Programmatically created buttons appear on simulator, but not on the actual phone

Question

Exactly what it says on the tin. I'm updating an app to support iOS 8+. AFAIK, this works fine on iOS 7. Works as well in the simulator (iOS 7 or 8).

Here's the code for one of the buttons in the viewDidLoad:

memberButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeRoundedRect];
memberButton.frame = CGRectMake(20, screenHeight - 50, 133, 24);
[memberButton setBackgroundColor:[UIColor colorWithRed:70.0/255.0 green:70.0/255.0 blue:70.0/255.0 alpha:1]];
[memberButton setBackgroundImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"Member.png"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[memberButton setTintColor:[UIColor whiteColor]];
[memberButton addTarget:self action:@selector(memberButtonPressed) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
[self.view addSubview:memberButton];

memberButton.hidden = NO;
memberButton.enabled = YES;

Upon running the app on the phone, the button is nowhere to be found. Obviously there's a lot more on that app than a single button; there's an image you can scroll through. Could that be responsible?

Here's the code for the advertisement style scrolling image:

pgCtr = [[UIPageControl alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(160, screenHeight - 70, 0, 0)];
[pgCtr setTag:0];
pgCtr.numberOfPages=3;
pgCtr.autoresizingMask=UIViewAutoresizingNone;
[self.view addSubview:pgCtr];

for (int i=1; i<=3; i++) {
    pgCtr.currentPage = i;
    UIImage *image = [UIImage imageNamed:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"intro_%d.jpg",i]];
    UIImageView *imgV = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake((i-1)*scr.frame.size.width, 0, scr.frame.size.width, scr.frame.size.height)];
    imgV.contentMode=UIViewContentModeScaleToFill;
    [imgV setImage:image];
    imgV.tag=i+1;
    [scr addSubview:imgV];
}

[scr setContentSize:CGSizeMake(scr.frame.size.width*3, scr.frame.size.height)];
pgCtr.currentPage = 0;
pgCtr.currentPageIndicatorTintColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
pgCtr.pageIndicatorTintColor = [UIColor grayColor];

Things I tried (latest in bold):

• Setting CGRectMake(20, screenHeight - 50, 133, 24) to static values.
• Putting the scrollview code above the button codes.
• Commenting out the entire scrollview.
• Output member.frame.origin.x and .y. In simulator, both return values. In the phone, both return 0.00000.

None has displayed the buttons.

Answer 1

Please perform below steps^* to know what/where's the actual problem with iOS8 and device or in your code.

1. Instead of checking it with dynamic frame, just use static frame to show the button. For e.g. CGRectMake(0,0,300,100).

2. If step-1 would show the button then, problem will surely in your frame calculation.

3. If step-1 don't work then, add a border to all the other controls in that view, and check whether it get above on the button or not?

^{* @Zack, only you can find the answer of your question as we could give you few suggestions and not the solution, as we don't have access to your project. The best way is to keep doing trial and error for each scenario.}

Answer 2

I think u miss the

 [self.view addSubview: memberButton];

Answer 3

I recommend not to set view frames at -viewDidLoad. That method is called only once in UIViewController life cycle. Good practice is to initialize subviews at -viewDidLoad with CGRectZero as frame and update frames at -viewWillLayoutSubviews method.

It will look like this:

- (void)viewDidLoad {
   [super viewDidLoad];
   //
   pgCtr = [[UIPageControl alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero];
   /* setting properties */
}

- (void)viewWillLayoutSubviews {
   CGRect screenRect = [[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds];
   CGFloat screenWidth = screenRect.size.width;
   CGFloat screenHeight = screenRect.size.height;
   //
   memberButton.frame = CGRectMake(20, screenHeight - 50, 133, 24);
   //
   pgCtr.frame = CGRectMake(160, screenHeight - 70, 0, 0);
   // same for contentSize
}

Try to move frame setting at -viewWillLayoutSubviews and check if the problem still exist. Maybe that little hint will help.

Regards, Artem

Answer 4

check if the scroll view is placed over the top of the button.Change the position of the botton and see if its still there.

Answer 5

The navigation bar might be messing with your button. Just to try it, try setting the frame to memberButton.frame = CGRectMake(20, screenHeight - 50 -64, 133, 24);

It has happened to me before.

Answer 6

I bit the bullet and decided to add the buttons on the storyboard, and re-wrote some code around. And to my surprise, the buttons finally appeared.

As to why didn't I do this before, well, there are a lot of buttons. And a lot of view controllers for the buttons. And all of them are programmatically added. Given the size of the project, there's no way I can do them all on my own, but I posit it would be better to show something than nothing.

So this is more of band-aid, than an actual solution. For now, it'll do. If anyone else finally figures it out so the code doesn't go to waste, don't hesitate to answer.