change background color of navigation item (bar) - iphone

is there an easy way to change the background color of the navigation item on top of a view? I have a navigation based app and I only want that one view gets another background color. I created the views mainly with IB. I found the following solution (not tested):
float r=10;
float g=55;
float b=130;
float a=0;
UILabel *label = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 120, 30)];
[label setBackgroundColor:[UIColor colorWithRed:r/255.f
green:g/255.f
blue:b/255.f
alpha:a/255.f];];
[self.navigationController.navigationBar.topItem setTitleView:label];
[label release];
Is there an easier way like
[navigationController.navigationBar setBackgroundColor:blueColor]
Or can I do it with IB (but without having the same color in every view)?
Many thanks in advance!
Cheers

You could use:
[navigationController.navigationBar setTintColor:[UIColor redColor]; //Red as an example.
This would tint the color of the Navigation Bar and all it's Buttons to a specific color, in this case red. This property can also be set in Interface Builder.
And if you wanted to customize it further, you can set the background of the UINavigationBar to an image by sub-classing it. Like so…
Header File.
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface UINavigationBar (CustomImage)
#end
Implementaion File.
#import "CustomNavigationBar.h"
#implementation UINavigationBar (CustomImage)
- (void)drawLayer:(CALayer *)layer inContext:(CGContextRef)ctx
{
if([self isMemberOfClass: [UINavigationBar class]]){
UIImage *image = [UIImage imageNamed:#"bar.png"];
CGContextClip(ctx);
CGContextTranslateCTM(ctx, 0, image.size.height);
CGContextScaleCTM(ctx, 1.0, -1.0);
CGContextDrawImage(ctx, CGRectMake(0, 0, self.frame.size.width, self.frame.size.height), image.CGImage);
}else{
[super drawLayer:layer inContext:ctx];
}
}
#end
Then in Interface Builder set the class of you UINavigationBar to (in this case) CustomNavigationBar under the Identity Tab.

Try this in Interface Builder on your UINavigationController.

[[UINavigationBar appearance] setTintColor:[UIColor colorWithRed:107.0/256.0 green:145.0/256.0 blue:35.0/256.0 alpha:1.0]];
Will change the color of the navigation bar of whole app.
Just place it in Appdelegate's didFinishLauncing method.

You can use navigationController.navigationBar.tintColor;

#jerry
tint color is not supported to the RGB Coordinates

Related

UINavigationBar with solid color iOS 5

I'm using the category to customize nav bar. My code is:
- (void) drawRect:(CGRect)rect {
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextSetFillColor(context, CGColorGetComponents([self.tintColor CGColor]));
CGContextFillRect(context, rect);
}
It works well, but not in iOS 5. I need nav bar color to be solid without any gradient. How should I do this?
As I know, for iOS 5 the only way to replace drawRect method is to make a subclass, but is there any way to make all navigation controllers to use UINavigationBar subclass instead of original class?
In iOS 5 you can use the UIAppearance protocol to set the appearance of all UINavigationBars in your app. Reference: link.
The way I got a solid color was to create a custom image for the navigation bar, and set it as UINavigationBars background. You might have to create the image with the same size as the UINavigationBar, at least that's what I did.
In your app delegate, do something like this:
UIImage *image = [UIImage imageNamed:#"navbarbg.png"];
[[UINavigationBar appearance] setBackgroundImage:image forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];
You also have to add the UIAppearanceContainer protocol to the header file:
#interface AppDelegate : UIResponder <UIApplicationDelegate, UIAppearanceContainer>
#end
You can probably achieve the same thing by setting some color or something, instead of an image. But I found this to be an easy solution.
This covers both iOS 5 and iOS 4.3 and earlier
https://gist.github.com/1774444
This is more of a hack and has consistently worked for me.
This needs to be in the AppDelegate file.
//Create a size struct.
CGSize size = CGSizeMake(768, 50);
//CReate a imagecontext from a non-existing image. You can use a existing image as well, in that case the color will be the color of the image.
UIImage *backgroundImage = [UIImage imageNamed:#"nonexist.png"];
UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(size);
[backgroundImage drawInRect:CGRectMake(0,0,size.width,size.height)];
UIImage* newImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
self.navigationController = [[UINavigationController alloc]initWithRootViewController:self.viewController];
Set the background color to be the color of your choice.
[self.navigationController.view setBackgroundColor:[UIColor blackColor]];
self.window.rootViewController = navigationController;
[self.window makeKeyAndVisible];
//Most important line.
[navigationController.navigationBar setBackgroundImage: newImage forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];

Custom navigation bar buttons with system icons and images

I'm trying to figure out how to add a custom background image to NavigationBar buttons that use system icons, or image icons.
I've figured out how to add a background image to NavigationBar buttons with text, but I'm struggling to figure out how to accomplish this with icon buttons.
For the text buttons I followed this tutorial:
http://idevrecipes.com/2010/12/13/wooduinavigation/
How can I create custom buttons w/ icons?
Thanks!
u might get help with this
#implementation UINavigationBar (UINavigationBarCategory)
-(void)setBackgroundImage:(UIImage*)image{
if(!image) return;
UIImageView *aTabBarBackground = [[UIImageView alloc]initWithImage:image];
// aTabBarBackground.frame = CGRectMake(0,0,self.frame.size.width,self.frame.size.height);
aTabBarBackground.frame = CGRectMake(0,0,self.frame.size.width * .6,self.frame.size.height);
// [self addSubview:aTabBarBackground];
// [self sendSubviewToBack:aTabBarBackground];
[self insertSubview: aTabBarBackground atIndex: 0];
[aTabBarBackground release];
}
#end
it works fine for me
also we hav another idea.
#implementation UINavigationBar (UINavigationBarCategory)
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect {
// Drawing code
UIImage *img = [UIImage imageNamed: #"navbar_background.png"];
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextDrawImage(context, CGRectMake(0, 0, 320, self.frame.size.height), img.CGImage);
}
#end

How do I change the background of a UINavigationBar?

I'd like to change the background of my UINavigationBar to a [UIColor colorWithImage:], but it isn't working. What am I missing?
EDIT:
Once I've created my subclass, where do I set the UINavigationController to use it?
You can use the tintColor property to change the colour of a UINavigationBar, but to set an image as the background you'll have to provide your own UINavigationBar subclass and override the drawRect: method, for example:
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect {
// Drawing code
UIImage *img = [UIImage imageNamed: #"background-image.png"];
[img drawInRect:CGRectMake(0,
0,
self.frame.size.width,
self.frame.size.height)];
}
If you use Interface Builder to build your UI then to use the custom navigation bar, just select the UINavigationBar element in Interface Builder, open the Inspector and in the Identity tab specify your UINavigationBar subclass in the class field, like so:
To have an image in the navigation bar, you have to draw it yourself, which actually isn't that hard. Save this as UINavigationBar+CustomBackground.m (it adds a custom category to UINavigationBar):
#implementation UINavigationBar (CustomBackground)
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect {
UIImage *image = [UIImage imageNamed:#"NavMain.png"];
[image drawInRect:CGRectMake(0, 0, self.frame.size.width, self.frame.size.height)];
}
#end

iPhone Navigation Bar Images

I'd like to replace the back button and the entire navigation bar in my iPhone app with custom images. First of all, is this possible? Second, if so, how? Thanks.
This code will modify every UINavigationBar in your app.
#implementation UINavigationBar (CustomImage)
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect {
UIImage *image = [UIImage imageNamed: #"MyNavigationBar.png"];
[image drawInRect:CGRectMake(0, 0, self.frame.size.width, self.frame.size.height)];
}
#end
You won't be able to override the look and feel of Apple's navigation bar easily, and even if you are able to, there's a good chance it will go against their policy of avoiding private API's. However, it is pretty simple to create your own look-alike navigation bar using all custom images. This would work well for simple one-off screens that need the navigation bar, but will be a beast to implement on a complex UINavigationController-based hierarchy.
Edit: It looks like people have been able to change the background by overriding the -drawRect selector: Custom background for UINavigationBar? . I don't see any reports of whether or not the changes were approved for the App Store.
You can use this code to change navigation bar image and tab bar image to your custom images:
if([[UINavigationBar class] respondsToSelector:#selector(appearance)]) {//iOS >=5.0
UIImage *image = [UIImage imageNamed:#"myCustomImage.png"];
CGSize newSize = CGSizeMake(self.navigationController.navigationBar.frame.size.width, self.navigationController.navigationBar.frame.size.height);
UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(newSize);
[image drawInRect: CGRectMake(0, 0, self.navigationController.navigationBar.frame.size.width, self.navigationController.navigationBar.frame.size.height)];
UIImage* newImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
[self.navigationController.navigationBar setBackgroundImage:newImage forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];
[[UIToolbar appearance] setBackgroundImage:newImage forToolbarPosition:UIToolbarPositionAny barMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];
[[UITabBar appearance] setBackgroundImage:newImage];
[[UITabBar appearance] setSelectedImageTintColor:[UIColor cyanColor]];
}

using image or tint color on uinavigationbar in iphone?

how do i show a background image on a navigation bar or give tint color to the navigation bar in a native iphone application??
For iOS5 use the following lines of code:
UINavigationBar *navBar = [[self navigationController] navigationBar];
UIImage *backgroundImage = [UIImage imageNamed:#"nav-bar-background-normal"];
[navBar setBackgroundImage:backgroundImage forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];
For backward compatibility do a check to see if the navigation bar responds to setBackgroundImage:forBarMetrics:
More information on:
http://sebastiancelis.com/2009/12/21/adding-background-image-uinavigationbar/
This's how I did on iOS4:
#import <QuartzCore/QuartzCore.h> // For .layer
self.navigationController.navigationBar.layer.contents = (id)[UIImage imageNamed:#"navigationBarBackgroundImage"].CGImage;
self.navigationController.navigationBar.tintColor = [UIColor orangeColor];
No need to switch subviews between z-orders (-exchangeSubviewAtIndex:withSubviewAtIndex:), both background image and tintColor set in one line of code, and works with #2x image too.
Was looking for this a week ago. Found this over here discussions. apple. com/thread.jspa?threadID=1649012&tstart=0 (sorry won't let me post a real link).
-(void)setBackgroundImage:(UIImage*)image withTag:(NSInteger)bgTag{
if(image == NULL){ //might be called with NULL argument
return;
}
UIImageView *aTabBarBackground = [[UIImageView alloc]initWithImage:image];
aTabBarBackground.frame = CGRectMake(0,0,self.frame.size.width,self.frame.size.height);
aTabBarBackground.tag = bgTag;
[self addSubview:aTabBarBackground];
[self sendSubviewToBack:aTabBarBackground];
[aTabBarBackground release];
}
/* input: The tag you chose to identify the view */
-(void)resetBackground:(NSInteger)bgTag {
[self sendSubviewToBack:[self viewWithTag:bgTag]];
}
I made this as a category to UINavigationBar. To set it a background image for a UINavigationBar inside a UINavigationBarController, I did this:
[navigationControllerForChannels.navigationBar setBackgroundImage:[UIImage imageNamed:#"top_bar.png"] withTag:48151623];
I've had some buginess when updating the tab bar, so you'll want to call
[self.navigationController.navigationBar resetBackground:48151623];
After any modifications to the bar.
You can override UINavigationBar drawRect. The code can be placed to appDelegate.m
I've tested it and it's working on 3x and 4x iOS.
#implementation UINavigationBar (UINavigationBarCategory)
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect {
UIColor *color = [UIColor blackColor]; //tint color
UIImage *img = [UIImage imageNamed: #"navBarBg.png"]; // your image
[img drawInRect:CGRectMake(0, 0, self.frame.size.width, self.frame.size.height)];
self.tintColor = color;
}#end
For the iOS5 and iOS6 I've used this solutions and it worked perfectly, Making a Universal UINavigationBar Background Image.
iPhone Retina Portrait 640px x 88px / iPhone Non-Retina Portrait 320px x 44px
Inside AppDelegate.m
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
Place this code
// Set the status bar to black color.
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] setStatusBarStyle:UIStatusBarStyleBlackOpaque animated:NO];
// Change #"menubar.png" to the file name of your image.
UIImage *navBar = [UIImage imageNamed:#"menubar.png"];
[[UINavigationBar appearance] setBackgroundImage:navBar forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];
Don't forget to change the image name (menubar.png)
Check out this link for the full answer http://www.lwxted.com/blog/2012/add-custom-background-image-uinavigationbar-ios-5/
a background image is going to take a bit more work (you might want to try setting a titleView that's the same size as the bar itself; I haven't tried this myself) or adding a view behind existing subviews. Tint color is easy: navBar.tintColor = [UIColor orangeColor];
If you use the CGImage solution, you may have a problem with image size:
CGRect layer=self.navigationController.navigationBar.frame;
layer.size.height=57.0;
layer.origin.y=0;
self.navigationController.navigationBar.frame=layer;
CGImageRef imageRef = [UIImage imageNamed:#"myImg.png"].CGImage;
self.navigationController.navigationBar.layer.contents = (id)imageRef;
It seems to me that the image is streched down, since the layer seems to have a height of 44.0 pixel, but a background image for the UINavigationBar should be at least 57.0.
If you try to move the layer's frame, all the buttons will move within it.