Reference the back button on UINavigationBar

Question

I need a reference to the back button in the UINavigationBar or UINavigationItem. The Back button in the image below.

I am not customizing the button, thus

navigationItem.backBarButtonItem
navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem

these both are nil.

Is there any way to get a reference to the button without customizing it?

Reference:

Update: My comment might help to understand why I don't want to customize the back button. :)

@Phoen1xUK I am using this github.com/szk-atmosphere/SAHistoryNavigationViewController pod in my project. But as you can see, the discoverability of this feature is very difficult. So I am using another pod github.com/teodorpatras/EasyTipView to show a tip about it. Now, this tip view needs a reference to this UIBarButtonItem to show a tip below it. — Ayush Goel
– Ayush Goel, Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 16:51

Cole · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-18 15:45:58Z

6

The Documentation says this about the backBarButtonItem:

When this item is the back item of the navigation bar—when it is the next item below the top item—it may be represented as a back button on the navigation bar. Use this property to specify the back button. The default value is a button displaying the navigation item’s title.

So the backBarButtonItem is always nil by default because it belongs to the previous view controller. The only way to get a non-nil reference is by customizing it.

If you just want to change the name, however, that can be done in the previous View Controller.

answered Aug 18, 2015 at 15:45

Cole

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1 Comment

Ayush Goel Over a year ago

This doesn't solve my issue. :( My use case - stackoverflow.com/questions/32076612/…

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:34:50Z

1

In reference to my use case - Ayush's comment

Till the time I get a concrete solution, I have created a dummy view below the navigation bar (below the back button) to show the tip from. Here is the code.

let v = UIView(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, 50, 0))
view.addSubview(v)
let tipText = "Here it the back button"
EasyTipView.showAnimated(true,
  forView: v,
  withinSuperview: view,
  text:tipText,
  preferences: nil,
  delegate: self)

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:34

CommunityBot

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answered Aug 24, 2015 at 6:08

Ayush Goel

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Comments

Mudith Chathuranga Silva · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-25 12:26:12Z

1

try out this one

let backItem = UIBarButtonItem(title: "Custom Text HERE", style: .Bordered, target: nil, action: nil)
navigationItem.backBarButtonItem = backItem

answered Aug 25, 2015 at 12:26

Mudith Chathuranga Silva

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Comments

Vishnuvardhan · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-27 12:33:58Z

1

Try this it might help you.

 UINavigationItem *i = [self.navigationController.navigationBar.items firstObject];
    i.title = @"Hai";

answered Aug 27, 2015 at 12:33

Vishnuvardhan

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