Change width of a UIBarButtonItem in a UINavigationBar












16















I am creating a UIBarButtonItem and adding it to my navigation bar like so:



(void)viewDidLoad { 

...

// Add the refresh button to the navigation bar
UIButton *refreshButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
[refreshButton setFrame:CGRectMake(0,0,30,30)];
[refreshButton setImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"G_refresh_icon.png"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[refreshButton addTarget:self action:@selector(refreshData) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
UIBarButtonItem *refreshBarButton = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:refreshButton] autorelease];
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = refreshBarButton;
}


It looks correct when I run, but I can select the bar button item by tapping the navigation bar anywhere from x = 0 to roughly 100. How can I adjust the selectable area to have a width of 30 px?










share|improve this question


















  • 2





    I'm afraid I don't think there is a way to adjust the selectable area. A question though, why would you want the width to be 30 px? iOS Human Interface Guideline states that the comfortable minimum size of tappable UI elements is 44 x 44 points. developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/UserExperience/…

    – Abd Sani Abd Jalal
    Jun 12 '12 at 0:36













  • Hmm, ok thanks for the link to the guidelines. It seems a bit strange that the selectable area is so wide though.

    – Darren
    Jun 12 '12 at 1:23











  • @AbdSaniAbdJalal can we change the width of barbuttonitem in storyboard?

    – aircraft
    Nov 1 '16 at 3:22


















16















I am creating a UIBarButtonItem and adding it to my navigation bar like so:



(void)viewDidLoad { 

...

// Add the refresh button to the navigation bar
UIButton *refreshButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
[refreshButton setFrame:CGRectMake(0,0,30,30)];
[refreshButton setImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"G_refresh_icon.png"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[refreshButton addTarget:self action:@selector(refreshData) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
UIBarButtonItem *refreshBarButton = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:refreshButton] autorelease];
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = refreshBarButton;
}


It looks correct when I run, but I can select the bar button item by tapping the navigation bar anywhere from x = 0 to roughly 100. How can I adjust the selectable area to have a width of 30 px?










share|improve this question


















  • 2





    I'm afraid I don't think there is a way to adjust the selectable area. A question though, why would you want the width to be 30 px? iOS Human Interface Guideline states that the comfortable minimum size of tappable UI elements is 44 x 44 points. developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/UserExperience/…

    – Abd Sani Abd Jalal
    Jun 12 '12 at 0:36













  • Hmm, ok thanks for the link to the guidelines. It seems a bit strange that the selectable area is so wide though.

    – Darren
    Jun 12 '12 at 1:23











  • @AbdSaniAbdJalal can we change the width of barbuttonitem in storyboard?

    – aircraft
    Nov 1 '16 at 3:22
















16












16








16


4






I am creating a UIBarButtonItem and adding it to my navigation bar like so:



(void)viewDidLoad { 

...

// Add the refresh button to the navigation bar
UIButton *refreshButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
[refreshButton setFrame:CGRectMake(0,0,30,30)];
[refreshButton setImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"G_refresh_icon.png"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[refreshButton addTarget:self action:@selector(refreshData) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
UIBarButtonItem *refreshBarButton = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:refreshButton] autorelease];
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = refreshBarButton;
}


It looks correct when I run, but I can select the bar button item by tapping the navigation bar anywhere from x = 0 to roughly 100. How can I adjust the selectable area to have a width of 30 px?










share|improve this question














I am creating a UIBarButtonItem and adding it to my navigation bar like so:



(void)viewDidLoad { 

...

// Add the refresh button to the navigation bar
UIButton *refreshButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
[refreshButton setFrame:CGRectMake(0,0,30,30)];
[refreshButton setImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"G_refresh_icon.png"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[refreshButton addTarget:self action:@selector(refreshData) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
UIBarButtonItem *refreshBarButton = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:refreshButton] autorelease];
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = refreshBarButton;
}


It looks correct when I run, but I can select the bar button item by tapping the navigation bar anywhere from x = 0 to roughly 100. How can I adjust the selectable area to have a width of 30 px?







ios uinavigationbar uibarbuttonitem uinavigationitem






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share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Jun 11 '12 at 23:51









DarrenDarren

5,9091654101




5,9091654101








  • 2





    I'm afraid I don't think there is a way to adjust the selectable area. A question though, why would you want the width to be 30 px? iOS Human Interface Guideline states that the comfortable minimum size of tappable UI elements is 44 x 44 points. developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/UserExperience/…

    – Abd Sani Abd Jalal
    Jun 12 '12 at 0:36













  • Hmm, ok thanks for the link to the guidelines. It seems a bit strange that the selectable area is so wide though.

    – Darren
    Jun 12 '12 at 1:23











  • @AbdSaniAbdJalal can we change the width of barbuttonitem in storyboard?

    – aircraft
    Nov 1 '16 at 3:22
















  • 2





    I'm afraid I don't think there is a way to adjust the selectable area. A question though, why would you want the width to be 30 px? iOS Human Interface Guideline states that the comfortable minimum size of tappable UI elements is 44 x 44 points. developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/UserExperience/…

    – Abd Sani Abd Jalal
    Jun 12 '12 at 0:36













  • Hmm, ok thanks for the link to the guidelines. It seems a bit strange that the selectable area is so wide though.

    – Darren
    Jun 12 '12 at 1:23











  • @AbdSaniAbdJalal can we change the width of barbuttonitem in storyboard?

    – aircraft
    Nov 1 '16 at 3:22










2




2





I'm afraid I don't think there is a way to adjust the selectable area. A question though, why would you want the width to be 30 px? iOS Human Interface Guideline states that the comfortable minimum size of tappable UI elements is 44 x 44 points. developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/UserExperience/…

– Abd Sani Abd Jalal
Jun 12 '12 at 0:36







I'm afraid I don't think there is a way to adjust the selectable area. A question though, why would you want the width to be 30 px? iOS Human Interface Guideline states that the comfortable minimum size of tappable UI elements is 44 x 44 points. developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/UserExperience/…

– Abd Sani Abd Jalal
Jun 12 '12 at 0:36















Hmm, ok thanks for the link to the guidelines. It seems a bit strange that the selectable area is so wide though.

– Darren
Jun 12 '12 at 1:23





Hmm, ok thanks for the link to the guidelines. It seems a bit strange that the selectable area is so wide though.

– Darren
Jun 12 '12 at 1:23













@AbdSaniAbdJalal can we change the width of barbuttonitem in storyboard?

– aircraft
Nov 1 '16 at 3:22







@AbdSaniAbdJalal can we change the width of barbuttonitem in storyboard?

– aircraft
Nov 1 '16 at 3:22














6 Answers
6






active

oldest

votes


















12














One approach you might consider is creating a UIBarButtonItem by calling initWithCustomView:. This is not ideal in that you don't get "selected" states out of the box AND you have to composite your bordered background (if want that look) with your button image, but with that you can more directly specify a frame for your toolbar item. If you're using text for your title instead of images you may still need add in a background image as a subview. Anyway, I'm having the same problem right now and this code works for me:





UIImageView *imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"button-image.png"]];
imageView.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 43, 30);

UIBarButtonItem *barButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:imageView];

self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = barButtonItem;


Right now this is the only way I know of restricting the auto-sizing of the UIBarButtonItems added to the UINavigationController's navigationItem.



Or try Maggie's solution, which is more thorough than mine.






share|improve this answer





















  • 2





    only worked when I used UIButton as customView, and not UIImageView

    – Kreutzer
    Jun 10 '14 at 7:30






  • 1





    this solution won't work as it does not have button actions at all. Use UIButton instead.

    – Raptor
    Nov 4 '15 at 9:49



















12














Since iOS 11, just setting frame for customView and not UIBarButtonItem won't work (like suggested in accepted answer). It seems like adding Autolayout to UIBarButtonItem overrides the set frame.
This post gave me the idea:



navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem?.customView = yourCustomButtonView
let desiredWidth = 35.0
let desiredHeight = 35.0

let widthConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: yourCustomButtonView, attribute: .width, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nil, attribute: .notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1.0, constant: desiredWidth)
let heightConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: yourCustomButtonView, attribute: .height, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nil, attribute: .notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1.0, constant: desiredHeight)

yourCustomButtonView.addConstraints([widthConstraint, heightConstraint])


Also note, that it is preferred that you use UIButton as your CustomView as you have to rely on it to trigger the action.






share|improve this answer
























  • Awesome! And thanks for the link

    – Fraser
    Aug 2 '18 at 0:07











  • It was quite surprising to find out that the nav bar uses Auto Layout by default to place items in it, very useful info here.

    – noobular
    Oct 12 '18 at 23:32











  • Thanks! Its important to know that manipulatinng the frame won't do nothing anymore

    – Hendrik
    Oct 22 '18 at 12:08



















6














You can do it by dropping an image to the bar button item from the interface builder and changing the width of the custom view with this code:



CGRect frame = self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.customView.frame;
frame.size.width = 141;
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.customView.frame = frame;





share|improve this answer































    5














    The key thing with this is to realise that you are changing the custom view's width, rather than the UIBarButton itself.



    The code is therefore:



    CGRect resizedFrame = myBarButtonItem.customView.frame;
    resizedFrame.size.width = myNewWidth;
    myBarButtonItem.customView.frame = resizedFrame;


    You will also need to trigger the layout change:



    [myNavigationBar setNeedsLayout];


    All this goes without saying that the layout is being done with Auto Sizing and frames. Incursions into navigation bars with Auto Layout yielded no success. See my question Auto Layout with UINavigationBar and UIBarButtonItem.



    Sorry just realised that my code is almost identical to @oscartzombie. Not intentional! I'll leave this answer as I think it's worth adding the layout and other points, in addition to explaining without reference to Interface Bulder or images specifically.






    share|improve this answer


























    • I was having issues with the size of my custom UIBarButtonItem, the solution was calling [self.navigationController.navigationBar setNeedsLayout]; in my view controller's -(void)viewDidLoad method.

      – LunaCodeGirl
      Nov 13 '14 at 20:06



















    5














    The following approach worked, see code to change width and height of the button and to add action item as well.



    UIButton *imageButton = [[UIButton alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 22, 22)];
    [imageButton setBackgroundImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"message_button"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
    [imageButton addTarget:self action:@selector(messageButtonTapped) forControlEvents:UIControlEventAllEvents];
    UIBarButtonItem *leftBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:imageButton];
    self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = leftBarButtonItem;


    Note: The target and action of the UIBarButtonItem does not apply to image view






    share|improve this answer

































      0














      None of those solutions worked for me and I figure out auto-resizing thing overrides dimensions that you wrote in code.



      after creating button by UIButton way, write following code block:



      [self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem.customView.widthAnchor constraintEqualToConstant:mWidth].active = YES;
      [self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem.customView.heightAnchor constraintEqualToConstant:mHeight].active = YES;





      share|improve this answer























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        6 Answers
        6






        active

        oldest

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        6 Answers
        6






        active

        oldest

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        active

        oldest

        votes









        12














        One approach you might consider is creating a UIBarButtonItem by calling initWithCustomView:. This is not ideal in that you don't get "selected" states out of the box AND you have to composite your bordered background (if want that look) with your button image, but with that you can more directly specify a frame for your toolbar item. If you're using text for your title instead of images you may still need add in a background image as a subview. Anyway, I'm having the same problem right now and this code works for me:





        UIImageView *imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"button-image.png"]];
        imageView.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 43, 30);

        UIBarButtonItem *barButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:imageView];

        self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = barButtonItem;


        Right now this is the only way I know of restricting the auto-sizing of the UIBarButtonItems added to the UINavigationController's navigationItem.



        Or try Maggie's solution, which is more thorough than mine.






        share|improve this answer





















        • 2





          only worked when I used UIButton as customView, and not UIImageView

          – Kreutzer
          Jun 10 '14 at 7:30






        • 1





          this solution won't work as it does not have button actions at all. Use UIButton instead.

          – Raptor
          Nov 4 '15 at 9:49
















        12














        One approach you might consider is creating a UIBarButtonItem by calling initWithCustomView:. This is not ideal in that you don't get "selected" states out of the box AND you have to composite your bordered background (if want that look) with your button image, but with that you can more directly specify a frame for your toolbar item. If you're using text for your title instead of images you may still need add in a background image as a subview. Anyway, I'm having the same problem right now and this code works for me:





        UIImageView *imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"button-image.png"]];
        imageView.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 43, 30);

        UIBarButtonItem *barButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:imageView];

        self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = barButtonItem;


        Right now this is the only way I know of restricting the auto-sizing of the UIBarButtonItems added to the UINavigationController's navigationItem.



        Or try Maggie's solution, which is more thorough than mine.






        share|improve this answer





















        • 2





          only worked when I used UIButton as customView, and not UIImageView

          – Kreutzer
          Jun 10 '14 at 7:30






        • 1





          this solution won't work as it does not have button actions at all. Use UIButton instead.

          – Raptor
          Nov 4 '15 at 9:49














        12












        12








        12







        One approach you might consider is creating a UIBarButtonItem by calling initWithCustomView:. This is not ideal in that you don't get "selected" states out of the box AND you have to composite your bordered background (if want that look) with your button image, but with that you can more directly specify a frame for your toolbar item. If you're using text for your title instead of images you may still need add in a background image as a subview. Anyway, I'm having the same problem right now and this code works for me:





        UIImageView *imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"button-image.png"]];
        imageView.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 43, 30);

        UIBarButtonItem *barButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:imageView];

        self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = barButtonItem;


        Right now this is the only way I know of restricting the auto-sizing of the UIBarButtonItems added to the UINavigationController's navigationItem.



        Or try Maggie's solution, which is more thorough than mine.






        share|improve this answer















        One approach you might consider is creating a UIBarButtonItem by calling initWithCustomView:. This is not ideal in that you don't get "selected" states out of the box AND you have to composite your bordered background (if want that look) with your button image, but with that you can more directly specify a frame for your toolbar item. If you're using text for your title instead of images you may still need add in a background image as a subview. Anyway, I'm having the same problem right now and this code works for me:





        UIImageView *imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"button-image.png"]];
        imageView.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 43, 30);

        UIBarButtonItem *barButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:imageView];

        self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = barButtonItem;


        Right now this is the only way I know of restricting the auto-sizing of the UIBarButtonItems added to the UINavigationController's navigationItem.



        Or try Maggie's solution, which is more thorough than mine.







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited Apr 4 '18 at 22:17









        Josh Caswell

        58.6k12127176




        58.6k12127176










        answered Dec 3 '12 at 22:36









        AaronAaron

        5,70722647




        5,70722647








        • 2





          only worked when I used UIButton as customView, and not UIImageView

          – Kreutzer
          Jun 10 '14 at 7:30






        • 1





          this solution won't work as it does not have button actions at all. Use UIButton instead.

          – Raptor
          Nov 4 '15 at 9:49














        • 2





          only worked when I used UIButton as customView, and not UIImageView

          – Kreutzer
          Jun 10 '14 at 7:30






        • 1





          this solution won't work as it does not have button actions at all. Use UIButton instead.

          – Raptor
          Nov 4 '15 at 9:49








        2




        2





        only worked when I used UIButton as customView, and not UIImageView

        – Kreutzer
        Jun 10 '14 at 7:30





        only worked when I used UIButton as customView, and not UIImageView

        – Kreutzer
        Jun 10 '14 at 7:30




        1




        1





        this solution won't work as it does not have button actions at all. Use UIButton instead.

        – Raptor
        Nov 4 '15 at 9:49





        this solution won't work as it does not have button actions at all. Use UIButton instead.

        – Raptor
        Nov 4 '15 at 9:49













        12














        Since iOS 11, just setting frame for customView and not UIBarButtonItem won't work (like suggested in accepted answer). It seems like adding Autolayout to UIBarButtonItem overrides the set frame.
        This post gave me the idea:



        navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem?.customView = yourCustomButtonView
        let desiredWidth = 35.0
        let desiredHeight = 35.0

        let widthConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: yourCustomButtonView, attribute: .width, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nil, attribute: .notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1.0, constant: desiredWidth)
        let heightConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: yourCustomButtonView, attribute: .height, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nil, attribute: .notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1.0, constant: desiredHeight)

        yourCustomButtonView.addConstraints([widthConstraint, heightConstraint])


        Also note, that it is preferred that you use UIButton as your CustomView as you have to rely on it to trigger the action.






        share|improve this answer
























        • Awesome! And thanks for the link

          – Fraser
          Aug 2 '18 at 0:07











        • It was quite surprising to find out that the nav bar uses Auto Layout by default to place items in it, very useful info here.

          – noobular
          Oct 12 '18 at 23:32











        • Thanks! Its important to know that manipulatinng the frame won't do nothing anymore

          – Hendrik
          Oct 22 '18 at 12:08
















        12














        Since iOS 11, just setting frame for customView and not UIBarButtonItem won't work (like suggested in accepted answer). It seems like adding Autolayout to UIBarButtonItem overrides the set frame.
        This post gave me the idea:



        navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem?.customView = yourCustomButtonView
        let desiredWidth = 35.0
        let desiredHeight = 35.0

        let widthConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: yourCustomButtonView, attribute: .width, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nil, attribute: .notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1.0, constant: desiredWidth)
        let heightConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: yourCustomButtonView, attribute: .height, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nil, attribute: .notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1.0, constant: desiredHeight)

        yourCustomButtonView.addConstraints([widthConstraint, heightConstraint])


        Also note, that it is preferred that you use UIButton as your CustomView as you have to rely on it to trigger the action.






        share|improve this answer
























        • Awesome! And thanks for the link

          – Fraser
          Aug 2 '18 at 0:07











        • It was quite surprising to find out that the nav bar uses Auto Layout by default to place items in it, very useful info here.

          – noobular
          Oct 12 '18 at 23:32











        • Thanks! Its important to know that manipulatinng the frame won't do nothing anymore

          – Hendrik
          Oct 22 '18 at 12:08














        12












        12








        12







        Since iOS 11, just setting frame for customView and not UIBarButtonItem won't work (like suggested in accepted answer). It seems like adding Autolayout to UIBarButtonItem overrides the set frame.
        This post gave me the idea:



        navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem?.customView = yourCustomButtonView
        let desiredWidth = 35.0
        let desiredHeight = 35.0

        let widthConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: yourCustomButtonView, attribute: .width, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nil, attribute: .notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1.0, constant: desiredWidth)
        let heightConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: yourCustomButtonView, attribute: .height, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nil, attribute: .notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1.0, constant: desiredHeight)

        yourCustomButtonView.addConstraints([widthConstraint, heightConstraint])


        Also note, that it is preferred that you use UIButton as your CustomView as you have to rely on it to trigger the action.






        share|improve this answer













        Since iOS 11, just setting frame for customView and not UIBarButtonItem won't work (like suggested in accepted answer). It seems like adding Autolayout to UIBarButtonItem overrides the set frame.
        This post gave me the idea:



        navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem?.customView = yourCustomButtonView
        let desiredWidth = 35.0
        let desiredHeight = 35.0

        let widthConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: yourCustomButtonView, attribute: .width, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nil, attribute: .notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1.0, constant: desiredWidth)
        let heightConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: yourCustomButtonView, attribute: .height, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nil, attribute: .notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1.0, constant: desiredHeight)

        yourCustomButtonView.addConstraints([widthConstraint, heightConstraint])


        Also note, that it is preferred that you use UIButton as your CustomView as you have to rely on it to trigger the action.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered Apr 5 '18 at 15:13









        roxanneMroxanneM

        31836




        31836













        • Awesome! And thanks for the link

          – Fraser
          Aug 2 '18 at 0:07











        • It was quite surprising to find out that the nav bar uses Auto Layout by default to place items in it, very useful info here.

          – noobular
          Oct 12 '18 at 23:32











        • Thanks! Its important to know that manipulatinng the frame won't do nothing anymore

          – Hendrik
          Oct 22 '18 at 12:08



















        • Awesome! And thanks for the link

          – Fraser
          Aug 2 '18 at 0:07











        • It was quite surprising to find out that the nav bar uses Auto Layout by default to place items in it, very useful info here.

          – noobular
          Oct 12 '18 at 23:32











        • Thanks! Its important to know that manipulatinng the frame won't do nothing anymore

          – Hendrik
          Oct 22 '18 at 12:08

















        Awesome! And thanks for the link

        – Fraser
        Aug 2 '18 at 0:07





        Awesome! And thanks for the link

        – Fraser
        Aug 2 '18 at 0:07













        It was quite surprising to find out that the nav bar uses Auto Layout by default to place items in it, very useful info here.

        – noobular
        Oct 12 '18 at 23:32





        It was quite surprising to find out that the nav bar uses Auto Layout by default to place items in it, very useful info here.

        – noobular
        Oct 12 '18 at 23:32













        Thanks! Its important to know that manipulatinng the frame won't do nothing anymore

        – Hendrik
        Oct 22 '18 at 12:08





        Thanks! Its important to know that manipulatinng the frame won't do nothing anymore

        – Hendrik
        Oct 22 '18 at 12:08











        6














        You can do it by dropping an image to the bar button item from the interface builder and changing the width of the custom view with this code:



        CGRect frame = self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.customView.frame;
        frame.size.width = 141;
        self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.customView.frame = frame;





        share|improve this answer




























          6














          You can do it by dropping an image to the bar button item from the interface builder and changing the width of the custom view with this code:



          CGRect frame = self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.customView.frame;
          frame.size.width = 141;
          self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.customView.frame = frame;





          share|improve this answer


























            6












            6








            6







            You can do it by dropping an image to the bar button item from the interface builder and changing the width of the custom view with this code:



            CGRect frame = self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.customView.frame;
            frame.size.width = 141;
            self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.customView.frame = frame;





            share|improve this answer













            You can do it by dropping an image to the bar button item from the interface builder and changing the width of the custom view with this code:



            CGRect frame = self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.customView.frame;
            frame.size.width = 141;
            self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.customView.frame = frame;






            share|improve this answer












            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer










            answered Jan 11 '13 at 15:27









            odmodm

            6091015




            6091015























                5














                The key thing with this is to realise that you are changing the custom view's width, rather than the UIBarButton itself.



                The code is therefore:



                CGRect resizedFrame = myBarButtonItem.customView.frame;
                resizedFrame.size.width = myNewWidth;
                myBarButtonItem.customView.frame = resizedFrame;


                You will also need to trigger the layout change:



                [myNavigationBar setNeedsLayout];


                All this goes without saying that the layout is being done with Auto Sizing and frames. Incursions into navigation bars with Auto Layout yielded no success. See my question Auto Layout with UINavigationBar and UIBarButtonItem.



                Sorry just realised that my code is almost identical to @oscartzombie. Not intentional! I'll leave this answer as I think it's worth adding the layout and other points, in addition to explaining without reference to Interface Bulder or images specifically.






                share|improve this answer


























                • I was having issues with the size of my custom UIBarButtonItem, the solution was calling [self.navigationController.navigationBar setNeedsLayout]; in my view controller's -(void)viewDidLoad method.

                  – LunaCodeGirl
                  Nov 13 '14 at 20:06
















                5














                The key thing with this is to realise that you are changing the custom view's width, rather than the UIBarButton itself.



                The code is therefore:



                CGRect resizedFrame = myBarButtonItem.customView.frame;
                resizedFrame.size.width = myNewWidth;
                myBarButtonItem.customView.frame = resizedFrame;


                You will also need to trigger the layout change:



                [myNavigationBar setNeedsLayout];


                All this goes without saying that the layout is being done with Auto Sizing and frames. Incursions into navigation bars with Auto Layout yielded no success. See my question Auto Layout with UINavigationBar and UIBarButtonItem.



                Sorry just realised that my code is almost identical to @oscartzombie. Not intentional! I'll leave this answer as I think it's worth adding the layout and other points, in addition to explaining without reference to Interface Bulder or images specifically.






                share|improve this answer


























                • I was having issues with the size of my custom UIBarButtonItem, the solution was calling [self.navigationController.navigationBar setNeedsLayout]; in my view controller's -(void)viewDidLoad method.

                  – LunaCodeGirl
                  Nov 13 '14 at 20:06














                5












                5








                5







                The key thing with this is to realise that you are changing the custom view's width, rather than the UIBarButton itself.



                The code is therefore:



                CGRect resizedFrame = myBarButtonItem.customView.frame;
                resizedFrame.size.width = myNewWidth;
                myBarButtonItem.customView.frame = resizedFrame;


                You will also need to trigger the layout change:



                [myNavigationBar setNeedsLayout];


                All this goes without saying that the layout is being done with Auto Sizing and frames. Incursions into navigation bars with Auto Layout yielded no success. See my question Auto Layout with UINavigationBar and UIBarButtonItem.



                Sorry just realised that my code is almost identical to @oscartzombie. Not intentional! I'll leave this answer as I think it's worth adding the layout and other points, in addition to explaining without reference to Interface Bulder or images specifically.






                share|improve this answer















                The key thing with this is to realise that you are changing the custom view's width, rather than the UIBarButton itself.



                The code is therefore:



                CGRect resizedFrame = myBarButtonItem.customView.frame;
                resizedFrame.size.width = myNewWidth;
                myBarButtonItem.customView.frame = resizedFrame;


                You will also need to trigger the layout change:



                [myNavigationBar setNeedsLayout];


                All this goes without saying that the layout is being done with Auto Sizing and frames. Incursions into navigation bars with Auto Layout yielded no success. See my question Auto Layout with UINavigationBar and UIBarButtonItem.



                Sorry just realised that my code is almost identical to @oscartzombie. Not intentional! I'll leave this answer as I think it's worth adding the layout and other points, in addition to explaining without reference to Interface Bulder or images specifically.







                share|improve this answer














                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer








                edited May 23 '17 at 12:17









                Community

                11




                11










                answered Jul 19 '13 at 13:06









                Max MacLeodMax MacLeod

                21.5k1081116




                21.5k1081116













                • I was having issues with the size of my custom UIBarButtonItem, the solution was calling [self.navigationController.navigationBar setNeedsLayout]; in my view controller's -(void)viewDidLoad method.

                  – LunaCodeGirl
                  Nov 13 '14 at 20:06



















                • I was having issues with the size of my custom UIBarButtonItem, the solution was calling [self.navigationController.navigationBar setNeedsLayout]; in my view controller's -(void)viewDidLoad method.

                  – LunaCodeGirl
                  Nov 13 '14 at 20:06

















                I was having issues with the size of my custom UIBarButtonItem, the solution was calling [self.navigationController.navigationBar setNeedsLayout]; in my view controller's -(void)viewDidLoad method.

                – LunaCodeGirl
                Nov 13 '14 at 20:06





                I was having issues with the size of my custom UIBarButtonItem, the solution was calling [self.navigationController.navigationBar setNeedsLayout]; in my view controller's -(void)viewDidLoad method.

                – LunaCodeGirl
                Nov 13 '14 at 20:06











                5














                The following approach worked, see code to change width and height of the button and to add action item as well.



                UIButton *imageButton = [[UIButton alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 22, 22)];
                [imageButton setBackgroundImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"message_button"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
                [imageButton addTarget:self action:@selector(messageButtonTapped) forControlEvents:UIControlEventAllEvents];
                UIBarButtonItem *leftBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:imageButton];
                self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = leftBarButtonItem;


                Note: The target and action of the UIBarButtonItem does not apply to image view






                share|improve this answer






























                  5














                  The following approach worked, see code to change width and height of the button and to add action item as well.



                  UIButton *imageButton = [[UIButton alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 22, 22)];
                  [imageButton setBackgroundImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"message_button"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
                  [imageButton addTarget:self action:@selector(messageButtonTapped) forControlEvents:UIControlEventAllEvents];
                  UIBarButtonItem *leftBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:imageButton];
                  self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = leftBarButtonItem;


                  Note: The target and action of the UIBarButtonItem does not apply to image view






                  share|improve this answer




























                    5












                    5








                    5







                    The following approach worked, see code to change width and height of the button and to add action item as well.



                    UIButton *imageButton = [[UIButton alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 22, 22)];
                    [imageButton setBackgroundImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"message_button"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
                    [imageButton addTarget:self action:@selector(messageButtonTapped) forControlEvents:UIControlEventAllEvents];
                    UIBarButtonItem *leftBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:imageButton];
                    self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = leftBarButtonItem;


                    Note: The target and action of the UIBarButtonItem does not apply to image view






                    share|improve this answer















                    The following approach worked, see code to change width and height of the button and to add action item as well.



                    UIButton *imageButton = [[UIButton alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 22, 22)];
                    [imageButton setBackgroundImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"message_button"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
                    [imageButton addTarget:self action:@selector(messageButtonTapped) forControlEvents:UIControlEventAllEvents];
                    UIBarButtonItem *leftBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:imageButton];
                    self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = leftBarButtonItem;


                    Note: The target and action of the UIBarButtonItem does not apply to image view







                    share|improve this answer














                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer








                    edited May 27 '15 at 10:01

























                    answered May 27 '15 at 9:57









                    Abdullah SaeedAbdullah Saeed

                    2,1881922




                    2,1881922























                        0














                        None of those solutions worked for me and I figure out auto-resizing thing overrides dimensions that you wrote in code.



                        after creating button by UIButton way, write following code block:



                        [self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem.customView.widthAnchor constraintEqualToConstant:mWidth].active = YES;
                        [self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem.customView.heightAnchor constraintEqualToConstant:mHeight].active = YES;





                        share|improve this answer




























                          0














                          None of those solutions worked for me and I figure out auto-resizing thing overrides dimensions that you wrote in code.



                          after creating button by UIButton way, write following code block:



                          [self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem.customView.widthAnchor constraintEqualToConstant:mWidth].active = YES;
                          [self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem.customView.heightAnchor constraintEqualToConstant:mHeight].active = YES;





                          share|improve this answer


























                            0












                            0








                            0







                            None of those solutions worked for me and I figure out auto-resizing thing overrides dimensions that you wrote in code.



                            after creating button by UIButton way, write following code block:



                            [self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem.customView.widthAnchor constraintEqualToConstant:mWidth].active = YES;
                            [self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem.customView.heightAnchor constraintEqualToConstant:mHeight].active = YES;





                            share|improve this answer













                            None of those solutions worked for me and I figure out auto-resizing thing overrides dimensions that you wrote in code.



                            after creating button by UIButton way, write following code block:



                            [self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem.customView.widthAnchor constraintEqualToConstant:mWidth].active = YES;
                            [self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem.customView.heightAnchor constraintEqualToConstant:mHeight].active = YES;






                            share|improve this answer












                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer










                            answered Nov 13 '18 at 12:16









                            ACAkgulACAkgul

                            9510




                            9510






























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