Change position of UIBarButtonItem in UINavigationBar

Question

How can I change the position of a UIBarButtonItem in a UINavigationBar? I would like my button to be about 5px higher than its normal position.

Answer 1

This code creates a back button for UINavigationBar with image background and custom position. The trick is to create an intermediate view and modify its bounds.

Swift 5

let menuBtn = UIButton(type: .custom)
let backBtnImage = UIImage(named: "menu")

menuBtn.setBackgroundImage(backBtnImage, for: .normal)
menuBtn.addTarget(self, action: #selector(showMenuTapped), for: .touchUpInside)
menuBtn.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 45, height: 45)

let view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 45, height: 45))
view.bounds = view.bounds.offsetBy(dx: 10, dy: 3)
view.addSubview(menuBtn)
let backButton = UIBarButtonItem(customView: view)

navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = backButton

Objective C

UIButton *backBtn = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
UIImage *backBtnImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"btn-back"];
UIImage *backBtnImagePressed = [UIImage imageNamed:@"btn-back-pressed"];
[backBtn setBackgroundImage:backBtnImage forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[backBtn setBackgroundImage:backBtnImagePressed forState:UIControlStateHighlighted];
[backBtn addTarget:self action:@selector(goBack) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
backBtn.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 63, 33);
UIView *backButtonView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 63, 33)];
backButtonView.bounds = CGRectOffset(backButtonView.bounds, -14, -7);
[backButtonView addSubview:backBtn];
UIBarButtonItem *backButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:backButtonView];
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = backButton;

Answer 2

I solved using transform and custom view:

(Swift)

  // create the button
  let suggestImage  = UIImage(named: "tab-item-popcorn-on")!.imageWithRenderingMode(.AlwaysOriginal)
  let suggestButton = UIButton(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, 40, 40))
  suggestButton.setBackgroundImage(suggestImage, forState: .Normal)
  suggestButton.addTarget(self, action: Selector("suggesMovie:"), forControlEvents:.TouchUpInside)

  // here where the magic happens, you can shift it where you like
  suggestButton.transform = CGAffineTransformMakeTranslation(10, 0)

  // add the button to a container, otherwise the transform will be ignored  
  let suggestButtonContainer = UIView(frame: suggestButton.frame)
  suggestButtonContainer.addSubview(suggestButton)
  let suggestButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(customView: suggestButtonContainer)

  // add button shift to the side
  navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = suggestButtonItem

Answer 3

There is no particularly good way to do this. Your best bet if you really must is to subclass UINavigationBar, and override layoutSubviews to call [super layoutSubviews] and then find and reposition the button's view.