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:

• backBarButtonItem
• leftBarButtonItem

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

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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)