Which is the best approach for creating custom tab bar controller?

Question

I am working on application that is more likely a tabBarController application. But I can not use the tabBarController because I need a custom ta

Answer 1

Below code works perfectly in my project.

i have used swift3 version as below :

i added MyTabBar.xib file which contains UIView with 4 buttons. In xib file, Set Class of UIView. class = "MyTabBar"
Give 4 buttons Tag 1,2,3,4 accordingly..

and below myTabBarController file

myTabBarController.swift code as below :

class myTabBarController: UITabBarController {

var tabBarView: UIView!

var btn1: UIButton!
var btn2: UIButton!
var btn3: UIButton!
var btn4: UIButton!

var lastSender: UIButton!

var categoryViewController: CategoryViewController?
var subCategoryViewController: SubCategoryViewController?
var scoreViewController: ScoreViewController?
var profileViewController: ProfileViewController?

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    self.setup()

    tabBarView = Bundle.main.loadNibNamed("MyTabBar", owner: nil, options: nil)?.last as! UIView
    tabBarView.frame = CGRect(x: 0.0, y: self.view.frame.size.height - tabBarView.frame.size.height, width: tabBarView.frame.size.width, height: tabBarView.frame.size.height)
    self.view.addSubview(tabBarView)

    btn1 = tabBarView.viewWithTag(1) as? UIButton
    btn1.addTarget(self, action: #selector(self.processBtn), for: .touchUpInside)
    btn2 = tabBarView.viewWithTag(2) as? UIButton
    btn2.addTarget(self, action: #selector(self.processBtn), for: .touchUpInside)
    btn3 = tabBarView.viewWithTag(3) as? UIButton
    btn3.addTarget(self, action: #selector(self.processBtn), for: .touchUpInside)
    btn4 = tabBarView.viewWithTag(4) as? UIButton
    btn4.addTarget(self, action: #selector(self.processBtn), for: .touchUpInside)

    let width1 = self.view.frame.width/4
    btn1.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: width1, height: tabBarView.frame.size.height)
    btn2.frame = CGRect(x: btn1.frame.width, y: 0, width: width1, height: tabBarView.frame.size.height)
    btn3.frame = CGRect(x: btn2.frame.origin.x+btn2.frame.width, y: 0, width: width1, height: tabBarView.frame.size.height)
    btn4.frame = CGRect(x: btn3.frame.origin.x+btn3.frame.width, y: 0, width: width1, height: tabBarView.frame.size.height)

    lastSender = btn1
    selectedViewController = viewControllers?[0]
}

func processBtn(_ sender: UIButton) {
    lastSender = sender
    selectedViewController = viewControllers?[sender.tag - 1]

    if sender.tag == 1 {
        btn1.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
        btn2.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
        btn3.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
        btn4.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
    }else if sender.tag == 2 {
        btn1.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
        btn2.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
        btn3.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
        btn4.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
    }else if sender.tag == 3 {
        btn1.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
        btn2.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
        btn3.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
        btn4.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
    }else if sender.tag == 4 {
        btn1.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
        btn2.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
        btn3.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
        btn4.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
    }
}

func setup() {
    var viewControllers = [AnyObject]()

    categoryViewController = self.storyboard!.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "CategoryViewController") as? CategoryViewController
    viewControllers.append(categoryViewController!)

    subCategoryViewController = self.storyboard!.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "SubCategoryViewController") as? SubCategoryViewController
    viewControllers.append(subCategoryViewController!)

    scoreViewController = self.storyboard!.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "ScoreViewController") as? ScoreViewController
    viewControllers.append(scoreViewController!)

    profileViewController = self.storyboard!.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "ProfileViewController") as? ProfileViewController
    viewControllers.append(profileViewController!)

    self.viewControllers = viewControllers as? [UIViewController]
}

func tabBarController(_ tabBarController: UITabBarController, shouldSelect viewController: UIViewController) -> Bool {

    for view in tabBarView.subviews as [UIView] {
        if let btn = view as? UIButton {
            if btn == lastSender {
                btn.isSelected = true
            }
            else {
                btn.isSelected = false
            }
        }
    }

    if self.selectedViewController == viewController {
        (self.selectedViewController as? UINavigationController)?.popToRootViewController(animated: true)
        // pop to root if tapped the same controller twice
    }

    return (viewController != tabBarController.selectedViewController)
}

override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
    super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
}

}

This way you can design custom tabbar as per your need.

Thanks