How to find topmost view controller on iOS

Question

I\'ve run into a couple of cases now where it would be convenient to be able to find the \"topmost\" view controller (the one responsible for the current view), but haven\'t

Answer 1

This works great for finding the top viewController 1 from any root view controlle

+ (UIViewController *)topViewControllerFor:(UIViewController *)viewController
{
    if(!viewController.presentedViewController)
        return viewController;
    return [MF5AppDelegate topViewControllerFor:viewController.presentedViewController];
}

/* View Controller for Visible View */

AppDelegate *app = [UIApplication sharedApplication].delegate;
UIViewController *visibleViewController = [AppDelegate topViewControllerFor:app.window.rootViewController]; 

Answer 2

This answer includes childViewControllers and maintains a clean and readable implementation.

+ (UIViewController *)topViewController
{
    UIViewController *rootViewController = [UIApplication sharedApplication].keyWindow.rootViewController;

    return [rootViewController topVisibleViewController];
}

- (UIViewController *)topVisibleViewController
{
    if ([self isKindOfClass:[UITabBarController class]])
    {
        UITabBarController *tabBarController = (UITabBarController *)self;
        return [tabBarController.selectedViewController topVisibleViewController];
    }
    else if ([self isKindOfClass:[UINavigationController class]])
    {
        UINavigationController *navigationController = (UINavigationController *)self;
        return [navigationController.visibleViewController topVisibleViewController];
    }
    else if (self.presentedViewController)
    {
        return [self.presentedViewController topVisibleViewController];
    }
    else if (self.childViewControllers.count > 0)
    {
        return [self.childViewControllers.lastObject topVisibleViewController];
    }

    return self;
}

Answer 3

you could find the top most view controller by using

NSArray *arrViewControllers=[[self navigationController] viewControllers];
UIViewController *topMostViewController=(UIViewController *)[arrViewControllers objectAtIndex:[arrViewControllers count]-1];

Answer 4

I think you need a combination of the accepted answer and @fishstix's

+ (UIViewController*) topMostController
{
    UIViewController *topController = [UIApplication sharedApplication].keyWindow.rootViewController;

    while (topController.presentedViewController) {
        topController = topController.presentedViewController;
    }

    return topController;
}

Swift 3.0+

func topMostController() -> UIViewController? {
    guard let window = UIApplication.shared.keyWindow, let rootViewController = window.rootViewController else {
        return nil
    }

    var topController = rootViewController

    while let newTopController = topController.presentedViewController {
        topController = newTopController
    }

    return topController
}

Answer 5

iOS 4 introduced the rootViewController property on UIWindow:

[UIApplication sharedApplication].keyWindow.rootViewController;

You'll need to set it yourself after you create the view controller though.

Answer 6

To complete JonasG's answer (who left out tab bar controllers while traversing), here is my version of returning the currently visible view controller:

- (UIViewController*)topViewController {
    return [self topViewControllerWithRootViewController:[UIApplication sharedApplication].keyWindow.rootViewController];
}

- (UIViewController*)topViewControllerWithRootViewController:(UIViewController*)rootViewController {
    if ([rootViewController isKindOfClass:[UITabBarController class]]) {
        UITabBarController* tabBarController = (UITabBarController*)rootViewController;
        return [self topViewControllerWithRootViewController:tabBarController.selectedViewController];
    } else if ([rootViewController isKindOfClass:[UINavigationController class]]) {
        UINavigationController* navigationController = (UINavigationController*)rootViewController;
        return [self topViewControllerWithRootViewController:navigationController.visibleViewController];
    } else if (rootViewController.presentedViewController) {
        UIViewController* presentedViewController = rootViewController.presentedViewController;
        return [self topViewControllerWithRootViewController:presentedViewController];
    } else {
        return rootViewController;
    }
}