Setting a Custom Image for a Back Button on UINavigationBar

Question

I am trying to set a custom image for the back button that automatically gets place onto a navigation bar when a new view is pushed onto the stack.

I have tried add

Answer 1

This is the code I'm using and works perfectly in my own iOS 5 app. This code is from application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: in the app delegate:

UIImage * backButtonImage = [UIImage imageNamed: @"back-button-image"];
backButtonImage = [backButtonImage stretchableImageWithLeftCapWidth: 15.0 topCapHeight: 30.0];
[[UIBarButtonItem appearance] setBackButtonBackgroundImage: backButtonImage forState: UIControlStateNormal barMetrics: UIBarMetricsDefault];

You'll may need to use a stretchable image, where the left facing "point" is the left cap

---

or in Swift

let backButtonImage = UIImage(named: "back-button-image")
backButtonImage = backButtonImage?.stretchableImageWithLeftCapWidth(15, topCapHeight: 30)
UIBarButtonItem.appearance().setBackButtonBackgroundImage(backButtonImage, forState: .Normal, barMetrics: .Default)

Answer 2

Since iOS 7.0 there is a new method in API backIndicatorImage. You can use it instead of setBackButtonBackgroundImage if you don't want the image to be stretched to fit the text (for example if you want a fixed size custom back arrow). Here's an example in swift:

let image = UIImage(named: "back_button")
    
UINavigationBar.appearance().backIndicatorImage = image
UINavigationBar.appearance().backIndicatorTransitionMaskImage = image

You can hide the text from the button using this trick:

UIBarButtonItem.appearance().setBackButtonTitlePositionAdjustment(UIOffsetMake(0, -66), for: .default)

for Swift 5

var backButtonImage = UIImage(named: "back_button")

backButtonImage = backButtonImage?.stretchableImage(withLeftCapWidth: 15, topCapHeight: 30) UIBarButtonItem.appearance().setBackButtonBackgroundImage(backButtonImage, for: .normal, barMetrics: .default)

Answer 3

Try the code below, it works for me:

[[UINavigationBar appearance] setBackIndicatorImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"back-button-image"]];
[[UINavigationBar appearance] setBackIndicatorTransitionMaskImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"back-button-image"]];

Answer 4

This worked for me:

let button1 = UIBarButtonItem(
    image: #imageLiteral(resourceName: "back_arrow"), 
    style: .plain, 
    target: self, 
    action: #selector(self.backBtnTapped(_:))
)
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem  = button1

Answer 5

Write this method in common class and call it from the controller in which you want to draw.

(UIButton *)drawNavigationBarBackButton:(UIViewController*)viewController 
{

    UIImage *navBackImage = nil;

    UIButton *backButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
     navBackImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"Back_Button"];

    [backButton setImage:navBackImage forState:UIControlStateNormal];
    UIBarButtonItem *leftButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:backButton];
    viewController.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = leftButton;

    return backButton;
}



call from controller class and setting action

- (void)viewDidLoad {

[super viewDidLoad];

 UIButton *backButton = [CommonClass drawNavigationBarBackButton:self];
    [backButton addTarget:self action:@selector(onTapBackButton) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
}

- (void)onTapBackButton 
{
    [self.navigationController popViewControllerAnimated:YES];
}

Answer 6

This code worked for Swift 5 and XCode 10 :

Add this code to AppDelegate's func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplicationLaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool to Apply to all of your view controllers:

//Custom back button
    let barButtonItemAppearance = UIBarButtonItem.appearance()
    barButtonItemAppearance.setTitleTextAttributes([NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.clear], for: .normal)
    barButtonItemAppearance.setTitleTextAttributes([NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.clear], for: .highlighted)
    let backImg: UIImage = UIImage(named: "back")!
    barButtonItemAppearance.setBackButtonBackgroundImage(backImg, for: .normal, barMetrics: .default)

    let image = UIImage()

    UINavigationBar.appearance().backIndicatorImage = image
    UINavigationBar.appearance().backIndicatorTransitionMaskImage = image