Transparent iOS navigation bar - ios

Question

I'm creating an app and i've browsed on the internet and i'm wondering how they make this transparent UINavigationBar like this:
I've added following like in my appdelegate:
UINavigationBar.appearance().translucent = true
but this just makes it look like following:
How can I make the navigation bar transparent like first image?

Answer 1

You can apply Navigation Bar Image like below for Translucent.
Objective-C:
[self.navigationController.navigationBar setBackgroundImage:[UIImage new]
forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault]; //UIImageNamed:#"transparent.png"
self.navigationController.navigationBar.shadowImage = [UIImage new];////UIImageNamed:#"transparent.png"
self.navigationController.navigationBar.translucent = YES;
self.navigationController.view.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
Swift 3:
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), for: .default) //UIImage.init(named: "transparent.png")
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.shadowImage = UIImage()
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.isTranslucent = true
self.navigationController?.view.backgroundColor = .clear

Answer 2

Swift Solution
This is the best way that I've found. You can just paste it into your appDelegate's didFinishLaunchingWithOptions method:
Swift 3 / 4
func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplicationLaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
// Override point for customization after application launch.
// Sets background to a blank/empty image
UINavigationBar.appearance().setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), for: .default)
// Sets shadow (line below the bar) to a blank image
UINavigationBar.appearance().shadowImage = UIImage()
// Sets the translucent background color
UINavigationBar.appearance().backgroundColor = .clear
// Set translucent. (Default value is already true, so this can be removed if desired.)
UINavigationBar.appearance().isTranslucent = true
return true
}
Swift 2.0
func application(application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [NSObject: AnyObject]?) -> Bool {
// Override point for customization after application launch.
// Sets background to a blank/empty image
UINavigationBar.appearance().setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), forBarMetrics: .Default)
// Sets shadow (line below the bar) to a blank image
UINavigationBar.appearance().shadowImage = UIImage()
// Sets the translucent background color
UINavigationBar.appearance().backgroundColor = UIColor(red: 0.0, green: 0.0, blue: 0.0, alpha: 0.0)
// Set translucent. (Default value is already true, so this can be removed if desired.)
UINavigationBar.appearance().translucent = true
return true
}
source: Make navigation bar transparent regarding below image in iOS 8.1

Answer 3

Swift 5 applying only to the current view controller
override func viewWillAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
super.viewWillAppear(animated)
// Make the navigation bar background clear
navigationController?.navigationBar.setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), for: .default)
navigationController?.navigationBar.shadowImage = UIImage()
navigationController?.navigationBar.isTranslucent = true
}
override func viewWillDisappear(_ animated: Bool) {
super.viewWillDisappear(animated)
// Restore the navigation bar to default
navigationController?.navigationBar.setBackgroundImage(nil, for: .default)
navigationController?.navigationBar.shadowImage = nil
}

Answer 4

Swift 3 : extension for Transparent Navigation Bar
extension UINavigationBar {
func transparentNavigationBar() {
self.setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), for: .default)
self.shadowImage = UIImage()
self.isTranslucent = true
}
}

Answer 5

Swift 4.2 Solution: For transparent Background:
For General Approach:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), for: UIBarMetrics.default)
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.shadowImage = UIImage()
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.isTranslucent = true
}
For Specific Object:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
navBar.setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), for: UIBarMetrics.default)
navBar.shadowImage = UIImage()
navBar.navigationBar.isTranslucent = true
}
Hope it's useful.

Answer 6

I had been working on this, and I was facing a problem using the responses provided here by different users. Problem was a white box behind my NavigationBar transparent image on iOS 13+
My solution is this one
if #available(iOS 13, *) {
navBar?.standardAppearance.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
navBar?.standardAppearance.backgroundEffect = nil
navBar?.standardAppearance.shadowImage = UIImage()
navBar?.standardAppearance.shadowColor = .clear
navBar?.standardAppearance.backgroundImage = UIImage()
}
Update
thanks to #TMin
If you use a tableView/CollectionView with this you will notice a 1 point shadow appears when you scroll. Add navBar?.scrollEdgeAppearance = nil to get ride of this shadow.
Hope this helps anyone with same problem

Answer 7

I was able to accomplish this in swift this way:
let navBarAppearance = UINavigationBar.appearance()
let colorImage = UIImage.imageFromColor(UIColor.morselPink(), frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, 340, 64))
navBarAppearance.setBackgroundImage(colorImage, forBarMetrics: .Default)
where i created the following utility method in a UIColor category:
imageFromColor(color: UIColor, frame: CGRect) -> UIImage {
UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(frame.size, false, 0)
color.setFill()
UIRectFill(frame)
let image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
return image
}

Answer 8

What it worked for me:
let bar:UINavigationBar! = self.navigationController?.navigationBar
self.title = "Whatever..."
bar.setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), forBarMetrics: UIBarMetrics.Default)
bar.shadowImage = UIImage()
bar.alpha = 0.0

Answer 9

Set the background property of your navigationBar, e.g.
navigationController?.navigationBar.backgroundColor = UIColor(red: 1.0, green: 0.0, blue: 0.0, alpha: 0.5)
(You may have to change that a bit if you don't have a navigation controller, but that should give you an idea of what to do.)
Also make sure that the view below actually extends under the bar.

Answer 10

If you want to be able to do this programmatically in swift 4 while staying on the same view,
if change {
navigationController?.navigationBar.isTranslucent = false
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.backgroundColor = UIColor(displayP3Red: 255/255, green: 206/255, blue: 24/255, alpha: 1)
navigationController?.navigationBar.barTintColor = UIColor(displayP3Red: 255/255, green: 206/255, blue: 24/255, alpha: 1)
} else {
navigationController?.navigationBar.isTranslucent = true
navigationController?.navigationBar.setBackgroundImage(backgroundImage, for: .default)
navigationController?.navigationBar.backgroundColor = .clear
navigationController?.navigationBar.barTintColor = .clear
}
One important thing to remember though is to click this button in your storyboard. I had an issue with a jumping display for a long time. Make sureyou set this:
Then when you change the translucency of the navigation bar it will not cause the views to jump as the views extend all the way to the top, regardless of the visiblity of the navigation bar.

Answer 11

Add this in your did load
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), for: .default)
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.shadowImage = UIImage()
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.backgroundColor = UIColor(red: 1, green: 1, blue: 1, alpha: 0.0)
//adjust alpha according to your need 0 is transparent 1 is solid

Answer 12

For those looking for OBJC solution, to be added in App Delegate didFinishLaunchingWithOptions method:
[[UINavigationBar appearance] setBackgroundImage:[UIImage new] forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];
[UINavigationBar appearance].shadowImage = [UIImage new];
[UINavigationBar appearance].backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
[UINavigationBar appearance].translucent = YES;

Answer 13

Try this, it works for me if you also need to support ios7, it is based on the transparency of UItoolBar:
[self.navigationController.navigationBar setBackgroundImage:[UIImage new]
forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];
self.navigationController.navigationBar.shadowImage = [UIImage new];
self.navigationController.navigationBar.translucent = YES;
self.navigationController.view.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
UIToolbar* blurredView = [[UIToolbar alloc] initWithFrame:self.navigationController.navigationBar.bounds];
[blurredView setBarStyle:UIBarStyleBlack];
[blurredView setBarTintColor:[UIColor redColor]];
[self.navigationController.navigationBar insertSubview:blurredView atIndex:0];

Answer 14

iOS 13.0+ introduced UINavigationBarAppearance because of which, this problem occurs on iOS 13.0+
Use this to solve.
Change Navigation Bar Appearance
Use UINavigationBarAppearance and UIBarButtonItemAppearance to change the appearance of the navigation bar.
// Make the navigation bar's title with red text.
if #available(iOS 13, *) {
let appearance = UINavigationBarAppearance()
appearance.configureWithOpaqueBackground()
appearance.backgroundColor = UIColor.systemRed
appearance.titleTextAttributes = [.foregroundColor: UIColor.lightText] // With a red background, make the title more readable.
navigationItem.standardAppearance = appearance
navigationItem.scrollEdgeAppearance = appearance
navigationItem.compactAppearance = appearance // For iPhone small navigation bar in landscape.
}

Answer 15

Utility method which you call by passing navigationController and color which you like to set on navigation bar. For transparent you can use clearColor of UIColor class.
For objective c -
+ (void)setNavigationBarColor:(UINavigationController *)navigationController
color:(UIColor*) color {
[navigationController setNavigationBarHidden:false animated:false];
[navigationController.navigationBar setBackgroundImage:[UIImage new] forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];
[navigationController.navigationBar setShadowImage:[UIImage new]];
[navigationController.navigationBar setTranslucent:true];
[navigationController.view setBackgroundColor:color];
[navigationController.navigationBar setBackgroundColor:color];
}
For Swift 3.0 -
class func setNavigationBarColor(navigationController : UINavigationController?,
color : UIColor) {
navigationController?.setNavigationBarHidden(false, animated: false)
navigationController?.navigationBar .setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), forBarMetrics: UIBarMetrics.Default)
navigationController?.navigationBar.shadowImage = UIImage()
navigationController?.navigationBar.translucent = true
navigationController?.view.backgroundColor = color
navigationController?.navigationBar.backgroundColor = color
}

Answer 16

Write these two lines:
navigationController?.navigationBar.isTranslucent = true
navigationController?.navigationBar.backgroundColor = .clear
Worked for me in iOS 13

Answer 17

None of the answers here fully worked for me. This makes the navigation bar fully transparent - tested on iOS 14 and iOS 11 (Objective C):
[self.navigationController.navigationBar setBackgroundImage:[UIImage new] forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];
self.navigationController.navigationBar.shadowImage = [UIImage new];
self.navigationController.navigationBar.translucent = YES;
self.navigationController.navigationBar.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];

Answer 18

Anyone looking for a iOS 15+ working version, this is what worked for me, as the old techniques with setBackgroundImage/shadowImage were not working anymore.
To se it transparent:
func setTransparent() {
backgroundColor = .clear
isTranslucent = true
standardAppearance.shadowColor = .clear
standardAppearance.backgroundColor = .clear
standardAppearance.backgroundEffect = nil
scrollEdgeAppearance = standardAppearance
}
To remove transparency:
func removeTransparent() {
setBackgroundImage(nil, for: .default)
shadowImage = nil
backgroundColor = .white
isTranslucent = false
let appearance = UINavigationBarAppearance()
appearance.configureWithOpaqueBackground()
standardAppearance = appearance
scrollEdgeAppearance = standardAppearance
}

Answer 19

My implementation of navigation bar configuration as translucent and switching to default state for iOS 15 and older versions:
extension UINavigationBar {
static let defaultBackgroundColor = UIColor.red
static let defaultTintColor = UIColor.white
func setTranslucent(tintColor: UIColor, titleColor: UIColor) {
if #available(iOS 15, *) {
let appearance = UINavigationBarAppearance()
appearance.configureWithTransparentBackground()
appearance.titleTextAttributes = [.foregroundColor: titleColor]
standardAppearance = appearance
scrollEdgeAppearance = appearance
} else {
titleTextAttributes = [.foregroundColor: titleColor]
setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), for: UIBarMetrics.default)
shadowImage = UIImage()
}
isTranslucent = true
self.tintColor = tintColor
}
func setDefaultState() {
isTranslucent = false
clipsToBounds = false
if #available(iOS 15, *) {
let appearance = UINavigationBarAppearance()
appearance.configureWithOpaqueBackground()
appearance.backgroundColor = UINavigationBar.defaultBackgroundColor
appearance.titleTextAttributes = [.foregroundColor: UINavigationBar.defaultTintColor]
UINavigationBar.appearance().standardAppearance = appearance
UINavigationBar.appearance().scrollEdgeAppearance = appearance
} else {
setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), for: UIBarPosition.any, barMetrics: UIBarMetrics.defaultPrompt)
shadowImage = UIImage()
barTintColor = UINavigationBar.defaultBackgroundColor
titleTextAttributes = [.foregroundColor: UINavigationBar.defaultTintColor]
}
tintColor = UINavigationBar.defaultTintColor
}
}

Answer 20

This will defiantly work for swift 4/5 users.
func setUpNavBar(){
navigationItem.title = "Flick"
navigationController?.navigationBar.shadowImage = UIImage()
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), for: UIBarMetrics.default)
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.shadowImage = UIImage()
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.isTranslucent = true
self.navigationController?.view.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
navigationController?.navigationBar.titleTextAttributes = [.foregroundColor: UIColor.white]
}

Answer 21

IOS15 Version
extension UIViewController {
func clearNavigationBar(clear: Bool) {
if clear {
let appearance = UINavigationBarAppearance()
appearance.configureWithTransparentBackground()
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.standardAppearance = appearance
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.scrollEdgeAppearance = appearance
} else {
let appearance = UINavigationBarAppearance()
appearance.configureWithOpaqueBackground()
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.standardAppearance = appearance
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.scrollEdgeAppearance = appearance
}
}
}
class ViewController: UIViewController {
override func viewWillAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
super.viewWillAppear(animated)
clearNavigationBar(clear: true)
}
override func viewWillDisappear(_ animated: Bool) {
super.viewWillDisappear(animated)
clearNavigationBar(clear: false)
}
}

Answer 22

For above all iOS version
if #available(iOS 15.0, *) {
let appearance = UINavigationBarAppearance()
appearance.configureWithOpaqueBackground()
appearance.backgroundImage = UIColor.clear.imageWithColor(width: UIScreen.main.bounds.size.width, height: 84)
appearance.shadowImage = UIImage()
appearance.titleTextAttributes = [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor : UIColor.black ,NSAttributedString.Key.font : UIFont(name: "SF UI Display Semibold", size: 18) ?? UIFont()]
appearance.titlePositionAdjustment = UIOffset(horizontal: 0, vertical: 2)
self.navigationBar.standardAppearance = appearance
} else {
self.navigationBar.setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), for: UIBarMetrics.default)
self.navigationBar.shadowImage = UIImage()
self.navigationBar.titleTextAttributes = [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor : UIColor.black ,NSAttributedString.Key.font : UIFont(name: "SF UI Display Semibold", size: 18) ?? UIFont()]
self.navigationBar.setTitleVerticalPositionAdjustment(2, for: UIBarMetrics.default)
}
func imageWithColor(width: CGFloat, height: CGFloat) -> UIImage {
let size = CGSize(width: width, height: height)
return UIGraphicsImageRenderer(size: size).image { rendererContext in
self.setFill()
rendererContext.fill(CGRect(origin: .zero, size: size))
}
}

Answer 23

Just add bellow code line inside your application delegate
UINavigationBar.appearance().setBackgroundImage(UIImage(), for: .default)
// Sets shadow (line below the bar) to a blank image
UINavigationBar.appearance().shadowImage = UIImage()
// Sets the translucent background color
UINavigationBar.appearance().backgroundColor = .clear
// Set translucent. (Default value is already true, so this can be removed if desired.)
UINavigationBar.appearance().isTranslucent = true
then override your custom nav bar inside your view controller and make sure to reset once it disappear