UINavigationController back button title inconsistent? - ios

I use a UINavigationController in my app and am having an issue with the back button titles. I have the title programmatically set for any page that I push to. On some of the pages the back button will correctly display the previous pages title, but then on select other pages it just says 'back'.
I have a basic implementation on pushing to a new VC:
- (void)pushToNewVC
{
NewVC *newVC = [[NewVC alloc] init];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:newVC animated:YES];
}
In the viewDidLoad of newVC/all of myVC's I have self.title = #"Title".
The problem is that in some cases it works, but then in others in will just say 'Back' rather than the previous pages title.

I've noticed a similar behavior that if the back button's title length won't fit in the Navigation Bar with the title of the pushed VC, the Back Button's title will fallback to just < Back.
On the VCs where the inconsistent behavior is happening, try setting the title of pushing VC to a shorter word just to test and confirm if that is indeed what's happening. Hope this helps.

Setting self.title = #"Title" will just set the title og the UINavigationBar, not the back button. Use the following code to set the back button title:
UIBarButtonItem *backButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc]
initWithTitle: #"Back Button Text"
style: UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered
target: nil action: nil];
[self.navigationItem setBackBarButtonItem: backButton];

Related

iOS 9 back barButtonItem not showing on navigation controller

Similar to the issue described here, with the exception that my TabBar is actually showing the BackButton on my NavigationBar is not. In the question I provided a link to the answer that solved the problem was that there was a NavigationController within a NavigationController, I do not have that so this is a different issue.
The basic flow of my storyboard is Login (UIView) - TabBar (UITabBarController) - NavigationController (UINavigationController) - Actual visible screen (UITableViewController) - New TableView where the issue occurs (UITableViewController).
On the new actual visible screen or the TableView the NavigationBar at the top shows just fine and I can click in the general area that the BackBarButton should be and it will go back, but no BackBarButton item is visible.
I tried changing the color, allocating it in the previous ViewController, making sure it was visible, etc. And none of them have shown the Back Button. It seems to be there but it is not shown.
Any ideas? From the other question that is similar to my issue this seems to be a iOS 9 specific thing.
EDIT from looking at the Debug View Hierarchy I can tell that the back button is in fact there but it just has no label or back arrow on it. How can I make the back label visible?
EDIT 2
Here is the viewDidLoad method of the view controller where the back button should appear.
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#" " style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:nil action:nil];
[self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem setTintColor:[UIColor whiteColor]];
// Other unimportant stuff
}
The way I am segueing to this view controller is through the storyboard with a Push segue. Code is below.
- (void)segueToUser: (UIButton*)button {
long row = button.tag;
PFObject *PFQuote = [_recent quoteAtIndex:(row-1)/2];
PFUser *u = [PFQuote objectForKey:#"creator"];
_send = u;
[self performSegueWithIdentifier:#"showUser" sender:self];
}
Here is my prepareForSegue in the same file as the segueToUser
- (void)prepareForSegue:(UIStoryboardSegue *)segue sender:(id)sender {
if ([segue.identifier isEqualToString:#"showUser"]) {
BRETTFUserTableViewController *bfutvc = [segue destinationViewController];
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#" " style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:nil action:nil];
bfutvc.us = _send;
}
}
Here is a picture of a section of my storyboard.
The first view is a tabView
The second view is a navView
The third view is a tableView
The fourth view is a tableView
Since no one has seemed to have found a solution I will provide additional information. From my digging deeper into the Debug View Hierarchy I have found some more information regarding the backButton. I can see that the back arrow is intact there and there is a NSString next to it that seems to be nil, I do not know why it is nil but that is what I found. Here are additional pictures of what I have found.
In your
(void)prepareForSegue:(UIStoryboardSegue *)segue sender:(id)sender {
you have Write a code line
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#" " style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:nil action:nil];
In Above line you have set title " " Empty String.
Instead of empty string use the title which you want to show on back-button item. fr ex:
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#"Back" style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:nil action:nil];
Check it might that help.
Adding a image of storyboard, how i have embedded the view controller in navigation controller.
or in case if you have put navigation appearance code anywhere in your app then also post that code.
In your viewDidLoad and prepareForSegue methods you have this :
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#" " style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:nil action:nil];
Which replace the default back button of the navigation controller by a button without a label.
You should simply remove these 2 lines to have the default back button.
I have finally solved the issue. To accomplish this I had to go into the navigation bar for the first tableViewController and set the Back Button title to Back and then set the tint color (as it defaulted to clear) and now it works.

Issue with back button title in UINavigationBar

I have 2 UIViewController. I have just done a simple task.
Move from first view controller to second view controller.
First View Controller's Name : "My Information"
Issue is when I reach to the 2nd View Controller then I found back button title as "Back"
When I turn the simulator to landscape view then back button title is as "My Information"
What is the issue there? I could not understand.
This is probably because the title is too long. Try setting it to a shorter string, or set your own custom back button.
In "My Information" view controller add below code.
1) In viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated
-(void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated
{
[super viewWillAppear:animated];
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem =
[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#"Back"
style: UIBarButtonItemStylePlain
target:nil
action:nil];
}
#Dharmesh, please look at the code here code sample this shows after you change the mode to landscapeback button remains same.

Change the title of backbutton in NavigationBar

Following the examples of the many duplicates for this questions, I can't seem to get it right.
I have a UINavigationViewController that has a LoginViewController as the rootViewController. Here I got a button with a segue (push) to a LoginInfoViewController.
In LoginInfoViewController.m:
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
//null
NSLog(#"%#", self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem);
UIBarButtonItem *backButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#"Test"
style:UIBarButtonItemStyleDone
target:nil
action:nil];
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem = backButton;
//not null, still the back button says: "Back"
NSLog(#"%#", self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem);
}
You will need to set the backBarButtonItem of the controller you are going back to, not the controller you pushed. Move your code to the LoginViewController viewDidLoad method.
The navigation controller derives the back button for the navigation bar from the backBarButtonItem of the preceding controller in the stack. If the item is nil, it will use the value in the title property of same. If the title is too long to fit, the navigation bar may substitute the string "Back" in place of the title.
If your controller has a custom left bar button item, the navigation bar will ignore the backButtonItem property and title presenting the custom button instead.
Set the title of the back button on the view BEFORE. So, if you segue from LoginViewController, you set the back button title on the item before you segue to LoginInfoViewController
Example:
In the viewDidLoad method on LoginViewController:
UIBarButtonItem *newBackButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle: #"Go back" style: UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered target: nil action: nil];
[[self navigationItem] setBackBarButtonItem: newBackButton];
This means you're setting the button on the LoginViewController, not on the LoginInfoViewController.

How to set the title of a Navigation Bar programmatically?

I have a Navigation Bar in a view, and I want to change its Navigation Item title programmatically.
How is this done?
In your UIViewController
self.navigationItem.title = #"The title";
Swift 3 Version:
If you use a navigation bar without navigation controller, then you can try this:
navigationBar.topItem?.title = "Your Title"
Hope for help.
In viewDidLoad
self.title = #"Title";
Write the below code in viewDidLoad or may be better would be under initWithNibName:
self.navigationItem.title = #"title";
Thanks.
From Apple Documentation:
The most common way to use a navigation bar is with a navigation
controller. You can also use a navigation bar as a standalone object
in your app.
So If you have a UINavigationController, all what you have to do to set the title of the navigation bar (as explained in all previous answers)
self.navigationItem.title = #"title";
But If you have a standalone navigation bar that is created programmatically within an object of UIViewController, You have to set the initial appearance of the navigation bar by creating the appropriate UINavigationItem objects and adding them to the navigation bar object stack i.e.
Create an instance of navigation bar (UINavigationBar)
Create an instance of navigation bar item (UINavigationItem) that manages the buttons and views to be displayed in a UINavigationBar object. Note that you set the title at this step.
(Optional Step) Add right/left buttons (instances of UIBarButtonItem) to the navigation bar item.
Sample of Objective-C Code for the mentioned steps:
UINavigationBar* navbar = [[UINavigationBar alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, self.view.frame.size.width, 64)];
/* Create navigation item object & set the title of navigation bar. */
UINavigationItem* navItem = [[UINavigationItem alloc] initWithTitle:self.shoppingItem.name];
/* Create left button item. */
UIBarButtonItem* cancelBtn = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemCancel target:self action:#selector(onTapCancel:)];
navItem.leftBarButtonItem = cancelBtn;
/* Create left button item. */
UIBarButtonItem* doneBtn = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemDone target:self action:#selector(onTapDone:)];
navItem.rightBarButtonItem = doneBtn;
/* Assign the navigation item to the navigation bar.*/
[navbar setItems:#[navItem]];
/* add navigation bar to the root view.*/
[self.view addSubview:navbar];
For Swift version of the standalone navigation bar, check out this answer.
You can also use 👇🏻
[self.navigationController.navigationBar.topItem setTitle:#"Titlet"];
In your UIViewController's viewDidLoad
self.navigationItem.title = "The title"; //In swift 4
or
you can just
self.title = "The title"
will do the trick
you can also put the above statement in the app delegate to replicate globally.
This code did not work for me
self.navigationItem.title = #"Title here";
But this worked.
self.title = "Title Name"
Use it in ViewDidLoad method
Format :
#property(nonatomic,readonly,retain) UINavigationItem *navigationItem; // Created on-demand so that a view controller may customize its navigation appearance.
Example :
self.navigationItem.title = #"Title here";
very important note : make sure you make the changes that mentioned above in parent view Controller's viewDidLoad method, or parents navigation bar in storyboard
Sometimes you might get a case where you are updating the title and it is not causing any effect, this can be when you have a custom view on the topItem therefore you might want to update it like this: (self.navigationController?.navigationBar.topItem?.titleView as? UILabel)?.text = "My Happy New Title"

UINavigationController "back button" custom text?

The "back button" of a UINavigationController by default shows the title of the last view in the stack. Is there a way to have custom text in the back button instead?
From this link:
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem =
[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#"Custom Title"
style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain
target:nil
action:nil];
As Tyler said in the comments:
don't do this in the visible view controller, but in the view
controller that you'd see if you hit the back button
You can set the text in the Interface Builder:
Select the navigation item of the ViewController that the back button would return to:
In the utilities panel attribute inspector, enter your label for the Back Button:
I would prefer this approach over setting the title in code as in the accepted answer.
Also note, you need to do this in the view controller one level up the
stack. In other words, don't do this in the visible view controller,
but in the view controller that you'd see if you hit the back button.
--Tyler
I use this:
// In the current view controller, not the one that is one level up in the stack
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
self.navigationController.navigationBar.backItem.title = #"Custom text";
}
I found a handy solution to this by simply setting the title of the controller before pushing another controller onto the stack, like this:
self.navigationItem.title = #"Replacement Title";
[self.navigationController pushViewController:newCtrl animated:YES];
Then, make sure to set the original title in viewWillAppear, like this:
-(void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated
{
...
self.navigationItem.title = #"Original Title";
...
}
This works because the default behavior of UINavigationController when constructing the back button during a push operation is to use the title from the previous controller.
The title of the back button defaults to the previous view's title so a quick trick I use is to place the following code on the previous view's .m file.
-(void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {
// Set title
self.navigationItem.title=#"Original Title";
}
-(void)viewWillDisappear:(BOOL)animated {
// Set title
self.navigationItem.title=#"Back";
}
in your init method, add the following code:
- (id)initWithStyle:(UITableViewStyle)style {
if(self = [super init]) {
//...
UIBarButtonItem *customBackButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#"Back"
style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain
target:self
action:#selector(goBack)];
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = customBackButton;
[customBackButton release];
//...
}
return self;
}
then add a simple method, to allow viewcontroller dismissing:
-(void)goBack {
[self.navigationController popViewControllerAnimated:YES];
}
Add the following code in viewDidLoad or loadView
self.navigationController.navigationBar.topItem.title = #"Custom text";
I tested it in iPhone and iPad with iOS 9
Adding to rein's answer. Note from Apple's docs that the declaration of backBarButtonItem is this:
#property(nonatomic, retain) UIBarButtonItem *backBarButtonItem
Therefore, rein's answer will leak memory because the synthesized setter will retain the instance you pass it, which is never released explicitly. You can remedy this by using autorelease
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem =
[[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#"Custom Title"
style:UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered
target:nil
action:nil] autorelease]; //<-- autoreleased
Or you could point a variable at the instance so you can explicitly release it later:
UIBarButtonItem* item = ...
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem = item;
[item release];
Hope this helps!
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
UIBarButtonItem *backButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#"Back" style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:nil action:nil];
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem = backButton;
[backButton release];
}
I've discovered something interesting.
If you subclass the UINavigationController and override the pushViewController:animated: method and do something like this: (bear in mind that I'm using ARC)
UIBarButtonItem *backButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc]
initWithTitle: #"Back"
style: UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered
target: nil action: nil];
viewController.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem = backButton;
[super pushViewController:viewController animated:animated];
Then for all ViewControllers that are pushed with your navigation controller will have the "Back" button in them automatically. If you want to change the text for certain view controllers you can try and maybe cast the viewcontroller to a certain class or your own custom protocol (which your viewcontroller inherits from which could have a method like backButtonText or something silly like that) which can give you certain information on the viewcontroller that's coming in sothat you can customize the back button text for it. Now the back button text is taken care of in a place which should hold the responsibility solely. I have to admit that creating a new button to change the text sucks, but oh well.
Can anyone think of a reason why not to do it like this? Atleast you don't have to fiddle with viewcontroller titles or have to remember to create a new back button before pushing the viewcontroller on the navigation controller.
rein's answer works well.
Note that if you push more than one view controller, the changed back button title will appear for each of them, which may not be what you want.
In that case, you'll need to create the custom UIBarButtonItem each time you push a view controller.
Also, make sure you do it before pushing the view controller, otherwise you will get a screen hiccup as the title changes.
Expanding on Aubrey's suggestion, you can do this in the child view controller:
create two variables for storing the old values of the parent's navigationItem.title and the parent's navigationItem
UINavigationItem* oldItem;
NSString* oldTitle;
in viewDidLoad, add the following:
oldItem = self.navigationController.navigationBar.topItem;
oldTitle = oldItem.title;
[oldItem setTitle: #"Back"];
in viewWillDisappear, add the following:
[oldItem setTitle: oldTitle];
oldTitle = nil; // do this if you have retained oldTitle
oldItem = nil; // do this if you have retained oldItem
It's not perfect. You will see the the title of the parent view change as the new controller is animated in. BUT this does achieve the goal of custom labeling the back button and keeping it shaped like a standard back button.
Put this into you viewDidLoad, hope it will result into what you are looking for
UIBarButtonItem *backBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:#"Close"
style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:nil action:nil];
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem = backBarButtonItem;
[backBarButtonItem release];
if You want to set title in ARRIVING controller (sometimes more logic..)
in swift 3 do:
func setBackButtonNavBar(title: String, delay: Double){
let when = DispatchTime.now() + delay
DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: when, execute: { () -> Void in
if let navBar = self.navigationController?.navigationBar{
navBar.backItem?.title = title
}
})
}
in upcoming controller:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.setBackButtonNavBar(title: "back", delay: 0.3)
}
usually I put self.setBackButtonNavBar in a controller extension.
I know this is an old question and the answers' kind of out updated!
The easy way is to do this in parent ViewController:
i.e the one that takes you to next view controller.
self.navigationItem.backBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(title: "Custom text here", style: .plain, target: nil, action: nil)
Doing this in code remove the back button style of the UINavigationConroller. If you add a Navigation Item in each of yours views, you can set the title of the back botton in the StoryBoard.

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