Create a Transparent NavigationBar

Question

I am wondering how do we create a UINavigationBar that is totally transparent (alpha = 0) but the BarButton Item is still visible.

I would like to have an Invisible NavigationBar but I need the BarButtonItem to be visible.

Answer 1

Screenshot

Swift

self.navigationController?.navigationBar.setBackgroundImage(UIImage.new(), forBarMetrics: UIBarMetrics.Default)
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.shadowImage = UIImage.new()

OC

[self.navigationController.navigationBar setBackgroundImage:[UIImage new] forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];
[self.navigationController.navigationBar setShadowImage:[UIImage new]];

Answer 2

I found a way:

Create a subclass of UINavigationBar and give it to the navigation controller to use it.

class NavigationBar: UINavigationBar {
    // An empty implementation will make the view to be transparent
    override func drawRect(rect: CGRect) {
    }
}

If you are using InterfaceBuilder then you can select the navigation controller, then select its navigation bar, then change its class appropriately.

If you are doing it programatically:

let navController = UINavigationController(navigationBarClass: NavigationBar.self, toolbarClass: nil)
...

Result with an UIBarButtonItem:

Hope it helps

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Old Answer:

I tried long time ago (ios6). Basically it is possible. Make the color of navigation bar to be UIColor.clearColor() . Buttons will need to be custom UIViews inside the UIBarButton so the show the way you want. I think you will need to adjust the color of the view behind the navigation bar too.