[ios] Changing tab bar item image and text color iOS

Here is my tab bar:

enter image description here

The following image shows the program being run and the "NEWS" item selected:

enter image description here

It is clear the bar tint color is working fine as I want !

But the tintColor only affects the image and not the text.

Also, when the an item is selected (as seen above, news) the item color goes blue! How do I prevent this from happening? I want it to stay white.

Why is the text changing to a white color when selected but not when it is unselected?

I basically want the item color and text color to be white all the time.

How do I achieve this? Thanks for any help.

Does it require swift code for each individual item?

EDIT:

enter image description here

This question is related to ios swift uitabbar uitabbaritem

The answer is


Swift 3.0

I created the tabbar class file and wrote the following code

In viewDidLoad:

self.tabBar.barTintColor = UIColor.white
self.tabBar.isTranslucent = true

let selectedColor   = UIColor.red
let unselectedColor = UIColor.cyan

UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSForegroundColorAttributeName: unselectedColor,NSFontAttributeName: UIFont(name: "Gotham-Book", size: 10)!], for: .normal)
UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSForegroundColorAttributeName: selectedColor,NSFontAttributeName: UIFont(name: "Gotham-Book", size: 10)!], for: .selected)

if let items = self.tabBar.items {
    for item in items {
        if let image = item.image {
            item.image = image.withRenderingMode( .alwaysOriginal )
            item.selectedImage = UIImage(named: "(Imagename)-a")?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)
        }
    }
}

After viewDidLoad:

   override func tabBar(_ tabBar: UITabBar, didSelect item: UITabBarItem) {

   if(item.title! == "title")
   {
    item.selectedImage = UIImage(named: "(Imagname)-a")?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)

    }
    if(item.title! == "title")
    {
        item.selectedImage = UIImage(named: "(Imagname)-a")?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)

    }
    if(item.title! == "title")
    {
        item.selectedImage = UIImage(named: "(Imagname)-a")?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)

    }
    if(item.title! == "title")
    {
        item.selectedImage = UIImage(named: "(Imagname)-a")?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)

    }
    if(item.title! == "title")
    {
        item.selectedImage = UIImage(named: "(Imagname)-a")?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)

    }

}

in view did load method you have to set the selected image and other image are showing with RenderingMode and in tab bar delegate methods you set the selected image as per title


You may also do by this way:

override func viewWillLayoutSubviews() {  
  if let items = self.tabBar.items {
    for item in 0..<items.count {
      items[item].image = items[item].image?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)
            items[item].selectedImage = items[item].selectedImage?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysTemplate)
    }

Optional:

 UITabBar.appearance().tintColor = UIColor.red

I hope it will help you.


In Swift 4.2:

UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.white], for: .normal)
UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.red], for: .selected)

From here.

Each tab bar item has a title, selected image, unselected image, and a badge value.

Use the Image Tint (selectedImageTintColor) field to specify the bar item’s tint color when that tab is selected. By default, that color is blue.


Simply add a new UITabBarController reference to the project.Next create a reference of UITabBar in this controller:

@IBOutlet weak var appTabBar: UITabBar!

In its viewDidLoad(), simply add below for title text color:

    appTabBar.tintColor = UIColor.scandidThemeColor()

For image

    tabBarItem = UITabBarItem(title: "FirstTab", image: UIImage(named: "firstImage"), selectedImage: UIImage(named: "firstSelectedImage"))

Year: 2020 iOS 13.3

Copy below codes to AppDelegate.swift -> func didFinishLaunchingWithOptions

//Set Tab bar text/item fonts and size
let fontAttributes = [NSAttributedString.Key.font: UIFont(name: "YourFontName", size: 12.0)!]
UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes(fontAttributes, for: .normal)
//Set Tab bar text/item color
UITabBar.appearance().tintColor = UIColor.init(named: "YourColorName")

Swift 4.2 and Xcode 10

The solution that worked for me:

  1. Image setup - from the storyboard set Bar Item Image and Selected Image. To remove the tint overlay on the images go to Assets catalog, select the image and change its rendering mode like this:

image render mode

This will prevent the Tab bar component from setting its default image tint.

  1. Text - here I created a simple UITabBarController subclass and in its viewDidLoad method I customized the default and selected text color like this:

    class HomeTabBarController: UITabBarController {
        override func viewDidLoad() {
            super.viewDidLoad()
    
            let appearance = UITabBarItem.appearance(whenContainedInInstancesOf: [HomeTabBarController.self])
            appearance.setTitleTextAttributes([NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: .black], for: .normal)
            appearance.setTitleTextAttributes([NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: .red], for: .selected)
        }
    }
    

Just set this class as your Tab bar controller custom class in identity inspector in IB.

Voila! That's it.

iOS 13 Update:

Add this to your setup for iOS 13:

if #available(iOS 13, *) {
    let appearance = UITabBarAppearance()
    appearance.stackedLayoutAppearance.selected.titleTextAttributes = [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: .red]
    tabBar.standardAppearance = appearance
}

you can set tintColor of UIBarItem :

UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.magentaColor()], forState:.Normal)
UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.redColor()], forState:.Selected)

This Code works for Swift 4 if you want to change the image of Tab Bar Item when pressed. Copy and paste in the first viewDidLoad method that is hit in the project

   let arrayOfImageNameForSelectedState:[String] = ["Image1Color", "Image2Color","Image3Color"]
   let arrayOfImageNameForUnselectedState: [String] = ["Image1NoColor","Image2NoColor","Image3NoColor"]


    print(self.tabBarController?.tabBar.items?.count)

    if let count = self.tabBarController?.tabBar.items?.count {
        for i in 0...(count-1) {
            let imageNameForSelectedState   = arrayOfImageNameForSelectedState[i]
            print(imageNameForSelectedState)
            let imageNameForUnselectedState = arrayOfImageNameForUnselectedState[i]
            print(imageNameForUnselectedState)
            self.tabBarController?.tabBar.items?[i].selectedImage = UIImage(named: imageNameForSelectedState)?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)
            self.tabBarController?.tabBar.items?[i].image = UIImage(named: imageNameForUnselectedState)?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)
        }
    }

Try add it on AppDelegate.swift (inside application method):

UITabBar.appearance().tintColor = UIColor(red: 0/255.0, green: 0/255.0, blue: 0/255.0, alpha: 1.0)

// For WHITE color: 
UITabBar.appearance().tintColor = UIColor(red: 255/255.0, green: 255/255.0, blue: 255/255.0, alpha: 1.0)

Example:

func application(application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [NSObject: AnyObject]?) -> Bool {
    // Tab bar icon selected color
    UITabBar.appearance().tintColor = UIColor(red: 0/255.0, green: 0/255.0, blue: 0/255.0, alpha: 1.0)
    // For WHITE color: UITabBar.appearance().tintColor = UIColor(red: 255/255.0, green: 255/255.0, blue: 255/255.0, alpha: 1.0)
    return true
}

Example:

enter image description here

enter image description here

My english is so bad! I'm sorry! :-)


Swift 3

First of all, make sure you have added the BOOLEAN key "View controller-based status bar appearance" to Info.plist, and set the value to "NO".

Appdelegate.swift

Insert code somewhere after "launchOptions:[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {"

  1. Change the color of the tab bar itself with RGB color value:

UITabBar.appearance().barTintColor = UIColor(red: 0.145, green: 0.592, blue: 0.804, alpha: 1.00)

OR one of the default UI colors:

UITabBar.appearance().barTintColor = UIColor.white)


  1. Change the text color of the tab items:

The selected item

UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.white], for: .selected)

The inactive items

UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.black], for: .normal)

  1. To change the color of the image, I believe the easiest approach is to make to separate images, one for each state.

If you don´t make the icons from scratch, alternating black and white versions are relatively easy to make in Photoshop.


Adobe Photoshop (almost any version will do)

Make sure your icon image has transparent background, and the icon itself is solid black (or close).

Open the image file, save it under a different file name (e.g. exampleFilename-Inverted.png)

In the "Adjustments" submenu on the "Image" menu:

Click "Invert"

You now have a negative of your original icon.

In XCode, set one of the images as "Selected Image" under the Tab Bar Properties in your storyboard, and specify the "inactive" version under "Bar Item" image.

Ta-Da


Subclass your TabbarViewController and in ViewDidLoad put this code:

 [UITabBarItem.appearance setTitleTextAttributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName : [UIColor darkGreyColorBT]} forState:UIControlStateNormal];
    [UITabBarItem.appearance setTitleTextAttributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName : [UIColor nightyDarkColorBT]} forState:UIControlStateSelected];

    self.tabBar.items[0].image  = [[UIImage imageNamed:@"ic-pack [email protected]"]  imageWithRenderingMode:UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysOriginal];
    self.tabBar.items[0].selectedImage  = [[UIImage imageNamed:@"[email protected]"]  imageWithRenderingMode:UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysOriginal];
    self.tabBar.items[1].image = [[UIImage imageNamed:@"ic-sleeptracker [email protected]"] imageWithRenderingMode:UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysOriginal];
    self.tabBar.items[1].selectedImage  = [[UIImage imageNamed:@"[email protected]"] imageWithRenderingMode:UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysOriginal];
    self.tabBar.items[2].image = [[UIImage imageNamed:@"ic-profile [email protected]"] imageWithRenderingMode:UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysOriginal];
    self.tabBar.items[2].selectedImage  = [[UIImage imageNamed:@"[email protected]"] imageWithRenderingMode:UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysOriginal];

This is the simplest working solution I have


Swift 5:

let homeTab = UITabBarItem(title: "Home", image: UIImage(named: "YOUR_IMAGE_NAME_FROM_ASSETS")?.withRenderingMode(UIImage.RenderingMode.alwaysOriginal), tag: 1)

Swift 4: In your UITabBarController change it by this code

tabBar.unselectedItemTintColor = .black

For Swift 4.0, it's now changed as:

tabBarItem.setTitleTextAttributes([NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.gray], for: .normal)
tabBarItem.setTitleTextAttributes([NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.blue], for: .selected)

You don't have to subclass the UITabBarItem if your requirement is only to change the text color. Just put the above code inside your view controller's viewDidLoad function.

For global settings change tabBarItem to UITabBarItem.appearance().


I know here are lots of answers but I can't find an easy and valid copy/paste answer for Swift 4.2/ Swift 5.1

tabBarController?.tabBar.tintColor = UIColor.red
tabBarController?.tabBar.unselectedItemTintColor = UIColor.green

Or use UITabBar.appearances() instead of tabBarController?.tabBar like this:

UITabBar.appearances().tintColor = UIColor.red
UITabBar.appearances().unselectedItemTintColor = UIColor.green

Images have to be UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysTemplate


Swift 3

This worked for me (referring to set tabBarItems image colors):

UITabBar.appearance().tintColor = ThemeColor.Blue

if let items = tabBarController.tabBar.items {
        let tabBarImages = getTabBarImages() // tabBarImages: [UIImage]
        for i in 0..<items.count {
            let tabBarItem = items[i]
            let tabBarImage = tabBarImages[i]
            tabBarItem.image = tabBarImage.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)
            tabBarItem.selectedImage = tabBarImage
        }
    }

I have noticed that if you set image with rendering mode = .alwaysOriginal, the UITabBar.tintColor doesn't have any effect.


Swift 3

I did it by creating a custom tabbar controller and added this code inside the viewDidLoad method.

    if let count = self.tabBar.items?.count {
        for i in 0...(count-1) {
            let imageNameForSelectedState   = arrayOfImageNameForSelectedState[i]
            let imageNameForUnselectedState = arrayOfImageNameForUnselectedState[i]

            self.tabBar.items?[i].selectedImage = UIImage(named: imageNameForSelectedState)?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)
            self.tabBar.items?[i].image = UIImage(named: imageNameForUnselectedState)?.withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)
        }
    }

    let selectedColor   = UIColor(red: 246.0/255.0, green: 155.0/255.0, blue: 13.0/255.0, alpha: 1.0)
    let unselectedColor = UIColor(red: 16.0/255.0, green: 224.0/255.0, blue: 223.0/255.0, alpha: 1.0)

    UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSForegroundColorAttributeName: unselectedColor], for: .normal)
    UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSForegroundColorAttributeName: selectedColor], for: .selected)

It worked for me!

enter image description here


In Swift 5 ioS 13.2 things have changed with TabBar styling, below code work 100%, tested out.

Add the below code in your UITabBarController class.

override func viewWillAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
        super.viewWillAppear(animated)
        let appearance = UITabBarAppearance()
        appearance.backgroundColor = .white

        setTabBarItemColors(appearance.stackedLayoutAppearance)
        setTabBarItemColors(appearance.inlineLayoutAppearance)
        setTabBarItemColors(appearance.compactInlineLayoutAppearance)

        setTabBarItemBadgeAppearance(appearance.stackedLayoutAppearance)
        setTabBarItemBadgeAppearance(appearance.inlineLayoutAppearance)
        setTabBarItemBadgeAppearance(appearance.compactInlineLayoutAppearance)

        tabBar.standardAppearance = appearance
 }

@available(iOS 13.0, *)
private func setTabBarItemColors(_ itemAppearance: UITabBarItemAppearance) {
    itemAppearance.normal.iconColor = .lightGray
    itemAppearance.normal.titleTextAttributes = [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.gray]

    itemAppearance.selected.iconColor = .white
    itemAppearance.selected.titleTextAttributes = [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.orange]
}

@available(iOS 13.0, *)
private func setTabBarItemBadgeAppearance(_ itemAppearance: UITabBarItemAppearance) {
    //Adjust the badge position as well as set its color
    itemAppearance.normal.badgeBackgroundColor = .orange
    itemAppearance.normal.badgeTextAttributes = [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.white]
    itemAppearance.normal.badgePositionAdjustment = UIOffset(horizontal: 1, vertical: -1)
}

Swift


For Image:

custom.tabBarItem = UITabBarItem(title: "Home", image: UIImage(named: "tab_icon_normal"), selectedImage: UIImage(named: "tab_icon_selected"))

For Text:

UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.gray], for: .normal)
    
UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.red], for: .selected)

Swift 5.3

let vc = UIViewController()
vc.tabBarItem.title = "sample"
vc.tabBarItem.image = UIImage(imageLiteralResourceName: "image.png").withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)
vc.tabBarItem.selectedImage = UIImage(imageLiteralResourceName: "image.png").withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal)
        
// for text displayed below the tabBar item
UITabBarItem.appearance().setTitleTextAttributes([NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.black], for: .selected)

Examples related to ios

Adding a UISegmentedControl to UITableView Crop image to specified size and picture location Undefined Symbols error when integrating Apptentive iOS SDK via Cocoapods Keep placeholder text in UITextField on input in IOS Accessing AppDelegate from framework? Autoresize View When SubViews are Added Warp \ bend effect on a UIView? Speech input for visually impaired users without the need to tap the screen make UITableViewCell selectable only while editing Xcode 12, building for iOS Simulator, but linking in object file built for iOS, for architecture arm64

Examples related to swift

Make a VStack fill the width of the screen in SwiftUI Xcode 10.2.1 Command PhaseScriptExecution failed with a nonzero exit code Command CompileSwift failed with a nonzero exit code in Xcode 10 Convert Json string to Json object in Swift 4 iOS Swift - Get the Current Local Time and Date Timestamp Xcode 9 Swift Language Version (SWIFT_VERSION) How do I use Safe Area Layout programmatically? How can I use String substring in Swift 4? 'substring(to:)' is deprecated: Please use String slicing subscript with a 'partial range from' operator Safe Area of Xcode 9 The use of Swift 3 @objc inference in Swift 4 mode is deprecated?

Examples related to uitabbar

Changing tab bar item image and text color iOS Change tab bar item selected color in a storyboard What size should TabBar images be? Changing Tint / Background color of UITabBar

Examples related to uitabbaritem

Changing tab bar item image and text color iOS Change tab bar item selected color in a storyboard What size should TabBar images be?