Is it possible?
I have a UINavigationBar that I’d like to have an ‘edit’ button next to the ‘back’ button. From what I’ve read you can only have one or the other, which makes no sense as they are separate properties of the navigationItem object(backBarButtonItem and leftBarButtonItem).
I’m assuming you have to somehow insert a custom UIView into the UINavigationBar. I’m looking into this option and if no better solution is given then I’ll outline this method.
The short answer is:
Yes, you have to add your own UIButton views (or other UIControl subclasses) to the navigation controller, yourself. So, ignore the custom *ButtonItem properties and roll it yourself.
A little more involved answer is:
Apple makes it very easy to follow their HIG guidelines, but you’re on your own if you want to break them or customize. In this case, only one button is allowed, because the actual hit region is bigger than the size of the displayed button–much easier to hit from a usability standpoint.
Extraneous:
btw, there is a subtle distinction between left/rightBarButtonItem and backBarButtonItem. left/right is specified on the current UIViewController. However back is specified by the previous UIViewController.