Question

Is there an existing API for this kind of separated controls for the UINavigationbar seen in Mail.app? More specifically this up and down arrows shown in the picture.

Answer 1

Note that you can create UIBarButtonItem with any custom view you want. So you can create it with UISegmentedControl as well – it is what’s likely used in your example. Workflow should be something like:

1. Create momentary (momentary property set to yes) UISegmentedControl with 2 segments
2. Assign an image to each of them (using setImage:forSegmentAtIndex: method). Then
3. Create UIBarButtonItem initialized with this UISegmentedControl as a custom view (using initWithCustomView: method).
4. Add your UIBarButtonItem as a left or right BarButtonItem to the UINavigationItem