Question

So I created a UINavigationController manually, set it as my UIWindow’s rootViewController, and I would like to use a back button to exit the UINavigationController and load another viewController in its place. However, the backItem property of the UINavigationBar is readonly, so I don’t know how to set it properly (it is readonly and defaults to nil in the root navigation view). How can I achieve this (or similar effect, I want to be able to effectively “exit” this UINavigationController by pressing the back button on the root view).

Alternatively, is this bad form? How should I escape the root view of a UINavigationController?

EDIT:

Attempted Legolas’ solution with the following code: (some names have been changed)

UINavigationController* navController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:plvc]; // plvc being the first viewcontroller
MyAppDelegate* appDelegate = [Utility getAppDelegate];
appDelegate.window.rootViewController = navController;

UIBarButtonItem* backButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:@"Start" style:UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered target:self action:@selector(initializeStuff)];
navController.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = backButton;
[navController.navigationItem setHidesBackButton:YES animated:YES];
[navController.view setNeedsDisplay];

But the button does not display. What am I doing wrong? The other back buttons display properly, but this one still does not.

Answer 1

You can do this in a different approach.

Go to the method:

- (void)viewDidLoad

Hide the back button with

[self.navigationItem setHidesBackButton:YES animated:YES];

Create a new UIButton or a UIBarButtonItem, and place it in place of the back button.

You can then use an action when you click the button

- (IBAction) clickBackButton : (id) sender; //and push view controller to your required view.

Updating my answer: Use this in the viewDidLoad method //works like a charm //

[self.navigationItem setHidesBackButton:YES animated:YES];
UIBarButtonItem* backButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithTitle:@"Start" style:UIBarButtonItemStyleBordered target:self action:@selector(initializeStuff)];

self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = backButton;