Hi Guys, Right, I have been trying to fully customise an IOS tab bar so have a sleek minimalist look. I kinda got there but I don't quite understand how the default shading works. My icons are white and that's how I want them. I made the background of the tab bar transparent: [taBarAppearance setBackgroundImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"tabbarbackgroundtrans.png"]]; I made the tab selector transparent as well (except for an underline that shows the active tab): [taBarAppearance setSelectionIndicatorImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"selecttabbarbackgroundnew.png"]]; I gave a white tint to the selected tab icon: [[UITabBar appearance] setSelectedImageTintColor:[UIColor whiteColor]]; I made the text label white: [[UITabBarItem appearance] setTitleTextAttributes: [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:[UIColor whiteColor], UITextAttributeTextColor, [UIFont systemFontOfSize:10.0f], UITextAttributeFont,nil] forState:UIControlStateNormal]; My problem is that my icons show grey instead of white when not selected. It looks like some kind of gradient is applied (from top to bottom transparent to grey) to the icon. How do I overwrite this? I just want the icon all white. Here is the full snippet in the appDelegate.m file: //code for change the color and background UITabBar *taBarAppearance = [UITabBar appearance]; [taBarAppearance setBackgroundImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"tabbarbackgroundtrans.png"]]; [taBarAppearance setSelectionIndicatorImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"selecttabbarbackgroundnew.png"]]; [[UITabBar appearance] setSelectedImageTintColor:[UIColor whiteColor]]; [[UITabBarItem appearance] setTitleTextAttributes: [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:[UIColor whiteColor], UITextAttributeTextColor, [UIFont systemFontOfSize:10.0f], UITextAttributeFont,nil] forState:UIControlStateNormal]; UIImage *navBarImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"navbarbackgroundtrans.png"]; [[UINavigationBar appearance] setBackgroundImage:navBarImage forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault]; UIImage *barButton = [[UIImage imageNamed:@"button.png"] resizableImageWithCapInsets:UIEdgeInsetsMake(0, 5, 0, 5)]; [[UIBarButtonItem appearance] setBackgroundImage:barButton forState:UIControlStateNormal barMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault]; UIImage *backButton = [[UIImage imageNamed:@"back-button.png"] resizableImageWithCapInsets:UIEdgeInsetsMake(0,15,0,6)]; [[UIBarButtonItem appearance] setBackButtonBackgroundImage:backButton forState:UIControlStateNormal barMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault]; //end of code Thanks for the help. Farcat

Hey Farcat, Wish I could be of help here. It's awesome the way you're looking under the hood & customizing the tab bar. I want to follow this thread, as I believe you're on to something really cool.

Happy if it can help. This is way beyond my comfort zone but that's how one learns I guess. There are quite a few threads on this subject if you are interested: https://www.buzztouch.com/forum/thread.php?tid=7AF572DC2811EC3C3FA0105&command=isSearching&currentPage=1&topicTitle=tab%20bar&createdBy=&repliedBy=&minViews=-1&maxViews=-1&minReplies=-1&maxReplies=-1&forumCategory= https://www.buzztouch.com/forum/thread.php?tid=6ABC5F2DFB7FCDA61791DA1 https://www.buzztouch.com/forum/thread.php?tid=E628479F58AF4765A8AE01C&command=isSearching&currentPage=1&topicTitle=&createdBy=Mackimack&repliedBy=&minViews=-1&maxViews=-1&minReplies=-1&maxReplies=-1&forumCategory=

I'm taking a stab in the dark, The UITabBar is a selection of buttons. Got a feeling this may default the other non pressed buttons as not highlighted adding a grey tint. thus knowing which tab is active. try this [[UITabBar appearance] setTintColor:[UIColor whiteColor]]; under [[UITabBar appearance] setSelectedImageTintColor:[UIColor whiteColor]]; Again doing it from memory, if there is a seleceted tint there must be a normal tint

Wow, just like that... It worked!! Thanks mate. Farcat

did you have to fix any typos?

No, straight out of the box :)

Isn't it great when someone just posts a soulution. Instead of doing a google search typing your rough question and posting the first stackoverflow post.

It is sweet indeed! All credit goes to my well formulated question ;)

lets see what it looks like