Navigation controller custom transition animation

To do a custom transition with navigation controller (UINavigationController), you should:

  • Define your view controller to conform to UINavigationControllerDelegate protocol. For example, you can have a private class extension in your view controller’s .m file that specifies conformance to this protocol:

    @interface ViewController () <UINavigationControllerDelegate>
    
    @end
    
  • Make sure you actually specify your view controller as your navigation controller’s delegate:

    - (void)viewDidLoad {
        [super viewDidLoad];
    
        self.navigationController.delegate = self;
    }
    
  • Implement animationControllerForOperation in your view controller:

    - (id<UIViewControllerAnimatedTransitioning>)navigationController:(UINavigationController *)navigationController
                                      animationControllerForOperation:(UINavigationControllerOperation)operation
                                                   fromViewController:(UIViewController*)fromVC
                                                     toViewController:(UIViewController*)toVC
    {
        if (operation == UINavigationControllerOperationPush)
            return [[PushAnimator alloc] init];
    
        if (operation == UINavigationControllerOperationPop)
            return [[PopAnimator alloc] init];
    
        return nil;
    }
    
  • Implement animators for push and pop animations, e.g.:

    @interface PushAnimator : NSObject <UIViewControllerAnimatedTransitioning>
    
    @end
    
    @interface PopAnimator : NSObject <UIViewControllerAnimatedTransitioning>
    
    @end
    
    @implementation PushAnimator
    
    - (NSTimeInterval)transitionDuration:(id <UIViewControllerContextTransitioning>)transitionContext
    {
        return 0.5;
    }
    
    - (void)animateTransition:(id<UIViewControllerContextTransitioning>)transitionContext
    {
        UIViewController* toViewController   = [transitionContext viewControllerForKey:UITransitionContextToViewControllerKey];
    
        [[transitionContext containerView] addSubview:toViewController.view];
    
        toViewController.view.alpha = 0.0;
    
        [UIView animateWithDuration:[self transitionDuration:transitionContext] animations:^{
            toViewController.view.alpha = 1.0;
        } completion:^(BOOL finished) {
            [transitionContext completeTransition:![transitionContext transitionWasCancelled]];
        }];
    }
    
    @end
    
    @implementation PopAnimator
    
    - (NSTimeInterval)transitionDuration:(id <UIViewControllerContextTransitioning>)transitionContext
    {
        return 0.5;
    }
    
    - (void)animateTransition:(id<UIViewControllerContextTransitioning>)transitionContext
    {
        UIViewController* toViewController   = [transitionContext viewControllerForKey:UITransitionContextToViewControllerKey];
        UIViewController* fromViewController = [transitionContext viewControllerForKey:UITransitionContextFromViewControllerKey];
    
        [[transitionContext containerView] insertSubview:toViewController.view belowSubview:fromViewController.view];
    
        [UIView animateWithDuration:[self transitionDuration:transitionContext] animations:^{
            fromViewController.view.alpha = 0.0;
        } completion:^(BOOL finished) {
            [transitionContext completeTransition:![transitionContext transitionWasCancelled]];
        }];
    }
    
    @end
    

    That does fade transition, but you should feel free to customize the animation as you see fit.

  • If you want to handle interactive gestures (e.g. something like the native swipe left-to-right to pop), you have to implement an interaction controller:

    • Define a property for an interaction controller (an object that conforms to UIViewControllerInteractiveTransitioning):

      @property (nonatomic, strong) UIPercentDrivenInteractiveTransition *interactionController;
      

      This UIPercentDrivenInteractiveTransition is a nice object that does the heavy lifting of updating your custom animation based upon how complete the gesture is.

    • Add a gesture recognizer to your view. Here I’m just implementing the left gesture recognizer to simulate a pop:

      UIScreenEdgePanGestureRecognizer *edge = [[UIScreenEdgePanGestureRecognizer alloc] initWithTarget:self action:@selector(handleSwipeFromLeftEdge:)];
      edge.edges = UIRectEdgeLeft;
      [view addGestureRecognizer:edge];
      
    • Implement the gesture recognizer handler:

      /** Handle swipe from left edge
       *
       * This is the "action" selector that is called when a left screen edge gesture recognizer starts.
       *
       * This will instantiate a UIPercentDrivenInteractiveTransition when the gesture starts,
       * update it as the gesture is "changed", and will finish and release it when the gesture
       * ends.
       *
       * @param   gesture       The screen edge pan gesture recognizer.
       */
      
      - (void)handleSwipeFromLeftEdge:(UIScreenEdgePanGestureRecognizer *)gesture {
          CGPoint translate = [gesture translationInView:gesture.view];
          CGFloat percent   = translate.x / gesture.view.bounds.size.width;
      
          if (gesture.state == UIGestureRecognizerStateBegan) {
              self.interactionController = [[UIPercentDrivenInteractiveTransition alloc] init];
              [self popViewControllerAnimated:TRUE];
          } else if (gesture.state == UIGestureRecognizerStateChanged) {
              [self.interactionController updateInteractiveTransition:percent];
          } else if (gesture.state == UIGestureRecognizerStateEnded) {
              CGPoint velocity = [gesture velocityInView:gesture.view];
              if (percent > 0.5 || velocity.x > 0) {
                  [self.interactionController finishInteractiveTransition];
              } else {
                  [self.interactionController cancelInteractiveTransition];
              }
              self.interactionController = nil;
          }
      }
      
    • In your navigation controller delegate, you also have to implement interactionControllerForAnimationController delegate method

      - (id<UIViewControllerInteractiveTransitioning>)navigationController:(UINavigationController *)navigationController
                               interactionControllerForAnimationController:(id<UIViewControllerAnimatedTransitioning>)animationController {
          return self.interactionController;
      }
      

If you google “UINavigationController custom transition tutorial” and you’ll get many hits. Or see WWDC 2013 Custom Transitions video.

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