How to set the activity indicator in the navigation bar?

I am new to iphone development. I want to set an activity indicator in the navigation bar. I see my activity indicator below the navigation bar. My code is here

- (IBAction) gomethod : (id) sender {
    xxMapSubviewcontroller = [[XxMapSubviewcontroller alloc] init];
	[self.navigationController pushViewController:xxMapSubviewcontroller animated:YES];

    activityIndicator = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
	activityIndicator.frame = CGRectMake(0.0, 0.0, 20.0, 20.0);
    [activityIndicator startAnimating];

	[xxMapSubviewcontroller.view addSubview:activityIndicator];
}

How can i set my activity indicator in the navigation bar? Please help me out. Thanks.

I add the below piece of code in the view where i wanted the activity indicator in the navigation bar.

activityIndicator = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
UIBarButtonItem * barButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:activityIndicator];
[self navigationItem].rightBarButtonItem = barButton;
[activityIndicator startAnimating];

Swift Code:

let activityIndicator = UIActivityIndicatorView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 20, height: 20))
let barButton = UIBarButtonItem(customView: activityIndicator)
self.navigationItem.setRightBarButton(barButton, animated: true)
activityIndicator.startAnimating()

You are creating a new activity indicator view here, which is fine, but you are not referring to the activity indicator in the status bar.

To show the activity indicator in the status bar, simply call this:

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] setNetworkActivityIndicatorVisible:YES];

This worked for me in Swift:

let activityIndicator: UIActivityIndicatorView = UIActivityIndicatorView.init(activityIndicatorStyle: .White)
let refreshBarButton: UIBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(customView: activityIndicator)
self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = refreshBarButton
activityIndicator.startAnimating()

Swift

1. Connect UIBarButtonItem from storyboard to yourViewController

2. remove week from its definition like: @IBOutlet var btNavigaitonRight: UIBarButtonItem!

3. Use these methods for start and stopping activity indicator:

    var activityIndicator = UIActivityIndicatorView()
   
    func startBarButtonIndicator() {
        activityIndicator = UIActivityIndicatorView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 20, height: 20))
        activityIndicator?.color = .gray
        let barButton = UIBarButtonItem(customView: activityIndicator!)
        self.navigationItem.setRightBarButton(barButton, animated: true)
        activityIndicator?.startAnimating()
    }
   
    func stopBarButtonIndicator() {
        activityIndicator?.stopAnimating()
        navigationItem.setRightBarButton(btNavigaitonRight, animated: true)
    }
   

On storyboard: Create BarButtonItem at the navigation bar. Add View to be son of your BarButtonItem and ActivityIndicator to be son of your View.

Like WhatsApp:

//Declare

let activityIndicator = UIActivityIndicatorView(activityIndicatorStyle: .gray)

//ViewDidLoad

self.activityIndicator.hidesWhenStopped = true

func showIndicator() {
    self.navigationItem.titleView = self.activityIndicator
    self.activityIndicator.isHidden = false
}

func hideIndicator() {
    self.navigationItem.titleView = nil
}

Thanks! My indicator is working now.

I am sharing a code example for fellow noobs, to put this in context.

- (void)viewDidLoad

// custom button images
UIImage *customImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"menu24"];
UIImage *customImage2 = [UIImage imageNamed:@"search24"];
UIImage *customImage3 = [UIImage imageNamed:@"back24"];

// These are linked in my story board to Navigation Item
[self customiseBarBtnItem:[self menu_button] 
    customImage:customImage selector:@selector(menuPressed:)];
[self customiseBarBtnItem:[self search_button] 
    customImage:customImage2 selector:@selector(searchPressed:)];
[self customiseBarBtnItem:[self backButton] 
    customImage:customImage3 selector:@selector(backPressed:)];

//initialize the activity indicator - as @antf comment suggests for ios7   
UIActivityIndicatorView *actInd=[[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc]                                      
     initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];

//store it as a property on the view controller
self.activityIndicator = actInd;

// this sets up activity indicator    
UIBarButtonItem *progress_indicator = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] 
     initWithCustomView:[self activityIndicator]];

// link custom buttons AND activity indicator in desired order to navigation bar
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItems =
    [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
         self.menu_button,
         self.search_button, 
         progress_indicator, 
         nil];

// For completeness - this is how I programmatically show/hide my back button

if ( bShowBack == YES ) 
     self.navItemBar.leftBarButtonItem = self.backButton;
else 
     self.navItemBar.leftBarButtonItem = Nil;
  

// I use my activity indicator with a UIWebView so trigger it as follows

  - (void)webViewDidStartLoad:(UIWebView *)webView
  {    
    [[self activityIndicator] startAnimating];
  }

  - (void)didFailLoadWithError:(UIWebView *)webView 
          didFailLoadWithError:(NSError *)error
  {    
     [[self activityIndicator] stopAnimating];
  }

  - (void)webViewDidFinishLoad:(UIWebView *) webView
  {
     [[self activityIndicator] stopAnimating];
  }

In Swift, I did the following:

Enable: UIApplication.sharedApplication().networkActivityIndicatorVisible = true

Disable: UIApplication.sharedApplication().networkActivityIndicatorVisible = false

I had a similar question with response here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2249363/iphone-programatically-change-navigation-bar-button-to-activity-indicator

I wanted to change the refresh button in the nav bar to the activity indicator and back again.

try this : self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.customView = your_view

I tried to use it now and the code mentioned by warrior didn't work exactly as is. I had to change the initialization of activityIndicator:

activityIndicator = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];

With this change it should work as expected.