How to access tabBarController from AppDelegate.m?

Question

This is my storyboard:

I am trying to access tabBarController from a method inside AppDelegate.m

This is AppDelegate.h:

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import <FacebookSDK/FacebookSDK.h>
#import "STAlertView.h"


@interface demo_AppDelegate : UIResponder <UIApplicationDelegate>

@property (strong, nonatomic) UIWindow *window;
@property (nonatomic, strong) STAlertView *av;

@end

And this is AppDelegate.m:

#import "demo_AppDelegate.h"
#import "demo_Friends_ViewController.h"


@implementation demo_AppDelegate
-(void)showFriendReqAlert:(NSNotification *)pNotification{
    NSLog(@"Hello from showFriendReqAlert:");
    NSLog(@"Root: %@", [self.window.rootViewController.navigationController.tabBarController viewControllers]);

}
....
....
....
....
@end

My main motive is when this method showFriendReqAlert: is called, a red badge is shown to the third tab bar item which is Friends. But whenever i try to select tabBarItem, it says null in NSLog.

I have also tried the following: self.window.rootViewController.navigationController.tabBarController self.window.rootViewController.tabBarController

but nothing works. Any help?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I believe (sorry for believing here ;-) that the TabBarController should be your first controller and your navigationBarController must come afterwards as it does not make much sense for the navigationController (if you change a tab) what to push/pop.

I suggest that you remove your first DemoViewController and following NavigationController and that your first Controller is your TabBarController (simply set "Is Initial View Controller" in IB).

Then you can access your tabBar like this:

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
    UITabBarController *tbc = (UITabBarController *)self.window.rootViewController;
}

Swift 5:

guard let tabBarController = window?.rootViewController as? UITabBarController else { return }