Maximize Size of UITabBarItem image

Question

I would like to create a custom UITabBarItem with a Icon-image thats size is a little bit bigger than usual. The thing is I don't want to use a full replace of the background image because i would like to have the translucent effect of the TabBar.

So i would like to know 2 things:

1. What sizes are now correct for the new iOS7 UITabBarItems and their icons

2. How do I modify the size of the icon to display a bigger icon, because i dont want to show a title. Without the title its kinda small. In mind to keep the translucent effect displaying.

Any help or suggestions would be great!

Answer 1

Regardless of the icon’s visual style, create a toolbar or navigation bar icon in the following sizes:

About 44 x 44 pixels
About 22 x 22 pixels (standard resolution)
Regardless of the icon’s visual style, create a tab bar icon in the following sizes:

About 50 x 50 pixels (96 x 64 pixels maximum)
About 25 x 25 pixels (48 x 32 pixels maximum) for standard resolution

Have a look at these Developers guide for bar & buttons
Bar icons in Human interface guidelines

Answer 2

To increase the size, try below code,

NSArray *items = self.tabBarController.tabBar.items;

for (UITabBarItem *b in items)
        b.imageInsets = UIEdgeInsetsMake(-5, -5, -5, -5);

If you want to decrease, try passing positive values to UIEdgeInsetsMake(top,left,bottom,right)

Answer 3

Swift 4.2,

let array = tabBarController?.tabBar.items
for controller in array! {
    controller.tabBarItem.imageInsets = UIEdgeInsets(top: 5, left: -5, bottom: -5, right: -5)
}