In your ViewController try adding this
[self.navigationController setToolbarHidden:NO animated:YES];
and use this to add BarItems to it
[self setToolbarItems:@[item1, item2, item3] animated:YES];
I'm using this method to add a scan button to a UITableViewController:
UIBarButtonItem *leftSpace = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemFlexibleSpace target:nil action:nil];
UIBarButtonItem *rightSpace = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemFlexibleSpace target:nil action:nil];
...
...
UIBarButtonItem *scanItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:scanButton];
[self setToolbarItems:@[leftSpace, scanItem, rightSpace] animated:YES];
You should be careful because the ToolBar visibility is set for the entire NavigationController you are using and you should show/hide it when needed.
Also the items on it need to be set on each controller (I have this issue, maybe there is a better way to do it)
Hope this helps.