Set default Status bar style to .lightContent but and also allow for a dark override on some view controllers

Question

I working on a huge app loads of view controllers, the app currently sets in status bar style in the plist using:

Status bar style = UIStatusBarStyleLightContent
View controller-based status bar appearance = NO

New features require me to have some status bars in the dark default style.

So to summarize I need all the app with a default .lightContent and about 10VCs with an override to .default/dark

To start with I need to set the plist to:

View controller-based status bar appearance = YES

but once I do this many of the status bars in the app change to the .default / dark style.

I can change this style in every VC using:

 override var preferredStatusBarStyle: UIStatusBarStyle {
    return .lightContent
}

but in an app this big, this would be impractical.

I've tried quite a few extensions to override behavior, but since these are instance methods they can't be overriden like this:

    extension UIViewController
    {
        override open var preferredStatusBarStyle: UIStatusBarStyle {
        return .lightContent
         }
     }

You can use this extension:

extension UINavigationController {
    override open var preferredStatusBarStyle : UIStatusBarStyle {
        return topViewController?.preferredStatusBarStyle ?? .default
    }
}

But it only works on VC's in NavControllers and you need to set every single rootVC to .lightContent

When you changed "View controller-based status bar appearance" to YES, did you leave the "Status bar style = UIStatusBarStyleLightContent" setting in place or did you remove it? — rmaddy
You can use your extension. Just check if topViewController is one of the controllers and return default, otherwise return lightContent. — Don

Don Don · Accepted Answer · 2019-08-08T01:10:35

The extension you provided should work.

extension UINavigationController {
  open override var preferredStatusBarStyle: UIStatusBarStyle {
    switch topViewController {
      case is DarkContentVC1, is DarkContentVC2, is DarkContentVC3:
        return .default
      default:
        return .lightContent
    }
  }
}

Set default Status bar style to .lightContent but and also allow for a dark override on some view controllers

2 Answers