Get the right color in iOS7 translucent navigation bar

Question

How can I get the right coloring for my translucent navigation bars in iOS 7? The navigation bar just adjusts the given color to a much brighter one. Changing brightness or

Answer 1

I know this answer is a little late, but if you're using Interface Builder, you might be getting the wrong color when using a hex value because Interface Builder is set to use the wrong color space. In Xcode 6.4, you can press the little gear in the top right of the color picker dialog to pick which color space you're using:

Mine was set to sRGB IEC6196-2.1, when I actually should have been using Generic RGB.

Answer 2

navBar.barTintColor = [UIColor orangeColor];
navBar.translucent = YES;
UIColor *backgroundLayerColor = [[UIColor redColor] colorWithAlphaComponent:0.7f];
static CGFloat kStatusBarHeight = 20;

CALayer *navBackgroundLayer = [CALayer layer];
navBackgroundLayer.backgroundColor = [backgroundLayerColor CGColor];
navBackgroundLayer.frame = CGRectMake(0, -kStatusBarHeight, navBar.frame.size.width,
        kStatusBarHeight + navBar.frame.size.height);
[navBar.layer addSublayer:navBackgroundLayer];
// move the layer behind the navBar
navBackgroundLayer.zPosition = -1;

Note you'll still need to muck with the the barTintColor and the backgroundLayerColor to get the exact color you want. Also, of course the colors depends on your content view's background color (e.g. white).