How to get root view controller?

Question

I need an instance of root view controller.

I tried those approaches:

UIViewController *rootViewController = (UIViewController*)[[[UIApplication sharedApplication] keyWindow] rootViewController];

Returns: null:

Also when I try to get an array of controllers:

NSArray *viewControllers = self.navigationController.viewControllers;

It returns only one controller, but it isn't my root view controller.

If I try to take from navigation controller:

UIViewController *root = (UIViewController*)[self.navigationController.viewControllers objectAtIndex:0];

Returns: null:

Any ideas why? What else could I try to get an instance of my root view controller?

Thanks.

Answer 1

if you are trying to access the rootViewController you set in your appDelegate. try this:

Objective-C

YourViewController *rootController = (YourViewController*)[[(YourAppDelegate*)
                                   [[UIApplication sharedApplication]delegate] window] rootViewController];

Swift

let appDelegate  = UIApplication.sharedApplication().delegate as AppDelegate
let viewController = appDelegate.window!.rootViewController as YourViewController

Swift 3

let appDelegate  = UIApplication.shared.delegate as! AppDelegate
let viewController = appDelegate.window!.rootViewController as! YourViewController

Swift 4 & 4.2

let viewController = UIApplication.shared.keyWindow!.rootViewController as! YourViewController

Swift 5 & 5.1 & 5.2

let viewController = UIApplication.shared.windows.first!.rootViewController as! YourViewController