iOS 26 – navigationItem.titleView shifted left when leftBarButtonItem is nil
Hi everyone,
I’m encountering a layout issue on iOS 26 related to navigationItem.titleView positioning.
What I’m Doing
I’m hiding the default back button and removing the left bar button item:
navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = nil
navigationItem.hidesBackButton = true
navigationItem.setLeftBarButtonItems([], animated: true)
Then I create a custom titleView with a specific width calculated as:
Screen width minus the width of the two bar button items (left and right).
let titleView = UIView(frame: CGRect(origin: .zero, size: sizeOfTitleView))
let titleLabel = UILabel(frame: CGRect(origin: .zero, size: sizeOfTitleView))
Expected Behavior
On previous iOS versions, the titleView is perfectly centered in the navigation bar.
Actual Behavior (iOS 26)
On iOS 26, when leftBarButtonItem is nil, the titleView is pushed slightly to the left instead of being centered (see attached image).
Question
Has there been a change in UINavigationBar layout behavior in iOS 26?
What is the correct way to ensure the titleView remains perfectly centered when there is no leftBarButtonItem?
Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks!