Customize UITabBarItem in UINavigationController

Question

How can I change background color of UITabBarItem? I need something like this:

(color under wallet)

Answer 1

To add an image

    UITabBarController *tabController = (UITabBarController *)self.window.rootViewController;

    //tab1
    UIImage *selectedImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"home-tab-selected"];
    UIImage *unselectedImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"home2-tab"];
    MyTabBar *tabBar = (MyTabBar *)tabController.tabBar;
    UITabBarItem *item1 = [tabBar.items objectAtIndex:0];
    [item1 setFinishedSelectedImage:selectedImage withFinishedUnselectedImage:unselectedImage];

    //tab2
    selectedImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"customers-tab-selected"];
    unselectedImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"customers-tab"];
    UITabBarItem *item2 = [tabBar.items objectAtIndex:1];
    [item2 setFinishedSelectedImage:selectedImage withFinishedUnselectedImage:unselectedImage];

    //tab3
    selectedImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"maps-tab-selected"];
    unselectedImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"maps-tab"];
    UITabBarItem *item3 = [tabBar.items objectAtIndex:2];
    [item3 setFinishedSelectedImage:selectedImage withFinishedUnselectedImage:unselectedImage];

    //tab4
    selectedImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"reports-tab-selected"];
    unselectedImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"reports-tab"];
    UITabBarItem *item4 = [tabBar.items objectAtIndex:3];
    [item4 setFinishedSelectedImage:selectedImage withFinishedUnselectedImage:unselectedImage];

    //tab5
    selectedImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"orders-tab-selected"];
    unselectedImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"orders-tab"];
    UITabBarItem *item5 = [tabBar.items objectAtIndex:4];
    [item5 setFinishedSelectedImage:selectedImage withFinishedUnselectedImage:unselectedImage];


    if ([tabBar respondsToSelector:@selector(setBackgroundImage:)])
    {
        // ios 5 code here
        [tabBar setBackgroundImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"tab-bg"]];

    }  

Answer 2

Take a look at the appearance proxy of UITabbarItem, particularly for the method -selectedImage(doc). Just pay attention that in iOS7 most of those images are rendered as templates (I don't know in tab bar item) so you should specify their rendering mode.
Something like that:

[[UIImage imageNamed:@"wallet"] imageWithRenderingMode:UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysOriginal];

Those methods are safe on iOS7, if you need to deploy on lower target is better that you check if they are available or your app will crash.