Is there a way to use a custom selected image for UITabBarItem?

Just found my solution. Basically, I subclassed UITabItem and set this in the navigation controller:

-(void) viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated {
    [super viewDidAppear:animated];

    CustomTabBarItem *tabItem = [[CustomTabBarItem alloc] initWithTitle:@"Events" image:[UIImage imageNamed:@"tabIcon.png"] tag:0];
    tabItem.customHighlightedImage=[UIImage imageNamed:@"tabIconSelected.png"];
    self.tabBarItem = tabItem;
    [tabItem release];
    tabItem=nil;            
}

Here's what the CustomTabBarItem class looks like:

@interface CustomTabBarItem : UITabBarItem
{
    UIImage  *customHighlightedImage;
}

@property (nonatomic, retain) UIImage *customHighlightedImage;

@end

implementation:

#import "CustomTabBarItem.h

@implementation CustomTabBarItem

@synthesize customHighlightedImage;

- (void)dealloc {
    [customHighlightedImage release];
    customHighlightedImage=nil;
    [super dealloc];
}

-(UIImage *)selectedImage {
    return self.customHighlightedImage;
}

@end

In iOS 6 I have change the selected tabbatitem image like -

in tabbar controller delegate method

- (void)tabBarController:(UITabBarController *)tabBarController didSelectViewController:(UIViewController *)viewController

{
    if([tabBarController selectedIndex] == 0)
    {
        [viewController.tabBarItem setFinishedSelectedImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"selected.png"]withFinishedUnselectedImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"unselect.png"]];
    }    
}

through this you can change your image.

Or you can use directly in your view controllers init(or ViewWillAppear) method, like

        [viewController.tabBarItem setFinishedSelectedImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"selected.png"]withFinishedUnselectedImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"unselect.png"]];

i hope this'll help you.

This is not officially supported in the SDK. You may be able to probe and adjust the tab's views at runtime, but you risk a rejection from Apple.

Edit: For completeness, I should mention that your other option is to roll your own UITabBar.