How to add Badges on UIBarbutton item?

I did something similar to MaxMa, but I just went ahead and added the badge directly to the self.navigationController.navigationBar.

MKNumberBadgeView *numberBadge = [[MKNumberBadgeView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(35, 0, 40, 40)];
numberBadge.value = 1;

[self.navigationController.navigationBar addSubview:numberBadge];

Just make sure to remove it from the subview during viewWillDisappear and add it back during viewDidAppear. It still seems a little hacky, but I'm more comfortable with this hack then changing the nav bar z-order.

To remove it during viewWillDisappear

- (void)viewWillDisappear:(BOOL)animated
{
    [super viewWillDisappear:animated];
    [numberBadge removeFromSuperview]; 
}

It's simple and the best way !

MKNumberBadgeView *numberBadge = [[MKNumberBadgeView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(230, -51, 40, 40)];
numberBadge.value = 5;

self.navigationController.navigationBar.layer.zPosition = -1;
[self.view addSubview:numberBadge];