Question: Tried this but only works for UIButton:

```
[btn setTarget:self action:@selector(btnClicked:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];

```

Answer: 
I ran into a similar problem... I assume you mean that if your UIButton is not part of your UITabBar to call btnClicked then it works appropriately. If this is the problem you are proposing then, check your btnClicked method and change it from:

```
-btnClicked:(id)sender

```

to

```
-(void) btnClicked:(id)sender

```

that, and declare btnClicked in the header file...

For what it's worth, this is how I setup a button in tabbarbuttonitem:

```
UIBarButtonItem *exampleButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"button.png"] style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:self action:@selector(btnClicked:)];

```
```
UIBarButtonItem *barListBtn = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem: UIBarButtonSystemItemAdd target:self action:@selector(getTruckStopListAction)];   
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = barListBtn;
[barListBtn release];

```