 
 public class ElloTabBarController: UIViewController {
     private var visibleViewController: UIViewController? = nil
-    private let _tabBar: ElloTabBar
-    public var tabBar: ElloTabBar { return _tabBar }
+    public private(set) var tabBar: ElloTabBar
 
     // stores the actual value (used by the tabBarHidden property *and* setTabBarHidden func)
     private var tabBarHiddenValue: Bool


    override public func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        self.view.addSubview(_tabBar)
        _tabBar.delegate = self

        selectedIndex = 2
        updateTabBarItems()
        modalTransitionStyle = .CrossDissolve
        if let selectedViewController = selectedViewController {
            _tabBar.selectedItem = selectedViewController.tabBarItem
        }
    }


    required public init(coder decoder: NSCoder) {
        selectedIndex = decoder.decodeIntegerForKey("selectedIndex")
        tabBarHiddenValue = false
        tabBar = ElloTabBar()
        super.init(coder: decoder)
    }

