I have a design that implements a dark blue UITextField, as the placeholder text is by default a dark grey colour I can barely make out what the place holder text says.
I've googled the problem of course but I have yet to come up with a solution while using the Swift language and not Obj-c.
Is there a way to change the placeholder text colour in a UITextField using Swift?
You can set the placeholder text using an attributed string. Just pass the color you want to the attributes parameter.
Swift 5:
let myTextField = UITextField(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 200, height: 30))
myTextField.backgroundColor = .blue
myTextField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(
string: "Placeholder Text",
attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.white]
)
Swift 3:
myTextField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(
string: "Placeholder Text",
attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.white]
)
Older Swift:
myTextField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(
string: "Placeholder Text",
attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.white]
)
You can accomplish this quickly, without adding a line of code, using Interface Builder.
Select the UITextField and open the identity inspector on the right:
Click on the plus button and add a new runtime attribute:
placeholderLabel.textColor (Swift 4)
_placeholderLabel.textColor (Swift 3 or less)
Use Color as type and select the color.
That's it.
You wont see the result until you run your app again.
Create UITextField Extension like this:
extension UITextField{
@IBInspectable var placeHolderColor: UIColor? {
get {
return self.placeHolderColor
}
set {
self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:self.placeholder != nil ? self.placeholder! : "", attributes:[NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: newValue!])
}
}
}
And in your storyboard or .xib. You will see
In Swift 3.0, Use
let color = UIColor.lightText
textField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: textField.placeholder, attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName : color])
In Siwft 5.0 + Use
let color = UIColor.lightText
let placeholder = textField.placeholder ?? "" //There should be a placeholder set in storyboard or elsewhere string or pass empty
textField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: placeholder, attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor : color])
This code is working in Swift3:
yourTextFieldName .setValue(UIColor.init(colorLiteralRed: 80/255, green: 80/255, blue: 80/255, alpha: 1.0), forKeyPath: "_placeholderLabel.textColor")
let me know if you have any issue.
To set the placeholder color once for all the UITextField in your app you can do:
UILabel.appearanceWhenContainedInInstancesOfClasses([UITextField.self]).textColor = UIColor.redColor()
This will set the desired color for all TextField placeholders in the entire app. But it is only available since iOS 9.
There is no appearenceWhenContainedIn....() method before iOS 9 in swift but you can use one of the solutions provided here appearanceWhenContainedIn in Swift
In my case, I use Swift 4
I create extension for UITextField
extension UITextField {
func placeholderColor(color: UIColor) {
let attributeString = [
NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: color.withAlphaComponent(0.6),
NSAttributedStringKey.font: self.font!
] as [NSAttributedStringKey : Any]
self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: self.placeholder!, attributes: attributeString)
}
}
yourField.placeholderColor(color: UIColor.white)
For Swift
Create UITextField Extension
extension UITextField{
func setPlaceHolderColor(){
self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: self.placeholder!, attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName : UIColor.white])
}
}
If Are you set from storyboard.
extension UITextField{
@IBInspectable var placeHolderColor: UIColor? {
get {
return self.placeHolderColor
}
set {
self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:self.placeholder != nil ? self.placeholder! : "", attributes:[NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor : newValue!])
}
}
}
Xcode 9.2 Swift 4
extension UITextField{
@IBInspectable var placeHolderColor: UIColor? {
get {
return self.placeHolderColor
}
set {
self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:self.placeholder != nil ? self.placeholder! : "", attributes:[NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: newValue!])
}
}
}
Swift 4 :
txtControl.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "Placeholder String...",attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.gray])
Objective-C :
UIColor *color = [UIColor grayColor];
txtControl.attributedPlaceholder = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:@"Placeholder String..." attributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName: color}];
Swift 3 (probably 2), you can override didSet on placeholder in UITextField subclass to apply attribute on it, this way:
override var placeholder: String? {
didSet {
guard let tmpText = placeholder else {
self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "")
return
}
let textRange = NSMakeRange(0, tmpText.characters.count)
let attributedText = NSMutableAttributedString(string: tmpText)
attributedText.addAttribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName , value:UIColor(white:147.0/255.0, alpha:1.0), range: textRange)
self.attributedPlaceholder = attributedText
}
}
Here is my quick implementation for swift 4:
extension UITextField {
func placeholderColor(_ color: UIColor){
var placeholderText = ""
if self.placeholder != nil{
placeholderText = self.placeholder!
}
self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: placeholderText, attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor : color])
}
}
use like:
streetTextField?.placeholderColor(AppColor.blueColor)
hope it helps someone!
I'm surprised to see how many poor solutions there are here.
Here is a version that will always work.
Swift 4.2
extension UITextField{
@IBInspectable var placeholderColor: UIColor {
get {
return self.attributedPlaceholder?.attribute(.foregroundColor, at: 0, effectiveRange: nil) as? UIColor ?? .lightText
}
set {
self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: self.placeholder ?? "", attributes: [.foregroundColor: newValue])
}
}
}
TIP: If you change the placeholder text after setting the color- the color will reset.
For Swift 3 and 3.1 this works perfectly fine:
passField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "password", attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.white])
For Swift 4.0, X-code 9.1 version or iOS 11 you can use following syntax to have different placeholder color
textField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "Placeholder Text", attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor : UIColor.white])
Just write below code into Appdelegate's didFinishLaunchingWithOptions method use this if you want to change in the whole app written in Swift 4.2
UILabel.appearance(whenContainedInInstancesOf: [UITextField.self]).textColor = UIColor.white
In my case, I had to make the placeholder into black color. The name of my UITextField is passwordText. Below code is tested in Swift 5 and is working fine for me. I also had an existing text for the corresponding placeholder.
let placeholderColor = UIColor.black
passwordText.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: passwordText.placeholder!, attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor : placeholderColor])
Here am i writing all UIDesignable of UITextField. With the help of this code you can directly access it from UI file Inspector in storyboard
@IBDesignable
class CustomTextField: UITextField {
@IBInspectable var leftImage: UIImage? {
didSet {
updateView()
}
}
@IBInspectable var leftPadding: CGFloat = 0 {
didSet {
updateView()
}
}
@IBInspectable var rightImage: UIImage? {
didSet {
updateView()
}
}
@IBInspectable var rightPadding: CGFloat = 0 {
didSet {
updateView()
}
}
private var _isRightViewVisible: Bool = true
var isRightViewVisible: Bool {
get {
return _isRightViewVisible
}
set {
_isRightViewVisible = newValue
updateView()
}
}
func updateView() {
setLeftImage()
setRightImage()
// Placeholder text color
attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: placeholder != nil ? placeholder! : "", attributes:[NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: tintColor])
}
func setLeftImage() {
leftViewMode = UITextField.ViewMode.always
var view: UIView
if let image = leftImage {
let imageView = UIImageView(frame: CGRect(x: leftPadding, y: 0, width: 20, height: 20))
imageView.image = image
// Note: In order for your image to use the tint color, you have to select the image in the Assets.xcassets and change the "Render As" property to "Template Image".
imageView.tintColor = tintColor
var width = imageView.frame.width + leftPadding
if borderStyle == UITextField.BorderStyle.none || borderStyle == UITextField.BorderStyle.line {
width += 5
}
view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: width, height: 20))
view.addSubview(imageView)
} else {
view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: leftPadding, height: 20))
}
leftView = view
}
func setRightImage() {
rightViewMode = UITextField.ViewMode.always
var view: UIView
if let image = rightImage, isRightViewVisible {
let imageView = UIImageView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 20, height: 20))
imageView.image = image
// Note: In order for your image to use the tint color, you have to select the image in the Assets.xcassets and change the "Render As" property to "Template Image".
imageView.tintColor = tintColor
var width = imageView.frame.width + rightPadding
if borderStyle == UITextField.BorderStyle.none || borderStyle == UITextField.BorderStyle.line {
width += 5
}
view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: width, height: 20))
view.addSubview(imageView)
} else {
view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: rightPadding, height: 20))
}
rightView = view
}
@IBInspectable public var borderColor: UIColor = UIColor.clear {
didSet {
layer.borderColor = borderColor.cgColor
}
}
@IBInspectable public var borderWidth: CGFloat = 0 {
didSet {
layer.borderWidth = borderWidth
}
}
@IBInspectable public var cornerRadius: CGFloat = 0 {
didSet {
layer.cornerRadius = cornerRadius
}
}
@IBInspectable public var bottomBorder: CGFloat = 0 {
didSet {
borderStyle = .none
layer.backgroundColor = UIColor.white.cgColor
layer.masksToBounds = false
// layer.shadowColor = UIColor.gray.cgColor
layer.shadowOffset = CGSize(width: 0.0, height: 1.0)
layer.shadowOpacity = 1.0
layer.shadowRadius = 0.0
}
}
@IBInspectable public var bottomBorderColor : UIColor = UIColor.clear {
didSet {
layer.shadowColor = bottomBorderColor.cgColor
layer.shadowOffset = CGSize(width: 0.0, height: 1.0)
layer.shadowOpacity = 1.0
layer.shadowRadius = 0.0
}
}
/// Sets the placeholder color
@IBInspectable var placeHolderColor: UIColor? {
get {
return self.placeHolderColor
}
set {
self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:self.placeholder != nil ? self.placeholder! : "", attributes:[NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: newValue!])
}
}
}
Use like this in Swift,
let placeHolderText = textField.placeholder ?? ""
let str = NSAttributedString(string:placeHolderText!, attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor :UIColor.lightGray])
textField.attributedPlaceholder = str
In Objective C
NSString *placeHolder = [textField.placeholder length]>0 ? textField.placeholder: @"";
NSAttributedString *str = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:placeHolder attributes:@{ NSForegroundColorAttributeName : [UIColor lightGrayColor] }];
textField.attributedPlaceholder = str;
crubio's answer update for Swift 4
Select the UITextField and open the identity inspector on the right:
Click on the plus button and add a new runtime attribute: placeholderLabel.textColor (instead of _placeholderLabel.textColor)
Use Color as type and select the color.
If you run your project, you will see the changes.
For swift 4.2 and above you can do it as below:
textField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "Placeholder Text", attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.white])
In my case, I have done following:
extension UITextField {
@IBInspectable var placeHolderColor: UIColor? {
get {
if let color = self.attributedPlaceholder?.attribute(.foregroundColor, at: 0, effectiveRange: nil) as? UIColor {
return color
}
return nil
}
set (setOptionalColor) {
if let setColor = setOptionalColor {
let string = self.placeholder ?? ""
self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: string , attributes:[NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: setColor])
}
}
}
}
extension UITextField{
@IBInspectable var placeHolderColor: UIColor? {
get {
return self.placeHolderColor
}
set {
self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:self.placeholder != nil ?
self.placeholder! : "",
attributes:[NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor : newValue!])
}
}
}
For Swift
func setPlaceholderColor(textField: UITextField, placeholderText: String) {
textField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: placeholderText, attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.pelorBlack])
}
You can use this;
self.setPlaceholderColor(textField: self.emailTextField, placeholderText: "E-Mail/Username")
It is more about personalize your textField but anyways I'll share this code got from another page and made it a little better:
import UIKit
extension UITextField {
func setBottomLine(borderColor: UIColor, fontColor: UIColor, placeHolderColor:UIColor, placeHolder: String) {
self.borderStyle = UITextBorderStyle.none
self.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
let borderLine = UIView()
let height = 1.0
borderLine.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: Double(self.frame.height) - height, width: Double(self.frame.width), height: height)
self.textColor = fontColor
borderLine.backgroundColor = borderColor
self.addSubview(borderLine)
self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(
string: placeHolder,
attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: placeHolderColor]
)
}
}
And you can use it like this:
self.textField.setBottomLine(borderColor: lineColor, fontColor: fontColor, placeHolderColor: placeHolderColor, placeHolder: placeHolder)
Knowing that you have an UITextField connected to a ViewController.
Source: http://codepany.com/blog/swift-3-custom-uitextfield-with-single-line-input/
For Objective C:
UIColor *color = [UIColor colorWithRed:0.44 green:0.44 blue:0.44 alpha:1.0];
emailTextField.attributedPlaceholder = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:@"Friend's Email" attributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName: color}];
For Swift:
emailTextField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "Friend's Email",
attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.white])
Objective C code for changing placeholder text color.
First import this objc/runtime class -
#import <objc/runtime.h>then replace your textfield name -
Ivar ivar = class_getInstanceVariable([UITextField class], "_placeholderLabel");
UILabel *placeholderLabel = object_getIvar(YourTxtField, ivar);
placeholderLabel.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
for iOS13
+(void)ChangeplaceholderColor :(UITextField *)TxtFld andColor:(UIColor*)color {
NSMutableAttributedString *placeholderAttributedString = [[NSMutableAttributedString alloc] initWithAttributedString:TxtFld.attributedPlaceholder];
[placeholderAttributedString addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:color range:NSMakeRange(0, [placeholderAttributedString length])];
TxtFld.attributedPlaceholder = placeholderAttributedString;
}
Instead of placeholder, add attributedPlaceholder on your text field:
tf.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "your placeholder", attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.yourColor])
Use this for adding an attributed placeholder:
let attributes : [String : Any] = [ NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.lightGray,
NSFontAttributeName : UIFont(name: "Helvetica Neue Light Italic", size: 12.0)!
]
x_textfield.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "Placeholder Text", attributes:attributes)
For Swift 4
txtField1.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "-", attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.white])
yourTextfield.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "your placeholder text",attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.white])
