How to add system icons for a UIButton programmatically?

Question

It's easy to add a custom image or a background for a UIButton , but there seems to be no programmatic way to set one of the following default iOS icons for a UIButton , I know it can be applied to navigation bar buttons, I don't need that, I want to apply it to a simple UIButton, any hints?

You can find those icons online! Like here: https://icons8.com — Sweeper, Jun 12 '16 at 09:07

score 48 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 02 '21 at 16:16

48

For Swift 5 the syntax is:

button.setImage(UIImage(systemName: "search"), for: .normal)

You can also set the weight of the icon by adding SymbolConfiguration:

let boldConfig = UIImage.SymbolConfiguration(weight: .bold)
let boldSearch = UIImage(systemName: "search", withConfiguration: boldConfig)

button.setImage(boldSearch, for: .normal)

See: Apple documentation for available names (API column) or go to Interface Builder, select UIButton and in the Attributes Inspector select Image which will give you list of all available icons.

edited Jul 02 '21 at 16:16

shim

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answered Nov 17 '19 at 11:47

Marek Loose

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You need to set @available attributes to check for iOS versions. – Ashutosh Shukla Dec 03 '19 at 11:30
Nice option as we have lot many options from the system itself. – arango_86 Feb 26 '20 at 13:45
Why does this not work for me? My button just ends up empty. I have a conditional where the attempt to execute the above code will only happen if the iOS version is 13+ – Brian Reinhold Aug 05 '20 at 20:43
@BrianReinhold Try using the name "magnifyingglass" – aashah7 Aug 30 '20 at 00:39

Manikandan · Answer 2 · 2019-05-13T05:44:45.253

import UIKit

extension UIImage {

    public convenience init?(_ systemItem: UIBarButtonItem.SystemItem) {

        guard let sysImage = UIImage.imageFrom(systemItem: systemItem)?.cgImage else {
            return nil
        }

        self.init(cgImage: sysImage)
    }

    private class func imageFrom(systemItem: UIBarButtonItem.SystemItem) -> UIImage? {

        let sysBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(barButtonSystemItem: systemItem, target: nil, action: nil)

        //MARK:- Adding barButton into tool bar and rendering it.
        let toolBar = UIToolbar()
        toolBar.setItems([sysBarButtonItem], animated: false)
        toolBar.snapshotView(afterScreenUpdates: true)

        if  let buttonView = sysBarButtonItem.value(forKey: "view") as? UIView{
            for subView in buttonView.subviews {
                if subView is UIButton {
                    let button = subView as! UIButton
                    let image = button.imageView!.image!
                    return image
                }
            }
        }
        return nil
    }
}

This is an example of how do we use it:

 let button = UIButton() ;
 let systemImage = UIImage(systemItem: .trash) ;
 button.setImage(systemImage, for: .normal)

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 26 '21 at 06:09

I found 2521 system icons, as numerated values.

@available(iOS 13.0, *)
@objc public extension UIImage{

    var assetName: String? {
        guard let imageAsset = imageAsset else { return nil }
        return imageAsset.value(forKey:"assetName") as? String
    }

    static var square_and_arrow_up: UIImage? {
        return UIImage(systemName: "square.and.arrow.up")
    }
    static var square_and_arrow_up_fill: UIImage? {
        return UIImage(systemName: "square.and.arrow.up.fill")
    }
    static var square_and_arrow_down: UIImage? {
        return UIImage(systemName: "square.and.arrow.down")
    }
    ...

screenshot: github: link

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 22 '19 at 08:23

2

Now you can just do

button.setImage(UIImage(.search), for: .normal)

answered Aug 22 '19 at 08:23

HoereeBauke

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I now use Swift 4 and coding for IOS 9 or above – HoereeBauke Aug 23 '19 at 09:09

score -2 · Answer 5 · edited Sep 15 '22 at 17:08

var logoImage :[UIImage?] = []
// make an array of UIImage
// load image in asset and append in array
@IBOutlet weak var table1: UITableView!
override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    logoImage.append(UIImage(named: "image0"))
    logoImage.append(UIImage(named: "image1"))
    logoImage.append(UIImage(named: "image2"))
    logoImage.append(UIImage(named: "image3"))
    logoImage.append(UIImage(named: "image4"))

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
    if let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "CustomCell") as? CustomCell{
       cell.iconImage.image = self.logoImage[indexPath.row]
        return cell
    }
    return UITableViewCell()
}

Please comment your code ! – Wo_0NDeR ᵀᴹ May 25 '22 at 17:47 — Wo_0NDeR ᵀᴹ, May 25 '22 at 17:47

How to add system icons for a UIButton programmatically?

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