Is it possible to have different table view cell row heights for different size classes?

Question

I am developing an app with an adaptive layout and everything works so far except I need to have adaptive table view cell heights. I am using a storyboard and do not see any way to do this. Is it mission impossible?

Answer 1

If I'm understanding your question correctly, you want to have your cell height adjust to different font sizes using size classes; so have a bigger font on a bigger size screen that will cause the cells to adjust accordingly. I think the only way to do this is to have different text views installed for particular size classes.

I made a test app that demonstrates this. In the storyboard, I added a table view controller with a custom cell. I changed the size class to wCompact hAny and added a text view (IBOutlet: labelPhone) to the cell. I pinned it to all 4 sides of the cell, disabled scrolling, made the text red, and sized the font to 8. I changed the size class to wRegular hAny, and added another text view (IBOutlet: labelPad) to the cell with the same constraints and with green text of font size 30. The code in the table view controller was as follows,

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];
    self.tableView.rowHeight = UITableViewAutomaticDimension;
    self.tableView.estimatedRowHeight = 50;
}


-(void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated {
    [super viewDidAppear:animated]; 
    [self.tableView reloadData]; // this was necessary to have the cells size correctly when the table view first appeared
}


- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section {
    return 5; 
}


- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

    RDCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"Cell" forIndexPath:indexPath];

    NSString *theText = @"Lorem ipsum dolor sit er elit lamet, consectetaur cillium adipisicing pecu, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt";

    cell.labelPhone.text = theText;
    cell.labelPad.text = theText;
    return cell;
}

When run on the iPhone simulator, I got small red text, and when run on the iPad simulator, I got large green text. I put the sample app here, http://jmp.sh/WfeZ8Pi

After Edit:

Actually, I found an easier way. You can add your subview (text view or label) using the default wAny hAny size class (you don't need two different views). In the Attributes Inspector, next to the Font field, there's a little "+" button. Click on that, and you can add different font sizes for different size classes. That's all you need to do. Then cellForRowAtIndexPath becomes something like this,

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

        RDCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"Cell" forIndexPath:indexPath];
        cell.textView.text = self.theData[indexPath.row];
        return cell;
    }