iOS 9 UITableView separators insets (significant left margin)

Question

I have a problem with separators between UITableViewCells in UITableView on iOS 9. They have the significant left margin. I already have code for removing spacing introduced by iOS 8 but it doesn't work with iOS 9. It looks like they added something else. I suppose it might be connected with layoutMarginsGuide but I haven't figured it out yet. Does anyone had a similar problem and found out the solution?

Apple Developer Forum: https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/20017 — matzino, Oct 07 '15 at 17:04
This answer may help others with the same issues: http://stackoverflow.com/a/38206546/1137246 — Matjan, Jul 05 '16 at 14:52

score 70 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:33

70

Okay, I have found out the solution. The only thing required for that is to set on the presenting instance of UITableView that flag cellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth

myTableView.cellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth = NO;

I wanted to find some reference in the documentation but it looks like it is not ready yet, only mentioned on diff page.

As the flag was introduced in iOS 9 for the backward compatibility you should add a check before trying to set it:

if([myTableView respondsToSelector:@selector(setCellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth:)])
{
    myTableView.cellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth = NO;
}

For Swift 2.0 you can use #available to check iOS version.

if #available(iOS 9, *) {
    myTableView.cellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth = false
}

Moreover you need to compile it with Xcode 7 or above.

EDIT

Please keep in mind that this is the only required fix if your separators looked "fine" up to iOS 8, otherwise you need to change a bit more. You can find info how to do this already on SO.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:33

Community

1
1

answered Jul 21 '15 at 11:49

Julian

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Thanks for that! is there any option to turn this feature off for the whole app or do I have to manually Update all TableViewController properties? – JonEasy Oct 19 '15 at 13:39
Have you considered creating a base class for tableview (set it there) and use it wherever possible? Moreover I would look if it can be set by appearance. – Julian Oct 19 '15 at 13:46
1

yes this is what I'm doing right now (base class approach) I was just wondering if there would be some kind of "global switch" to shut this off completely. I tried the appearance stuff but this doesn't work with `[[UITableView appearance] setCellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth:NO];` – JonEasy Oct 20 '15 at 07:41
Maybe that could be a next SO question how (if possible) to set it globally :) – Julian Oct 20 '15 at 07:42
2

Doesn't seem to have any effect on iOS 9.1. – Dec 14 '15 at 09:08
@ElgsQianChen has it worked for you for previous versions? – Julian Dec 14 '15 at 11:31
@JulianKról I haven't tried with any earlier version yet. – Dec 14 '15 at 12:27
So this is only the addition you need if your separators where fine on iOS 8. This is what changed between iOS 8 and 9. Find how to fix it on iOS 8 (it is already on SO) and add this and you are done. – Julian Dec 14 '15 at 12:31
Thanks for this! Any idea why, on iPad, this code makes a full width separator on empty cells, but when data is added to a cell there are a few pixels on the left side where the separator is missing? I found a patch/fix for this but just wondering if you may know more. – RanLearns May 13 '17 at 02:30

ArunGJ · Answer 2 · 2018-09-10T05:11:19.240

32

If you want to do it in interface builder. The default separator inset is Automatic. Change it to custom by selecting the dropdown.

edited Sep 10 '18 at 05:11

answered Oct 27 '16 at 14:23

ArunGJ

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21
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The "Seperator Inset" is Automatic as default and do not show Left/Right unti it is changed to Custom. – Steffo Dimfelt Aug 24 '18 at 11:29

score 18 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 19 '16 at 18:39

Swift 2.2 iOS 9.3

In viewDidLoad

tableView.cellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth = false

In UITableViewDelegates

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, willDisplayCell cell: UITableViewCell, forRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) {
    if cell.respondsToSelector(Selector("setSeparatorInset:")){
        cell.separatorInset = UIEdgeInsetsZero
    }
    if cell.respondsToSelector(Selector("setPreservesSuperviewLayoutMargins:")) {
        cell.preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins = false
    }
    if cell.respondsToSelector(Selector("setLayoutMargins:")){
        cell.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsZero
    }
}

derdida · Answer 4 · 2017-10-02T13:49:05.360

Swift 3.0 / 4.0

tableView.cellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth = false

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplay cell: UITableViewCell, forRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
    if cell.responds(to: #selector(setter: UITableViewCell.separatorInset)) {
        cell.separatorInset = UIEdgeInsets.zero
    }
    if cell.responds(to: #selector(setter: UIView.preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins)) {
        cell.preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins = false
    }
    if cell.responds(to: #selector(setter: UIView.layoutMargins)) {
        cell.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsets.zero
    }
}

score 11 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 02 '15 at 16:17

11

Perfect Solution upto iOS 9

In viewDidLoad

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];
    //Required for iOS 9
    if ([[[UIDevice currentDevice]systemVersion]floatValue] >= 9.0) {
        self.testTableView.cellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth = NO;
    }
}

In TableViewDelegate methods add following code:

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayCell:(UITableViewCell *)cell forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

    // Remove seperator inset
    if ([cell respondsToSelector:@selector(setSeparatorInset:)]) {
        [cell setSeparatorInset:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
    }

    // Prevent the cell from inheriting the Table View's margin settings
    if ([cell respondsToSelector:@selector(setPreservesSuperviewLayoutMargins:)]) {
        [cell setPreservesSuperviewLayoutMargins:NO];
    }

    // Explictly set your cell's layout margins
    if ([cell respondsToSelector:@selector(setLayoutMargins:)]) {
        [cell setLayoutMargins:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
    }
}

answered Dec 02 '15 at 16:17

Bhuvan Bhatt

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First of all, if you copy code from the other answer on SO it would be nice if you mention the original author with a link to its answer (that would be fair). Secondly instead of checking iOS version you can check whether object responds to selector. – Julian Dec 02 '15 at 16:23
@JulianKról You are right about respond to selector its an alternative. And this is my solution I have created a demo project for this too and working properly on all iOS versions. It would really feel great if you appreciate. – Bhuvan Bhatt Dec 02 '15 at 16:28
yeah but the second part of the code I already seen on the SO with same comments etc. Moreover making every thing bold and italic also do not improves its readability :) Further, the question is explicit about iOS 9 assuming that up to iOS 8 everything was already done (that counts to the second part of your answer). I appreciate yours involvement but I'm giving you my feedback – Julian Dec 02 '15 at 16:29
Yeah that was actually I was using till iOS 8. But for iOS 9 besides this code one must set self.testTableView.cellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth = NO . So for the proper answer I have mentioned the complete code. – Bhuvan Bhatt Dec 02 '15 at 16:31
1

what about link to the original answer on SO ? you didn't say anything about that :) – Julian Dec 02 '15 at 16:38
@JulianKról Ok noted. Will keep this in mind for future. Thnks. – Bhuvan Bhatt Dec 02 '15 at 16:38

jithin · Answer 6 · 2015-11-14T06:00:19.633

This worked perfectly for me in iOS 9.

For OBJ-C

 - (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath  { 
        if ([tableView respondsToSelector:@selector(setSeparatorInset:)])
        {
            [tableView setSeparatorInset:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
        }

        if ([tableView respondsToSelector:@selector(setLayoutMargins:)])
        {
            [tableView setLayoutMargins:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
        }

        if ([cell respondsToSelector:@selector(setLayoutMargins:)])
        {
            [cell setLayoutMargins:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
        }
         return cell;
    }

score 5 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 29 '16 at 09:22

5

Based on different answers here, I am able to remove the gap from separator with these lines of codes in Swift:

tableView.separatorInset = UIEdgeInsetsZero
tableView.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsZero
cell.separatorInset = UIEdgeInsetsZero
cell.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsZero

But still I am having this small gap before the text:

answered Mar 29 '16 at 09:22

codelearner

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As a workaround, I have just put constraint of `-14` for `UITableView` instead of using above codes to align the table manually. – codelearner Mar 29 '16 at 09:43

score 3 · Answer 8 · edited Jul 10 '19 at 12:58

3

The accepted answer did not work for me. Until I moved setCellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth BEFORE setLayoutMargins (still needed for iOS 8):

if([_tableView respondsToSelector:@selector(setCellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth:)]) {
  _tableView.cellLayoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth = NO;
}

if ([_tableView respondsToSelector:@selector(setLayoutMargins:)]) {
  _tableView.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsZero;
}

edited Jul 10 '19 at 12:58

Amal T S

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answered Dec 02 '15 at 19:06

Donnit

1,217
12
19

this is what I needed! The order matters. For me, I noticed that the order mattered for iPad table views in landscape. Once rotated it was fixed, but the first sight of the table was wrong. Thank you! – manroe Nov 11 '16 at 19:49

Mihawk · Answer 9 · 2015-12-03T06:00:59.980

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayCell:(UITableViewCell *)cell forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

    // Remove seperator inset

    if ([cell respondsToSelector:@selector(setSeparatorInset:)]) {
        [cell setSeparatorInset:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
    }

    // Prevent the cell from inheriting the Table View's margin settings

    if ([cell respondsToSelector:@selector(setPreservesSuperviewLayoutMargins:)]) {
        [cell setPreservesSuperviewLayoutMargins:NO];
    }

    // Explictly set your cell's layout margins

    if ([cell respondsToSelector:@selector(setLayoutMargins:)]) {
        [cell setLayoutMargins:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
    }

}

Not in my case. This was working fine up to the version 8 of iOS. Something else seems to be required for iOS 9. — Julian, Jul 21 '15 at 11:13

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered May 17 '16 at 11:35

For iOS 8 and 9

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    if ([UITableView instancesRespondToSelector:@selector(setLayoutMargins:)]) [[UITableViewCell appearance] setLayoutMargins:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
    if ([UITableView instancesRespondToSelector:@selector(setPreservesSuperviewLayoutMargins:)]) [[UITableViewCell appearance] setPreservesSuperviewLayoutMargins:NO];
}

and

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayCell:(UITableViewCell *)cell forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    if ([cell respondsToSelector:@selector(setLayoutMargins:)]) [cell setLayoutMargins:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
}

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Feb 22 '17 at 18:07

This is my solution for Swift 3.0/iOS 10 in XCode 8.2.1.

I have created a subclass for UITableview which works for IB and programmatically create tableviews.

import UIKit

class EXCSuperTV: UITableView
{
    required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder)
    {
        super.init(coder: aDecoder)
        setupView()
    }

    override init(frame: CGRect, style: UITableViewStyle)
    {
        super.init(frame: frame, style: style)
        setupView()
    }

    func setupView() {}
}

class EXCNoFooter: EXCSuperTV
{
    override func setupView()
    {
        super.setupView()
        //tableFooterView = UIView.Zero()
    }
}


class EXCMainTV: EXCNoFooter
{
    override func setupView()
    {
        super.setupView()
        separatorInset = UIEdgeInsets.zero
    }
}

iOS 9 UITableView separators insets (significant left margin)

11 Answers11

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