Change the Placeholder Text Color in Uitextfield Swift

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•   ios  -  uitextfield
|
• 20-09-2019
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• ( words)

Question

I'd like to change the color of the placeholder text I set in my UITextField controls, to make it black.

I'd prefer to do this without using normal text as the placeholder and having to override all the methods to imitate the behaviour of a placeholder.

I believe if I override this method:

                - (void)drawPlaceholderInRect:(CGRect)rect                              

then I should be able to do this. But I'm unsure how to access the actual placeholder object from within this method.

Solution 3

You can override drawPlaceholderInRect:(CGRect)rect as such to manually render the placeholder text:

                - (void) drawPlaceholderInRect:(CGRect)rect {     [[UIColor blueColor] setFill];     [[self placeholder] drawInRect:rect withFont:[UIFont systemFontOfSize:16]]; }                              

OTHER TIPS

Since the introduction of attributed strings in UIViews in iOS 6, it's possible to assign a color to the placeholder text like this:

                if ([textField respondsToSelector:@selector(setAttributedPlaceholder:)]) {   UIColor *color = [UIColor blackColor];   textField.attributedPlaceholder = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:placeholderText attributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName: color}]; } else {   NSLog(@"Cannot set placeholder text's color, because deployment target is earlier than iOS 6.0");   // TODO: Add fall-back code to set placeholder color. }                              

Easy and pain-free, could be an easy alternative for some.

                _placeholderLabel.textColor                              

Not suggested for production, Apple may reject your submission.

You can Change the Placeholder textcolor to any color which you want by using the below code.

                UIColor *color = [UIColor lightTextColor]; YOURTEXTFIELD.attributedPlaceholder = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:@"PlaceHolder Text" attributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName: color}];                              

Maybe you want to try this way, but Apple might warn you about accessing private ivar:

                [self.myTextField setValue:[UIColor darkGrayColor]                  forKeyPath:@"_placeholderLabel.textColor"];                              

NOTE
This is not working on iOS 7 anymore, according to Martin Alléus.

This works in Swift <3.0:

                myTextField.attributedPlaceholder =  NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text", attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName : UIColor.redColor()])                              

Tested in iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.3 beta 4.

Swift 3:

                myTextfield.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text", attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName : UIColor.red])                              

Swift 4:

                myTextfield.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text", attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.red])                              

Swift 4.2:

                myTextfield.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text", attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.red])                              

In Swift:

                if let placeholder = yourTextField.placeholder {     yourTextField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:placeholder,          attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.blackColor()]) }                              

In Swift 4.0:

                if let placeholder = yourTextField.placeholder {     yourTextField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:placeholder,          attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.black]) }                              

Swift 3.0 + Storyboard

In order to change placeholder color in storyboard, create an extension with next code. (feel free to update this code, if you think, it can be clearer and safer).

                extension UITextField {     @IBInspectable var placeholderColor: UIColor {         get {             guard let currentAttributedPlaceholderColor = attributedPlaceholder?.attribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, at: 0, effectiveRange: nil) as? UIColor else { return UIColor.clear }             return currentAttributedPlaceholderColor         }         set {             guard let currentAttributedString = attributedPlaceholder else { return }             let attributes = [NSForegroundColorAttributeName : newValue]              attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: currentAttributedString.string, attributes: attributes)         }     } }                              

Swift 4 version

                extension UITextField {     @IBInspectable var placeholderColor: UIColor {         get {             return attributedPlaceholder?.attribute(.foregroundColor, at: 0, effectiveRange: nil) as? UIColor ?? .clear         }         set {             guard let attributedPlaceholder = attributedPlaceholder else { return }             let attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey: UIColor] = [.foregroundColor: newValue]             self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: attributedPlaceholder.string, attributes: attributes)         }     } }                              

Swift 5 version

                extension UITextField {     @IBInspectable var placeholderColor: UIColor {         get {             return attributedPlaceholder?.attribute(.foregroundColor, at: 0, effectiveRange: nil) as? UIColor ?? .clear         }         set {             guard let attributedPlaceholder = attributedPlaceholder else { return }             let attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key: UIColor] = [.foregroundColor: newValue]             self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: attributedPlaceholder.string, attributes: attributes)         }     } }                              

The following only with iOS6+ (as indicated in Alexander W's comment):

                UIColor *color = [UIColor grayColor]; nameText.attributedPlaceholder =    [[NSAttributedString alloc]        initWithString:@"Full Name"        attributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName:color}];                              

With this we can change the color of textfield's placeholder text in iOS

                [self.userNameTxt setValue:[UIColor colorWithRed:41.0/255.0 green:91.0/255.0 blue:106.0/255.0 alpha:1.0] forKeyPath:@"_placeholderLabel.textColor"];                              

I had already faced this issue. In my case below code is correct.

Objective C

                [textField setValue:[UIColor whiteColor] forKeyPath:@"_placeholderLabel.textColor"];                              

For Swift 4.X

                tf_mobile.setValue(UIColor.white, forKeyPath: "_placeholderLabel.textColor")                              

Hope, this may help you.

Why don't you just use UIAppearance method:

                [[UILabel appearanceWhenContainedIn:[UITextField class], nil] setTextColor:[UIColor whateverColorYouNeed]];                              

Also in your storyboard, without single line of code

For iOS 6.0 +

                [textfield setValue:your_color forKeyPath:@"_placeholderLabel.textColor"];                              

Hope it helps.

Note: Apple may reject (0.01% chances) your app as we are accessing private API. I am using this in all my projects since two years, but Apple didn't ask for this.

Swift version. Probably it would help someone.

                class TextField: UITextField {    override var placeholder: String? {         didSet {             let placeholderString = NSAttributedString(string: placeholder!, attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.whiteColor()])             self.attributedPlaceholder = placeholderString         }     } }                              

Categories FTW. Could be optimized to check for effective color change.

---

                #import <UIKit/UIKit.h>  @interface UITextField (OPConvenience)  @property (strong, nonatomic) UIColor* placeholderColor;  @end  #import "UITextField+OPConvenience.h"  @implementation UITextField (OPConvenience)  - (void) setPlaceholderColor: (UIColor*) color {     if (color) {         NSMutableAttributedString* attrString = [self.attributedPlaceholder mutableCopy];         [attrString setAttributes: @{NSForegroundColorAttributeName: color} range: NSMakeRange(0,  attrString.length)];         self.attributedPlaceholder =  attrString;     } }  - (UIColor*) placeholderColor {     return [self.attributedPlaceholder attribute: NSForegroundColorAttributeName atIndex: 0 effectiveRange: NULL]; }  @end                              

To handle both vertical and horizontal alignment as well as color of placeholder in iOS7. drawInRect and drawAtPoint no longer use current context fillColor.

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/StringsTextFonts/Conceptual/TextAndWebiPhoneOS/CustomTextProcessing/CustomTextProcessing.html

Obj-C

                @interface CustomPlaceHolderTextColorTextField : UITextField  @end   @implementation CustomPlaceHolderTextColorTextField : UITextField   -(void) drawPlaceholderInRect:(CGRect)rect  {     if (self.placeholder) {         // color of placeholder text         UIColor *placeHolderTextColor = [UIColor redColor];          CGSize drawSize = [self.placeholder sizeWithAttributes:[NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:self.font forKey:NSFontAttributeName]];         CGRect drawRect = rect;          // verticially align text         drawRect.origin.y = (rect.size.height - drawSize.height) * 0.5;          // set alignment         NSMutableParagraphStyle *paragraphStyle = [[NSMutableParagraphStyle alloc] init];         paragraphStyle.alignment = self.textAlignment;          // dictionary of attributes, font, paragraphstyle, and color         NSDictionary *drawAttributes = @{NSFontAttributeName: self.font,                                      NSParagraphStyleAttributeName : paragraphStyle,                                      NSForegroundColorAttributeName : placeHolderTextColor};           // draw         [self.placeholder drawInRect:drawRect withAttributes:drawAttributes];     } }  @end                              

iOS 6 and later offers attributedPlaceholder on UITextField. iOS 3.2 and later offers setAttributes:range: on NSMutableAttributedString.

You can do the following:

                NSMutableAttributedString *ms = [[NSMutableAttributedString alloc] initWithString:self.yourInput.placeholder]; UIFont *placeholderFont = self.yourInput.font; NSRange fullRange = NSMakeRange(0, ms.length); NSDictionary *newProps = @{NSForegroundColorAttributeName:[UIColor yourColor], NSFontAttributeName:placeholderFont}; [ms setAttributes:newProps range:fullRange]; self.yourInput.attributedPlaceholder = ms;                              

Overriding drawPlaceholderInRect: would be the correct way, but it does not work due to a bug in the API (or the documentation).

The method never gets called on an UITextField.

See also drawTextInRect on UITextField not called

You might use digdog's solution. As I am not sure if that gets past Apples review, I chose a different solution: Overlay the text field with my own label which imitates the placeholder behaviour.

This is a bit messy though. The code looks like this (Note I am doing this inside a subclass of TextField):

                @implementation PlaceholderChangingTextField  - (void) changePlaceholderColor:(UIColor*)color {         // Need to place the overlay placeholder exactly above the original placeholder     UILabel *overlayPlaceholderLabel = [[[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(self.frame.origin.x + 8, self.frame.origin.y + 4, self.frame.size.width - 16, self.frame.size.height - 8)] autorelease];     overlayPlaceholderLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];     overlayPlaceholderLabel.opaque = YES;     overlayPlaceholderLabel.text = self.placeholder;     overlayPlaceholderLabel.textColor = color;     overlayPlaceholderLabel.font = self.font;     // Need to add it to the superview, as otherwise we cannot overlay the buildin text label.     [self.superview addSubview:overlayPlaceholderLabel];     self.placeholder = nil; }                              

in swift 3.X

                textField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text", attributes:[NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.black])                              

in swift 5

                textField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text", attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor : UIColor.black])                              

Iam new to xcode and i found a way around to the same effect.

I placed a uilabel in place of place holder with the desired format and hide it in

                - (void)textFieldDidBeginEditing:(UITextField *)textField {     switch (textField.tag)     {         case 0:             lblUserName.hidden=YES;             break;          case 1:             lblPassword.hidden=YES;             break;          default:             break;     } }                              

I agree its a work around and not a real solution but the effect was same got it from this link

NOTE: Still works on iOS 7 :|

This solution for Swift 4.1

                                  textName.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: textName.placeholder!, attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor : UIColor.red])                              

The best i can do for both iOS7 and less is:

                - (CGRect)placeholderRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds {   return [self textRectForBounds:bounds]; }  - (CGRect)editingRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds {   return [self textRectForBounds:bounds]; }  - (CGRect)textRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds {   CGRect rect = CGRectInset(bounds, 0, 6); //TODO: can be improved by comparing font size versus bounds.size.height   return rect; }  - (void)drawPlaceholderInRect:(CGRect)rect {   UIColor *color =RGBColor(65, 65, 65);   if (SYSTEM_VERSION_GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO(@"7.0")) {     [self.placeholder drawInRect:rect withAttributes:@{NSFontAttributeName:self.font, UITextAttributeTextColor:color}];   } else {     [color setFill];     [self.placeholder drawInRect:rect withFont:self.font];   } }                              

For those using Monotouch (Xamarin.iOS), here's Adam's answer, translated to C#:

                public class MyTextBox : UITextField {     public override void DrawPlaceholder(RectangleF rect)     {         UIColor.FromWhiteAlpha(0.5f, 1f).SetFill();         new NSString(this.Placeholder).DrawString(rect, Font);     } }                              

                [txt_field setValue:ColorFromHEX(@"#525252") forKeyPath:@"_placeholderLabel.textColor"];                              

I needed to keep the placeholder alignment so adam's answer was not enough for me.

To solve this I used a small variation that I hope will help some of you too:

                - (void) drawPlaceholderInRect:(CGRect)rect {     //search field placeholder color     UIColor* color = [UIColor whiteColor];      [color setFill];     [self.placeholder drawInRect:rect withFont:self.font lineBreakMode:UILineBreakModeTailTruncation alignment:self.textAlignment]; }                              

For set Attributed Textfield Placeholder with Multiple color ,

Just specify the Text ,

                                  //txtServiceText is your Textfield  _txtServiceText.placeholder=@"Badal/ Shah";     NSMutableAttributedString *mutable = [[NSMutableAttributedString alloc] initWithString:_txtServiceText.placeholder];      [mutable addAttribute: NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:[UIColor whiteColor] range:[_txtServiceText.placeholder rangeOfString:@"Badal/"]]; //Replace it with your first color Text     [mutable addAttribute: NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:[UIColor orangeColor] range:[_txtServiceText.placeholder rangeOfString:@"Shah"]]; // Replace it with your secondcolor string.     _txtServiceText.attributedPlaceholder=mutable;                              

Output :-

Another option that doesn't require subclassing - leave placeholder blank, and put a label on top of edit button. Manage the label just like you would manage the placeholder (clearing once user inputs anything..)

In Swift 3

                import UIKit  let TEXTFIELD_BLUE  = UIColor.blue let TEXTFIELD_GRAY  = UIColor.gray  class DBTextField: UITextField {     /// Tetxfield Placeholder Color     @IBInspectable var palceHolderColor: UIColor = TEXTFIELD_GRAY     func setupTextField () {         self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:self.placeholder != nil ? self.placeholder! : "",                                                             attributes:[NSForegroundColorAttributeName: palceHolderColor])     } }  class DBLocalizedTextField : UITextField {     override func awakeFromNib() {         super.awakeFromNib()         self.placeholder = self.placeholder     } }                              

Change the Placeholder Text Color in Uitextfield Swift

Source: https://www.generacodice.com/en/articolo/398389/iphone-uitextfield---change-placeholder-text-color

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