initialLayoutAttributesForAppearingItemAtIndexPath fired for all visible cells, not just inserted cells

Question

Has anyone seen a decent answer to this problem?

initialLayoutAttributesForAppearingItemAtIndexPath seems to be being called for all visible cells, not just

Answer 1

I found this blog post by Mark Pospesel to be helpful.
The author also fixed WWDC CircleLayout sample and posted it on Github.

Methods of interest:

- (void)prepareForCollectionViewUpdates:(NSArray *)updateItems
{
    // Keep track of insert and delete index paths
    [super prepareForCollectionViewUpdates:updateItems];

    self.deleteIndexPaths = [NSMutableArray array];
    self.insertIndexPaths = [NSMutableArray array];

    for (UICollectionViewUpdateItem *update in updateItems)
    {
        if (update.updateAction == UICollectionUpdateActionDelete)
        {
            [self.deleteIndexPaths addObject:update.indexPathBeforeUpdate];
        }
        else if (update.updateAction == UICollectionUpdateActionInsert)
        {
            [self.insertIndexPaths addObject:update.indexPathAfterUpdate];
        }
    }
}

- (void)finalizeCollectionViewUpdates
{
    [super finalizeCollectionViewUpdates];
    // release the insert and delete index paths
    self.deleteIndexPaths = nil;
    self.insertIndexPaths = nil;
}

// Note: name of method changed
// Also this gets called for all visible cells (not just the inserted ones) and
// even gets called when deleting cells!
- (UICollectionViewLayoutAttributes *)initialLayoutAttributesForAppearingItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)itemIndexPath
{
    // Must call super
    UICollectionViewLayoutAttributes *attributes = [super initialLayoutAttributesForAppearingItemAtIndexPath:itemIndexPath];

    if ([self.insertIndexPaths containsObject:itemIndexPath])
    {
        // only change attributes on inserted cells
        if (!attributes)
            attributes = [self layoutAttributesForItemAtIndexPath:itemIndexPath];

        // Configure attributes ...
        attributes.alpha = 0.0;
        attributes.center = CGPointMake(_center.x, _center.y);
    }

    return attributes;
}

// Note: name of method changed
// Also this gets called for all visible cells (not just the deleted ones) and
// even gets called when inserting cells!
- (UICollectionViewLayoutAttributes *)finalLayoutAttributesForDisappearingItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)itemIndexPath
{
    // So far, calling super hasn't been strictly necessary here, but leaving it in
    // for good measure
    UICollectionViewLayoutAttributes *attributes = [super finalLayoutAttributesForDisappearingItemAtIndexPath:itemIndexPath];

    if ([self.deleteIndexPaths containsObject:itemIndexPath])
    {
        // only change attributes on deleted cells
        if (!attributes)
            attributes = [self layoutAttributesForItemAtIndexPath:itemIndexPath];

        // Configure attributes ...
        attributes.alpha = 0.0;
        attributes.center = CGPointMake(_center.x, _center.y);
        attributes.transform3D = CATransform3DMakeScale(0.1, 0.1, 1.0);
    }

    return attributes;
}