Changing Placeholder Text Color with Swift

Question

I have a design that implements a dark blue UITextField, as the placeholder text is by default a dark grey colour I can barely make out what the place holder te

Answer 1

You can set the placeholder text using an attributed string. Pass the color you want with the attributes:

var myTextField = UITextField(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 200, height: 30))
myTextField.backgroundColor = .blue
myTextField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text",
                             attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.yellow])

For Swift 3+ use following:

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

For Swift 4.2 use following:

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

Answer 2

Xcode 9.2 Swift 4

extension UITextField{
    @IBInspectable var placeHolderColor: UIColor? {
        get {
            return self.placeHolderColor
        }
        set {
            self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:self.placeholder != nil ? self.placeholder! : "", attributes:[NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: newValue!])
        }
    }
}

Answer 3

For swift 4.2 and above you can do it as below:

textField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "Placeholder Text", attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.white])

Answer 4

    extension UITextField{
            @IBInspectable var placeHolderColor: UIColor? {
                get {
                    return self.placeHolderColor
                }
                set {
                    self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:self.placeholder != nil ?
        self.placeholder! : "",
        attributes:[NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor : newValue!])
                }
            } 
}

Answer 5

Objective C code for changing placeholder text color.

First import this objc/runtime class -

#import <objc/runtime.h>

then replace your textfield name -

Ivar ivar =  class_getInstanceVariable([UITextField class], "_placeholderLabel");
UILabel *placeholderLabel = object_getIvar(YourTxtField, ivar);
placeholderLabel.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];

Answer 6

Here am i writing all UIDesignable of UITextField. With the help of this code you can directly access it from UI file Inspector in storyboard

@IBDesignable
class CustomTextField: UITextField {

@IBInspectable var leftImage: UIImage? {
    didSet {
        updateView()
    }
}

@IBInspectable var leftPadding: CGFloat = 0 {
    didSet {
        updateView()
    }
}

@IBInspectable var rightImage: UIImage? {
    didSet {
        updateView()
    }
}

@IBInspectable var rightPadding: CGFloat = 0 {
    didSet {
        updateView()
    }
}

private var _isRightViewVisible: Bool = true
var isRightViewVisible: Bool {
    get {
        return _isRightViewVisible
    }
    set {
        _isRightViewVisible = newValue
        updateView()
    }
}

func updateView() {
    setLeftImage()
    setRightImage()

    // Placeholder text color
    attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: placeholder != nil ?  placeholder! : "", attributes:[NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: tintColor])
}

func setLeftImage() {
    leftViewMode = UITextField.ViewMode.always
    var view: UIView

    if let image = leftImage {
        let imageView = UIImageView(frame: CGRect(x: leftPadding, y: 0, width: 20, height: 20))
        imageView.image = image
        // Note: In order for your image to use the tint color, you have to select the image in the Assets.xcassets and change the "Render As" property to "Template Image".
        imageView.tintColor = tintColor

        var width = imageView.frame.width + leftPadding

        if borderStyle == UITextField.BorderStyle.none || borderStyle == UITextField.BorderStyle.line {
            width += 5
        }

        view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: width, height: 20))
        view.addSubview(imageView)
    } else {
        view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: leftPadding, height: 20))
    }

    leftView = view
}

func setRightImage() {
    rightViewMode = UITextField.ViewMode.always

    var view: UIView

    if let image = rightImage, isRightViewVisible {
        let imageView = UIImageView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 20, height: 20))
        imageView.image = image
        // Note: In order for your image to use the tint color, you have to select the image in the Assets.xcassets and change the "Render As" property to "Template Image".
        imageView.tintColor = tintColor

        var width = imageView.frame.width + rightPadding

        if borderStyle == UITextField.BorderStyle.none || borderStyle == UITextField.BorderStyle.line {
            width += 5
        }

        view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: width, height: 20))
        view.addSubview(imageView)

    } else {
        view = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: rightPadding, height: 20))
    }

    rightView = view
}


@IBInspectable public var borderColor: UIColor = UIColor.clear {
    didSet {
        layer.borderColor = borderColor.cgColor
    }
}

@IBInspectable public var borderWidth: CGFloat = 0 {
    didSet {
        layer.borderWidth = borderWidth
    }
}

@IBInspectable public var cornerRadius: CGFloat = 0 {
    didSet {
        layer.cornerRadius = cornerRadius
    }
}
@IBInspectable public var bottomBorder: CGFloat = 0 {
    didSet {
       borderStyle = .none
        layer.backgroundColor = UIColor.white.cgColor

        layer.masksToBounds = false
     //   layer.shadowColor = UIColor.gray.cgColor
        layer.shadowOffset = CGSize(width: 0.0, height: 1.0)
        layer.shadowOpacity = 1.0
        layer.shadowRadius = 0.0
    }
}
@IBInspectable public var bottomBorderColor : UIColor = UIColor.clear {
    didSet {

        layer.shadowColor = bottomBorderColor.cgColor
        layer.shadowOffset = CGSize(width: 0.0, height: 1.0)
        layer.shadowOpacity = 1.0
        layer.shadowRadius = 0.0
    }
}
/// Sets the placeholder color
@IBInspectable var placeHolderColor: UIColor? {
    get {
        return self.placeHolderColor
    }
    set {
        self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:self.placeholder != nil ? self.placeholder! : "", attributes:[NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: newValue!])
    }
}

}