How to allow user to pick the image with Swift?

Question

I am writing my first iOS application (iPhone only) with Swift. The main application view should allow user to choose the image from the photo gallery.

I\'ve found

Answer 1

Incase if you don't want to have a separate button, here is a another way. Attached a gesture on imageView itself, where on tap of image a alert will popup with two option. You will have the option to choose either from gallery/photo library or to cancel the alert.

import UIKit
import CoreData

class AddDetailsViewController: UIViewController, UITextFieldDelegate, UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate {

@IBOutlet weak var imageView: UIImageView!

var picker:UIImagePickerController? = UIImagePickerController()

@IBAction func saveButton(sender: AnyObject) {
    let managedContext = (UIApplication.sharedApplication().delegate as? AppDelegate)!.managedObjectContext

    let entity = NSEntityDescription.entityForName("Person", inManagedObjectContext: managedContext)

    let person = Person(entity: entity!, insertIntoManagedObjectContext: managedContext)

    person.image = UIImageJPEGRepresentation(imageView.image!, 1.0) //imageView.image

    do {
         try person.managedObjectContext?.save()
         //people.append(person)
       } catch let error as NSError {
         print("Could not save \(error)")
    }
}

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    let tapGesture = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(AddDetailsViewController.tapGesture(_:)))
    imageView.addGestureRecognizer(tapGesture)
    imageView.userInteractionEnabled = true

    picker?.delegate = self
    // Do any additional setup after loading the view.
}

override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
    super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
    // Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}

func tapGesture(gesture: UIGestureRecognizer) {
    let alert:UIAlertController = UIAlertController(title: "Profile Picture Options", message: nil, preferredStyle: UIAlertControllerStyle.ActionSheet)

    let gallaryAction = UIAlertAction(title: "Open Gallary", style: UIAlertActionStyle.Default) {
        UIAlertAction in self.openGallary()
    }

    let cancelAction = UIAlertAction(title: "Cancel", style: UIAlertActionStyle.Cancel) {
        UIAlertAction in self.cancel()
    }

    alert.addAction(gallaryAction)
    alert.addAction(cancelAction)

    self.presentViewController(alert, animated: true, completion: nil)

}


func openGallary() {
    picker!.allowsEditing = false
    picker!.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceType.PhotoLibrary
    presentViewController(picker!, animated: true, completion: nil)
}

func imagePickerController(picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [String : AnyObject]) {
    if let pickedImage = info[UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage] as? UIImage {
        imageView.contentMode = .ScaleAspectFit
        imageView.image = pickedImage
    }

    dismissViewControllerAnimated(true, completion: nil)
}

func cancel(){
    print("Cancel Clicked")
}

}

Adding more to the question, implemented the logic to store images in CoreData.

Answer 2

Complete copy-paste working image picker for swift 4 based on @user3182143 answer:

import Foundation
import UIKit


class ImagePickerManager: NSObject, UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate {

    var picker = UIImagePickerController();
    var alert = UIAlertController(title: "Choose Image", message: nil, preferredStyle: .actionSheet)
    var viewController: UIViewController?
    var pickImageCallback : ((UIImage) -> ())?;
    
    override init(){
        super.init()
        let cameraAction = UIAlertAction(title: "Camera", style: .default){
            UIAlertAction in
            self.openCamera()
        }
        let galleryAction = UIAlertAction(title: "Gallery", style: .default){
            UIAlertAction in
            self.openGallery()
        }
        let cancelAction = UIAlertAction(title: "Cancel", style: .cancel){
            UIAlertAction in
        }

        // Add the actions
        picker.delegate = self
        alert.addAction(cameraAction)
        alert.addAction(galleryAction)
        alert.addAction(cancelAction)
    }

    func pickImage(_ viewController: UIViewController, _ callback: @escaping ((UIImage) -> ())) {
        pickImageCallback = callback;
        self.viewController = viewController;

        alert.popoverPresentationController?.sourceView = self.viewController!.view

        viewController.present(alert, animated: true, completion: nil)
    }
    func openCamera(){
        alert.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
        if(UIImagePickerController .isSourceTypeAvailable(.camera)){
            picker.sourceType = .camera
            self.viewController!.present(picker, animated: true, completion: nil)
        } else {
            let alertWarning = UIAlertView(title:"Warning", message: "You don't have camera", delegate:nil, cancelButtonTitle:"OK", otherButtonTitles:"")
            alertWarning.show()
        }
    }
    func openGallery(){
        alert.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
        picker.sourceType = .photoLibrary
        self.viewController!.present(picker, animated: true, completion: nil)
    }

    
    func imagePickerControllerDidCancel(_ picker: UIImagePickerController) {
        picker.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
    }
    //for swift below 4.2
    //func imagePickerController(_ picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [String : Any]) {
    //    picker.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
    //    let image = info[UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage] as! UIImage
    //    pickImageCallback?(image)
    //}
    
    // For Swift 4.2+
    func imagePickerController(_ picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [UIImagePickerController.InfoKey : Any]) {
        picker.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
        guard let image = info[.originalImage] as? UIImage else {
            fatalError("Expected a dictionary containing an image, but was provided the following: \(info)")
        }
        pickImageCallback?(image)
    }



    @objc func imagePickerController(_ picker: UIImagePickerController, pickedImage: UIImage?) {
    }

}

Call it from your viewcontroller like this:

    ImagePickerManager().pickImage(self){ image in
        //here is the image
    }

Also don't forget to include the following keys in your info.plist:

<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app requires access to the camera.</string>
<key>NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app requires access to the photo library.</string>

Answer 3

For Swift 3:

1. First, you need to add the following key in info.plist:

       <key>NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription</key>
   <string>This app requires access to the photo library.</string>
   

2. Your View controller needs to conform to the following protocols: UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate:

   class ImagePickerViewController:  UIViewController,UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate {}
   

3. You need to declare the UIImage you will be useing to bind the returned/selected image:

   @IBOutlet weak var myImageView: UIImageView!
   @IBoutlet weak var upLoadImageBtn:UIImage!
   let imagePicker = UIImagePickerController()
   

4. Set the pickerImage delegate to be your ViewController:

   imagePicker.delegate = self
   

5. For the upload button, you will need to link to the following image in order to fire the action and display the image picker:

   @IBAction func upLoadImageBtnPressed(_ sender: AnyObject) {
       imagePicker.allowsEditing = false
       imagePicker.sourceType = .photoLibrary
   
   
       /*
       The sourceType property wants a value of the enum named        UIImagePickerControllerSourceType, which gives 3 options:
   
       UIImagePickerControllerSourceType.PhotoLibrary
       UIImagePickerControllerSourceType.Camera
       UIImagePickerControllerSourceType.SavedPhotosAlbum
   
       */
       present(imagePicker, animated: true, completion: nil)
   
   }
   

6. Your View controller needs to implement the delegate methods for the image picker delegates:

   // MARK: - ImagePicker Delegate
   
   func imagePickerController(_ picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [String : Any]) {
   
       if let pickedImage = info[UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage] as? UIImage {
           myImageView.contentMode = .scaleAspectFit
           myImageView.image = pickedImage
       }
   
   
       /*
   
       Swift Dictionary named “info”.  
       We have to unpack it from there with a key asking for what media information we want.
       We just want the image, so that is what we ask for.  For reference, the available options are:
   
       UIImagePickerControllerMediaType
       UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage
       UIImagePickerControllerEditedImage
       UIImagePickerControllerCropRect
       UIImagePickerControllerMediaURL
       UIImagePickerControllerReferenceURL
       UIImagePickerControllerMediaMetadata
   
       */
       dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
   }
   
   func imagePickerControllerDidCancel(_ picker: UIImagePickerController) {
       dismiss(animated: true, completion:nil)
   }