iOS 8 UITableView separator inset 0 not working

Question

I have an app where the UITableView\'s separator inset is set to custom values - Right 0, Left 0. This works perfectly in iOS 7.

Answer 1

This is the code that's working for me, in Swift:

override func viewDidLoad() 
{
    super.viewDidLoad()
    ...
    if tableView.respondsToSelector("setSeparatorInset:") {
        tableView.separatorInset = UIEdgeInsetsZero
    }
}

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, willDisplayCell cell: UITableViewCell,forRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath)
{
    if cell.respondsToSelector("setSeparatorInset:") {
        cell.separatorInset.left = CGFloat(0.0)
    }
    if tableView.respondsToSelector("setLayoutMargins:") {
        tableView.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsZero
    }
    if cell.respondsToSelector("setLayoutMargins:") {
        cell.layoutMargins.left = CGFloat(0.0)
    }
}

This seems the cleanest to me (for now), as all the cell/tableView edge/margin adjustments are done in the tableView:willDisplayCell:forRowAtIndexPath: method, without cramming unneccessary code into tableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath:.

Btw, I'm only setting the cell's left separatorInset/layoutMargins, because in this case I don't want to screw up my constraints that I have set up in my cell.

Code updated to Swift 2.2 :

 override func viewDidLoad() {
   super.viewDidLoad()       

    if tableView.respondsToSelector(Selector("setSeparatorInset:")) {
      tableView.separatorInset = UIEdgeInsetsZero
        }
    }

 override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, willDisplayCell cell: UITableViewCell,forRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) {
        if cell.respondsToSelector(Selector("setSeparatorInset:")) {
            cell.separatorInset.left = CGFloat(0.0)
        }
        if tableView.respondsToSelector(Selector("setLayoutMargins:")) {
            tableView.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsZero
        }
        if cell.respondsToSelector(Selector("setLayoutMargins:")) {
            cell.layoutMargins.left = CGFloat(0.0)
        }
    }

Answer 2

For me the simple line did the job

cell.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsZero

Answer 3

Lukasz answer in Swift:

    // iOS 7:
    UITableView.appearance().separatorStyle = .SingleLine
    UITableView.appearance().separatorInset = UIEdgeInsetsZero
    UITableViewCell.appearance().separatorInset = UIEdgeInsetsZero

    // iOS 8:
    if UITableView.instancesRespondToSelector("setLayoutMargins:") {
        UITableView.appearance().layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsZero
        UITableViewCell.appearance().layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsZero
        UITableViewCell.appearance().preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins = false
    }

Answer 4

iOS introduces the layoutMargins property on cells AND table views.

This property isn't available in iOS 7.0 so you need to make sure you check before assigning it!

However, Apple has added a property called preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins to your cell that will prevent it from inheriting your Table View's margin settings. This way, your cells can configure their own margins independently of the table view. Think of it as an override.

This property is called preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins, and setting it to NO can allow you to override your Table View's layoutMargin settings with your own cell's layoutMargin setting. It both saves time (you don't have to modify the Table View's settings), and is more concise. Please refer to Mike Abdullah's answer for a detailed explanation.

NOTE: this is the proper, less messy implementation, as expressed in Mike Abdullah's answer; setting your cell's preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins=NO will ensure that your Table View does not override the cell settings.

First step - Setup your cell margins:

/*
    Tells the delegate that the table view is about to draw a cell for a particular row.
*/
override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, willDisplayCell cell: UITableViewCell,
    forRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath)
{
    // Remove separator inset
    if cell.respondsToSelector("setSeparatorInset:") {
        cell.separatorInset = UIEdgeInsetsZero
    }

    // Prevent the cell from inheriting the Table View's margin settings
    if cell.respondsToSelector("setPreservesSuperviewLayoutMargins:") {
        cell.preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins = false
    }

    // Explictly set your cell's layout margins
    if cell.respondsToSelector("setLayoutMargins:") {
        cell.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsZero
    }
}

Setting the preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins property on your cell to NO should prevent your table view from overriding your cell margins. In some cases, it seems not to function properly.

Second step - Only if all fails, you may brute-force your Table View margins:

/*
    Called to notify the view controller that its view has just laid out its subviews.
*/
override func viewDidLayoutSubviews() {
    super.viewDidLayoutSubviews()

    // Force your tableview margins (this may be a bad idea)
    if self.tableView.respondsToSelector("setSeparatorInset:") {
        self.tableView.separatorInset = UIEdgeInsetsZero
    }

    if self.tableView.respondsToSelector("setLayoutMargins:") {
        self.tableView.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsZero
    }
}

...and there you go! This should work on iOS 8 as well as iOS 7.

Note: tested using iOS 8.1 and 7.1, in my case I only needed to use the first step of this explanation.

The Second Step is only required if you have unpopulated cell beneath the rendered cells, ie. if the table is larger than the number of rows in the table model. Not doing the second step would result in different separator offsets.

Answer 5

Most answers are showing separator insets and layout margins being set over a variety of methods (i.e., viewDidLayoutSubviews, willDisplayCell, etc) for cells and tableviews, but I've found that just putting these in cellForRowAtIndexPath works great. Seems like the cleanest way.

// kill insets for iOS 8
if ([[UIDevice currentDevice].systemVersion floatValue] >= 8) {
    cell.preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins = NO;
    [cell setLayoutMargins:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
}
// iOS 7 and later
if ([cell respondsToSelector:@selector(setSeparatorInset:)])
    [cell setSeparatorInset:UIEdgeInsetsZero];

Answer 6

For iOS 9 you need to add:

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

For more details please refer to question.