Placeholder in UITextView

Question

My application uses an UITextView. Now I want the UITextView to have a placeholder similar to the one you can set for an UITextField.<

Answer 1

Take a look at UTPlaceholderTextView.

This is a convenient subclass of UITextView that supports placeholder similiar to that of UITextField. Main peculiarities:

• Does not use subviews
• Does not override drawRect:
• Placeholder could be of arbitrary length, and rendered just the same way as usual text

Answer 2

I wasn't too happy with any of the solutions posted as they were a bit heavy. Adding views to the view isn't really ideal (especially in drawRect:). They both had leaks, which isn't acceptable either.

Here is my solution: SAMTextView

SAMTextView.h

//
//  SAMTextView.h
//  SAMTextView
//
//  Created by Sam Soffes on 8/18/10.
//  Copyright 2010-2013 Sam Soffes. All rights reserved.
//

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

/**
 UITextView subclass that adds placeholder support like UITextField has.
 */
@interface SAMTextView : UITextView

/**
 The string that is displayed when there is no other text in the text view.

 The default value is `nil`.
 */
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *placeholder;

/**
 The color of the placeholder.

 The default is `[UIColor lightGrayColor]`.
 */
@property (nonatomic, strong) UIColor *placeholderTextColor;

/**
 Returns the drawing rectangle for the text views’s placeholder text.

 @param bounds The bounding rectangle of the receiver.
 @return The computed drawing rectangle for the placeholder text.
 */
- (CGRect)placeholderRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds;

@end

SAMTextView.m

//
//  SAMTextView.m
//  SAMTextView
//
//  Created by Sam Soffes on 8/18/10.
//  Copyright 2010-2013 Sam Soffes. All rights reserved.
//

#import "SAMTextView.h"

@implementation SAMTextView

#pragma mark - Accessors

@synthesize placeholder = _placeholder;
@synthesize placeholderTextColor = _placeholderTextColor;

- (void)setText:(NSString *)string {
  [super setText:string];
  [self setNeedsDisplay];
}


- (void)insertText:(NSString *)string {
  [super insertText:string];
  [self setNeedsDisplay];
}


- (void)setAttributedText:(NSAttributedString *)attributedText {
  [super setAttributedText:attributedText];
  [self setNeedsDisplay];
}


- (void)setPlaceholder:(NSString *)string {
  if ([string isEqual:_placeholder]) {
    return;
  }

  _placeholder = string;
  [self setNeedsDisplay];
}


- (void)setContentInset:(UIEdgeInsets)contentInset {
  [super setContentInset:contentInset];
  [self setNeedsDisplay];
}


- (void)setFont:(UIFont *)font {
  [super setFont:font];
  [self setNeedsDisplay];
}


- (void)setTextAlignment:(NSTextAlignment)textAlignment {
  [super setTextAlignment:textAlignment];
  [self setNeedsDisplay];
}


#pragma mark - NSObject

- (void)dealloc {
  [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self name:UITextViewTextDidChangeNotification object:self];
}


#pragma mark - UIView

- (id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder {
  if ((self = [super initWithCoder:aDecoder])) {
    [self initialize];
  }
  return self;
}


- (id)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame {
  if ((self = [super initWithFrame:frame])) {
    [self initialize];
  }
  return self;
}


- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect {
  [super drawRect:rect];

  if (self.text.length == 0 && self.placeholder) {
    rect = [self placeholderRectForBounds:self.bounds];

    UIFont *font = self.font ? self.font : self.typingAttributes[NSFontAttributeName];

    // Draw the text
    [self.placeholderTextColor set];
    [self.placeholder drawInRect:rect withFont:font lineBreakMode:NSLineBreakByTruncatingTail alignment:self.textAlignment];
  }
}


#pragma mark - Placeholder

- (CGRect)placeholderRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds {
  // Inset the rect
  CGRect rect = UIEdgeInsetsInsetRect(bounds, self.contentInset);

  if (self.typingAttributes) {
    NSParagraphStyle *style = self.typingAttributes[NSParagraphStyleAttributeName];
    if (style) {
      rect.origin.x += style.headIndent;
      rect.origin.y += style.firstLineHeadIndent;
    }
  }

  return rect;
}


#pragma mark - Private

- (void)initialize {
  [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(textChanged:) name:UITextViewTextDidChangeNotification object:self];

  self.placeholderTextColor = [UIColor colorWithWhite:0.702f alpha:1.0f];
}


- (void)textChanged:(NSNotification *)notification {
  [self setNeedsDisplay];
}

@end

It's a lot simpler than the others, as it doesn't use subviews (or have leaks). Feel free to use it.

Update 11/10/11: It is now documented and supports use in Interface Builder.

Update 11/24/13: Point to new repo.

Answer 3

You could also create a new class TextViewWithPlaceholder as a subclass of UITextView.

(This code is kind of rough -- but I think it's on the right track.)

@interface TextViewWithPlaceholder : UITextView
{

    NSString *placeholderText;  // make a property
    UIColor *placeholderColor;  // make a property
    UIColor *normalTextColor;   // cache text color here whenever you switch to the placeholderColor
}

- (void) setTextColor: (UIColor*) color
{
   normalTextColor = color;
   [super setTextColor: color];
}

- (void) updateForTextChange
{
    if ([self.text length] == 0)
    { 
        normalTextColor = self.textColor;
        self.textColor = placeholderColor;
        self.text = placeholderText;
    }
    else
    {
        self.textColor = normalTextColor;
    }

}

In your delegate, add this:

- (void)textViewDidChange:(UITextView *)textView
{
    if ([textView respondsToSelector: @selector(updateForTextChange)])
    {
        [textView updateForTextChange];
    }

}

Answer 4

I read through all of these, but came up with a very short, Swift 3, solution that has worked in all of my tests. It could stand a little more generality, but the process is simple. Here's the entire thing which I call "TextViewWithPlaceholder".

import UIKit

class TextViewWithPlaceholder: UITextView {

    public var placeholder: String?
    public var placeholderColor = UIColor.lightGray

    private var placeholderLabel: UILabel?

    // Set up notification listener when created from a XIB or storyboard.
    // You can also set up init() functions if you plan on creating
    // these programmatically.
    override func awakeFromNib() {
        super.awakeFromNib()

        NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self,
                                           selector: #selector(TextViewWithPlaceholder.textDidChangeHandler(notification:)),
                                           name: .UITextViewTextDidChange,
                                           object: self)

        placeholderLabel = UILabel()
        placeholderLabel?.alpha = 0.85
        placeholderLabel?.textColor = placeholderColor
    }

    // By using layoutSubviews, you can size and position the placeholder
    // more accurately. I chose to hard-code the size of the placeholder
    // but you can combine this with other techniques shown in previous replies.
    override func layoutSubviews() {
        super.layoutSubviews()

        placeholderLabel?.textColor = placeholderColor
        placeholderLabel?.text = placeholder

        placeholderLabel?.frame = CGRect(x: 6, y: 4, width: self.bounds.size.width-16, height: 24)

        if text.isEmpty {
            addSubview(placeholderLabel!)
            bringSubview(toFront: placeholderLabel!)
        } else {
            placeholderLabel?.removeFromSuperview()
        }
    }

    // Whenever the text changes, just trigger a new layout pass.
    func textDidChangeHandler(notification: Notification) {
        layoutSubviews()
    }
}

Answer 5

Here's yet another way to do it, one that reproduces the slight indentation of UITextField's placeholder:

Drag a UITextField right under the UITextView so that their top left corners are aligned. Add your placeholder text to the text field.

In viewDidLoad, add:

[tView setDelegate:self];
tView.contentInset = UIEdgeInsetsMake(-8,-8,0,0);
tView.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];

Then add:

- (void)textViewDidChange:(UITextView *)textView {
    if (textView.text.length == 0) {
        textView.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];            
    } else {
        textView.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    }
}

Answer 6

I have wrote a class in swift. You can import this class whenever required.

import UIKit

public class CustomTextView: UITextView {

private struct Constants {
    static let defaultiOSPlaceholderColor = UIColor(red: 0.0, green: 0.0, blue: 0.0980392, alpha: 0.22)
}
private let placeholderLabel: UILabel = UILabel()

private var placeholderLabelConstraints = [NSLayoutConstraint]()

@IBInspectable public var placeholder: String = "" {
    didSet {
        placeholderLabel.text = placeholder
    }
}

@IBInspectable public var placeholderColor: UIColor = CustomTextView.Constants.defaultiOSPlaceholderColor {
    didSet {
        placeholderLabel.textColor = placeholderColor
    }
}

override public var font: UIFont! {
    didSet {
        placeholderLabel.font = font
    }
}

override public var textAlignment: NSTextAlignment {
    didSet {
        placeholderLabel.textAlignment = textAlignment
    }
}

override public var text: String! {
    didSet {
        textDidChange()
    }
}

override public var attributedText: NSAttributedString! {
    didSet {
        textDidChange()
    }
}

override public var textContainerInset: UIEdgeInsets {
    didSet {
        updateConstraintsForPlaceholderLabel()
    }
}

override public init(frame: CGRect, textContainer: NSTextContainer?) {
    super.init(frame: frame, textContainer: textContainer)
    commonInit()
}

required public init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
    super.init(coder: aDecoder)
    commonInit()
}

private func commonInit() {
    NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self,
                                                     selector: #selector(textDidChange),
                                                     name: UITextViewTextDidChangeNotification,
                                                     object: nil)

    placeholderLabel.font = font
    placeholderLabel.textColor = placeholderColor
    placeholderLabel.textAlignment = textAlignment
    placeholderLabel.text = placeholder
    placeholderLabel.numberOfLines = 0
    placeholderLabel.backgroundColor = UIColor.clearColor()
    placeholderLabel.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
    addSubview(placeholderLabel)
    updateConstraintsForPlaceholderLabel()
}

private func updateConstraintsForPlaceholderLabel() {
    var newConstraints = NSLayoutConstraint.constraintsWithVisualFormat("H:|-(\(textContainerInset.left + textContainer.lineFragmentPadding))-[placeholder]",
                                                                        options: [],
                                                                        metrics: nil,
                                                                        views: ["placeholder": placeholderLabel])
    newConstraints += NSLayoutConstraint.constraintsWithVisualFormat("V:|-(\(textContainerInset.top))-[placeholder]",
                                                                     options: [],
                                                                     metrics: nil,
                                                                     views: ["placeholder": placeholderLabel])
    newConstraints.append(NSLayoutConstraint(
        item: placeholderLabel,
        attribute: .Width,
        relatedBy: .Equal,
        toItem: self,
        attribute: .Width,
        multiplier: 1.0,
        constant: -(textContainerInset.left + textContainerInset.right + textContainer.lineFragmentPadding * 2.0)
        ))
    removeConstraints(placeholderLabelConstraints)
    addConstraints(newConstraints)
    placeholderLabelConstraints = newConstraints
}

@objc private func textDidChange() {
    placeholderLabel.hidden = !text.isEmpty
}

public override func layoutSubviews() {
    super.layoutSubviews()
    placeholderLabel.preferredMaxLayoutWidth = textContainer.size.width - textContainer.lineFragmentPadding * 2.0
}

deinit {
    NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().removeObserver(self,
                                                        name: UITextViewTextDidChangeNotification,
                                                        object: nil)
}

}