Swift language has transformed the way developers create and maintain apps. Its efficacy and easy syntax have made it a popular tool in app development. One of those elements that add to this rich experience is the ability to change font sizes device wise. This article will explore the solution to accomplish this, dissecting the code step by step and introducing some of Swift’s unique libraries and functions that seamlessly allow this.
import UIKit
class ViewController: UIViewController {
@IBOutlet var label: UILabel!
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
let deviceType = UIDevice.current.model
switch deviceType {
case "iPhone":
label.font = label.font.withSize(20)
case "iPad":
label.font = label.font.withSize(30)
default:
label.font = label.font.withSize(16)
}
}
}
Understanding the Code
In the code snippet above, we commence by importing the UIKit library. UIKit is a foundational framework that is used to construct and manage a graphical, event-driven application for iOS. It plays an invaluable role in building the user interface (UI) of iOS applications.
We then declare a class `ViewController` inheriting from the `UIViewController` which is a part of the UIKit framework. This class will control and manage the view in which we want to change the font size.
In the viewDidLoad method, we call the model property of the UIDevice’s current object to check the device type. The block of code under switch operates based on what device is being used, changing the font size depending on whether it’s an iPhone, an iPad, or any other type (labelled as ‘default’). This adaptive text sizing enhances User Experience(UX) — a key aspect of app development.
Exploring UIDevice
UIDevice is a particularly useful class in Swift and provides us with data about the device in use. It offers a singular interface for obtaining data about a device and its current conditions. Here we use UIDevice.current.model which gives us the model of the device the app is running on (eg. iPhone, iPad, etc.).
The best part about UIDevice is that it does not require any object initialization. The property ‘current’ is a static property, and all properties and methods under UIDevice are instance properties and methods. This feature helps the developers to write less yet fully functioning code, a viewpoint that Swift promotes.
Implementing UILabel and UIFont
UILabel, although a simple yet powerful class, is used to display static text or attributed strings. In this context, we use UILabel to bring up the text whose font size we change.
UIFont is a crucial part of many UIKit classes that deal with text representation. It offers an interface for obtaining font objects where each object represents a font that is optimized for rendering in user interfaces. In our case, we use the function withSize() on label.font to adjust the size of the text.
From understanding Swift code to highlighting some important aspects of UIKit, UIDevice, UILabel & UIFont, walking through this article would have provided you with an in-depth overview of Swift’s way of handling font sizes device wise. This knowledge furthers the comprehension of Swift as a language and lays a solid foundation for creating user-friendly interfaces.
