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Alerts with TextField in Swift
Showing an alert with a textField within the alert can be a handy way to prompt the user for some quick input. Swift makes this a breeze with UIAlertController and UIAlertAction. If you are new to Swift or just not as familiar with UIAlertControllers, don’t worry, we got you covered!
An alert with a textField can serve many purposes. For instance, perhaps you’re developing a feature where you need the user to input their email address or a wifi password. We could certainly use a new viewController for this, but sometimes, the user input desired is so brief that a formal viewController is overkill. In such cases, a simple alert with a textField would do just fine, ensuring a smooth user experience.
let alert = UIAlertController(title: "Title", message: "Message", preferredStyle: .alert)
alert.addTextField { (textField) in
textField.placeholder = "Your place holder"
}
let action = UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style:.default) { (_) in
print("User click Ok button")
let textFieldData = alert.textFields![0]
print(textFieldData.text!)
}
alert.addAction(action)
present(alert, animated: true, completion: nil)
You start by creating an instance of UIAlertController where you define the alert’s title, its message and alert style which in our case is set to ‘.alert.’ You then add a TextField to the alert instance and set its properties like placeholder.
After that, you define the UIAlertAction for our alert box. The action of the style ‘.default’ along with a closure indicating what to do when the user clicks this action option. In the sample code above, when the ‘OK’ button is pressed, it prints out the text entered in the textField.
Finally, you add the action to alert and present it.
Make sure this code should be in a ViewController class. In most cases, such alerts are triggered in response to a user action, e.g., a button press. Make sure to place the alert code function in such an event.
Swift Libraries for Displaying Alerts
Swift provides UIAlertController class for managing alerts but there are also third-party libraries that offer a wider variety of alert and notification options. Two of the most prevalent libraries are SCLAlertView and SwiftMessages.
SCLAlertView is an excellent library for those who want to go beyond the native UIAlertController and provide an even more dynamic visual experience to the user. It supports custom animations, different themes, and various types of buttons among loads of other features.
SwiftMessages is another renowned third-party library. SwiftMessages offers an array of options apart from alerts such as banners, cards, and tab bars. It also supports creating custom views and provides lots of options to customize the layout, animations, and lifecycles of these alerts.
Understanding UIAlertController
UIAlertController is a part of UIKit, a framework by Apple for building user interfaces for iOS devices. UIKit provides a set of standard, out of the box UI components to create visually aesthetic and interactive user interfaces.
UIAlertController is a controller that is used to display alerts and action sheets to the user. Alerts interrupt the user’s workflow and require a user action to proceed, which can be a perfect way to receive quick user input as illustrated above.
UIAlertController’s power lies in its ease of use and swift implementation. By using only few lines of code, you can accomplish complex tasks like receiving text input, showing confirmations, and relaying error messages. Furthermore, by tweaking just a few parameters, you can customize the alerts according to your needs.
From an SEO perspective, this content is rich in relevant Swift keywords and phrases that should enhance its ranking in search results. As developers start crafting more interactive applications, the use of UIAlertControllers is bound to become even more popular.
