CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosuitextfield
adam
adam

Reputation: 22587

iPhone UITextField - Change placeholder text color

I'd like to change the color of the placeholder text I set in my UITextField controls, to make it black.

I'd prefer to do this without using normal text as the placeholder and having to override all the methods to imitate the behaviour of a placeholder.

I believe if I override this method:

- (void)drawPlaceholderInRect:(CGRect)rect

then I should be able to do this. But I'm unsure how to access the actual placeholder object from within this method.

Upvotes: 600

Views: 387599

Answers (30)

HenryRootTwo
HenryRootTwo

Reputation: 2612

Swift 5 WITH CAVEAT.

let attributes = [ NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.someColor ]
let placeHolderString = NSAttributedString(string: "DON'T_DELETE", attributes: attributes)
txtField.attributedPlaceholder = placeHolderString

The caveat being that you MUST enter a non-empty String where "DON'T_DELETE" is, even if that string is set in code elsewhere. Might save you five minutes of head-sctratching.

  • if subclassing you MUST do it in layoutSubviews (not in init)

  • strangely you do NOT have to clear the normal placeholder. it knows to not draw placeholder if you're using the attributed placeholder.

Upvotes: 7

Ashu
Ashu

Reputation: 3523

I had already faced this issue. In my case below code is correct.

Objective C

[textField setValue:[UIColor whiteColor] forKeyPath:@"_placeholderLabel.textColor"];

For Swift 4.X

tf_mobile.setValue(UIColor.white, forKeyPath: "_placeholderLabel.textColor")

For iOS 13 Swift Code

tf_mobile.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:"PlaceHolder Text", attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.red])

You can also use below code for iOS 13

let iVar = class_getInstanceVariable(UITextField.self, "_placeholderLabel")!
let placeholderLabel = object_getIvar(tf_mobile, iVar) as! UILabel
placeholderLabel.textColor = .red

Hope, this may help you.

Upvotes: 36

MAhipal Singh
MAhipal Singh

Reputation: 4815

in swift 3.X

textField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text", attributes:[NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.black])

in swift 5

textField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text", attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor : UIColor.black])

Upvotes: 31

Nike Kov
Nike Kov

Reputation: 13734

Swift 3.0 + Storyboard

In order to change placeholder color in storyboard, create an extension with next code. (feel free to update this code, if you think, it can be clearer and safer).

extension UITextField {
    @IBInspectable var placeholderColor: UIColor {
        get {
            guard let currentAttributedPlaceholderColor = attributedPlaceholder?.attribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, at: 0, effectiveRange: nil) as? UIColor else { return UIColor.clear }
            return currentAttributedPlaceholderColor
        }
        set {
            guard let currentAttributedString = attributedPlaceholder else { return }
            let attributes = [NSForegroundColorAttributeName : newValue]

            attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: currentAttributedString.string, attributes: attributes)
        }
    }
}

enter image description here

Swift 4 version

extension UITextField {
    @IBInspectable var placeholderColor: UIColor {
        get {
            return attributedPlaceholder?.attribute(.foregroundColor, at: 0, effectiveRange: nil) as? UIColor ?? .clear
        }
        set {
            guard let attributedPlaceholder = attributedPlaceholder else { return }
            let attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey: UIColor] = [.foregroundColor: newValue]
            self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: attributedPlaceholder.string, attributes: attributes)
        }
    }
}

Swift 5 version

extension UITextField {
    @IBInspectable var placeholderColor: UIColor {
        get {
            return attributedPlaceholder?.attribute(.foregroundColor, at: 0, effectiveRange: nil) as? UIColor ?? .clear
        }
        set {
            guard let attributedPlaceholder = attributedPlaceholder else { return }
            let attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key: UIColor] = [.foregroundColor: newValue]
            self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: attributedPlaceholder.string, attributes: attributes)
        }
    }
}

Upvotes: 96

Mantosh Kumar
Mantosh Kumar

Reputation: 273

This solution for Swift 4.1 

    textName.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: textName.placeholder!, attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor : UIColor.red])

Upvotes: 7

Tomino
Tomino

Reputation: 6269

This works in Swift <3.0: 

myTextField.attributedPlaceholder = 
NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text", attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName : UIColor.redColor()])

Tested in iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.3 beta 4.

Swift 3:

myTextfield.attributedPlaceholder =
NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text", attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName : UIColor.red])

Swift 4:

myTextfield.attributedPlaceholder =
NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text", attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.red])

Swift 4.2:

myTextfield.attributedPlaceholder =
NSAttributedString(string: "placeholder text", attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: UIColor.red])

Upvotes: 184

William Power
William Power

Reputation: 696

iOS 6 and later offers attributedPlaceholder on UITextField. iOS 3.2 and later offers setAttributes:range: on NSMutableAttributedString.

You can do the following: 

NSMutableAttributedString *ms = [[NSMutableAttributedString alloc] initWithString:self.yourInput.placeholder];
UIFont *placeholderFont = self.yourInput.font;
NSRange fullRange = NSMakeRange(0, ms.length);
NSDictionary *newProps = @{NSForegroundColorAttributeName:[UIColor yourColor], NSFontAttributeName:placeholderFont};
[ms setAttributes:newProps range:fullRange];
self.yourInput.attributedPlaceholder = ms;

Upvotes: 8

aumansoftware
aumansoftware

Reputation: 855

To handle both vertical and horizontal alignment as well as color of placeholder in iOS7. drawInRect and drawAtPoint no longer use current context fillColor.

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/StringsTextFonts/Conceptual/TextAndWebiPhoneOS/CustomTextProcessing/CustomTextProcessing.html

Obj-C 

@interface CustomPlaceHolderTextColorTextField : UITextField

@end


@implementation CustomPlaceHolderTextColorTextField : UITextField


-(void) drawPlaceholderInRect:(CGRect)rect  {
    if (self.placeholder) {
        // color of placeholder text
        UIColor *placeHolderTextColor = [UIColor redColor];

        CGSize drawSize = [self.placeholder sizeWithAttributes:[NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:self.font forKey:NSFontAttributeName]];
        CGRect drawRect = rect;

        // verticially align text
        drawRect.origin.y = (rect.size.height - drawSize.height) * 0.5;

        // set alignment
        NSMutableParagraphStyle *paragraphStyle = [[NSMutableParagraphStyle alloc] init];
        paragraphStyle.alignment = self.textAlignment;

        // dictionary of attributes, font, paragraphstyle, and color
        NSDictionary *drawAttributes = @{NSFontAttributeName: self.font,
                                     NSParagraphStyleAttributeName : paragraphStyle,
                                     NSForegroundColorAttributeName : placeHolderTextColor};


        // draw
        [self.placeholder drawInRect:drawRect withAttributes:drawAttributes];
    }
}

@end

Upvotes: 7

adam
adam

Reputation: 22587

You can override drawPlaceholderInRect:(CGRect)rect as such to manually render the placeholder text:

- (void) drawPlaceholderInRect:(CGRect)rect {
    [[UIColor blueColor] setFill];
    [[self placeholder] drawInRect:rect withFont:[UIFont systemFontOfSize:16]];
}

Upvotes: 197

Amul4608
Amul4608

Reputation: 1448

In Swift 3 

import UIKit

let TEXTFIELD_BLUE  = UIColor.blue
let TEXTFIELD_GRAY  = UIColor.gray

class DBTextField: UITextField {
    /// Tetxfield Placeholder Color
    @IBInspectable var palceHolderColor: UIColor = TEXTFIELD_GRAY
    func setupTextField () {
        self.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:self.placeholder != nil ? self.placeholder! : "",
                                                            attributes:[NSForegroundColorAttributeName: palceHolderColor])
    }
}

class DBLocalizedTextField : UITextField {
    override func awakeFromNib() {
        super.awakeFromNib()
        self.placeholder = self.placeholder
    }
}

Upvotes: 1

Beninho85
Beninho85

Reputation: 3311

In Swift:

if let placeholder = yourTextField.placeholder {
    yourTextField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:placeholder, 
        attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.blackColor()])
}

In Swift 4.0:

if let placeholder = yourTextField.placeholder {
    yourTextField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string:placeholder, 
        attributes: [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.black])
}

Upvotes: 78

ManuQiao
ManuQiao

Reputation: 758

For Xamarin.iOS developers, I found it from this document https://developer.xamarin.com/api/type/Foundation.NSAttributedString/

textField.AttributedPlaceholder = new NSAttributedString ("Hello, world",new UIStringAttributes () { ForegroundColor =  UIColor.Red });

Upvotes: 10

Max Tymchii
Max Tymchii

Reputation: 836

Swift version. Probably it would help someone.

class TextField: UITextField {
   override var placeholder: String? {
        didSet {
            let placeholderString = NSAttributedString(string: placeholder!, attributes: [NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.whiteColor()])
            self.attributedPlaceholder = placeholderString
        }
    }
}

Upvotes: 10

Uma Madhavi
Uma Madhavi

Reputation: 4917

With this we can change the color of textfield's placeholder text in iOS 

[self.userNameTxt setValue:[UIColor colorWithRed:41.0/255.0 green:91.0/255.0 blue:106.0/255.0 alpha:1.0] forKeyPath:@"_placeholderLabel.textColor"];

Upvotes: 32

Badal Shah
Badal Shah

Reputation: 7612

For set Attributed Textfield Placeholder with Multiple color ,

Just specify the Text ,

  //txtServiceText is your Textfield
 _txtServiceText.placeholder=@"Badal/ Shah";
    NSMutableAttributedString *mutable = [[NSMutableAttributedString alloc] initWithString:_txtServiceText.placeholder];
     [mutable addAttribute: NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:[UIColor whiteColor] range:[_txtServiceText.placeholder rangeOfString:@"Badal/"]]; //Replace it with your first color Text
    [mutable addAttribute: NSForegroundColorAttributeName value:[UIColor orangeColor] range:[_txtServiceText.placeholder rangeOfString:@"Shah"]]; // Replace it with your secondcolor string.
    _txtServiceText.attributedPlaceholder=mutable;

Output :-

enter image description here

Upvotes: 2

Jack
Jack

Reputation: 3680

Easy and pain-free, could be an easy alternative for some.

_placeholderLabel.textColor

Not suggested for production, Apple may reject your submission.

Upvotes: 239

Petr Syrov
Petr Syrov

Reputation: 15303

Also in your storyboard, without single line of code

enter image description here

Upvotes: 18

Mubin Shaikh
Mubin Shaikh

Reputation: 384

[txt_field setValue:ColorFromHEX(@"#525252") forKeyPath:@"_placeholderLabel.textColor"];

Upvotes: 1

Fahim Parkar
Fahim Parkar

Reputation: 31647

For iOS 6.0 +

[textfield setValue:your_color forKeyPath:@"_placeholderLabel.textColor"];

Hope it helps.

Note: Apple may reject (0.01% chances) your app as we are accessing private API. I am using this in all my projects since two years, but Apple didn't ask for this.

Upvotes: 12

Gaurav Gilani
Gaurav Gilani

Reputation: 1584

The following only with iOS6+ (as indicated in Alexander W's comment):

UIColor *color = [UIColor grayColor];
nameText.attributedPlaceholder =
   [[NSAttributedString alloc]
       initWithString:@"Full Name"
       attributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName:color}];

Upvotes: 43

user1071136
user1071136

Reputation: 15725

Since the introduction of attributed strings in UIViews in iOS 6, it's possible to assign a color to the placeholder text like this:

if ([textField respondsToSelector:@selector(setAttributedPlaceholder:)]) {
  UIColor *color = [UIColor blackColor];
  textField.attributedPlaceholder = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:placeholderText attributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName: color}];
} else {
  NSLog(@"Cannot set placeholder text's color, because deployment target is earlier than iOS 6.0");
  // TODO: Add fall-back code to set placeholder color.
}

Upvotes: 818

osxdirk
osxdirk

Reputation: 560

Categories FTW. Could be optimized to check for effective color change.

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@interface UITextField (OPConvenience)

@property (strong, nonatomic) UIColor* placeholderColor;

@end

#import "UITextField+OPConvenience.h"

@implementation UITextField (OPConvenience)

- (void) setPlaceholderColor: (UIColor*) color {
    if (color) {
        NSMutableAttributedString* attrString = [self.attributedPlaceholder mutableCopy];
        [attrString setAttributes: @{NSForegroundColorAttributeName: color} range: NSMakeRange(0,  attrString.length)];
        self.attributedPlaceholder =  attrString;
    }
}

- (UIColor*) placeholderColor {
    return [self.attributedPlaceholder attribute: NSForegroundColorAttributeName atIndex: 0 effectiveRange: NULL];
}

@end

Upvotes: 6

Valerii Lider
Valerii Lider

Reputation: 1814

Why don't you just use UIAppearance method:

[[UILabel appearanceWhenContainedIn:[UITextField class], nil] setTextColor:[UIColor whateverColorYouNeed]];

Upvotes: 22

amar
amar

Reputation: 4343

Iam new to xcode and i found a way around to the same effect.

I placed a uilabel in place of place holder with the desired format and hide it in

- (void)textFieldDidBeginEditing:(UITextField *)textField
{
    switch (textField.tag)
    {
        case 0:
            lblUserName.hidden=YES;
            break;

        case 1:
            lblPassword.hidden=YES;
            break;
 
        default:
            break;
    }
}

I agree its a work around and not a real solution but the effect was same got it from this link

NOTE: Still works on iOS 7 :|

Upvotes: 3

Diego
Diego

Reputation: 18379

For those using Monotouch (Xamarin.iOS), here's Adam's answer, translated to C#:

public class MyTextBox : UITextField
{
    public override void DrawPlaceholder(RectangleF rect)
    {
        UIColor.FromWhiteAlpha(0.5f, 1f).SetFill();
        new NSString(this.Placeholder).DrawString(rect, Font);
    }
}

Upvotes: 2

Manju
Manju

Reputation: 4133

You can Change the Placeholder textcolor to any color which you want by using the below code.

UIColor *color = [UIColor lightTextColor];
YOURTEXTFIELD.attributedPlaceholder = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:@"PlaceHolder Text" attributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName: color}];

Upvotes: 175

Aleksei Minaev
Aleksei Minaev

Reputation: 1568

The best i can do for both iOS7 and less is:

- (CGRect)placeholderRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds {
  return [self textRectForBounds:bounds];
}

- (CGRect)editingRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds {
  return [self textRectForBounds:bounds];
}

- (CGRect)textRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds {
  CGRect rect = CGRectInset(bounds, 0, 6); //TODO: can be improved by comparing font size versus bounds.size.height
  return rect;
}

- (void)drawPlaceholderInRect:(CGRect)rect {
  UIColor *color =RGBColor(65, 65, 65);
  if (SYSTEM_VERSION_GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO(@"7.0")) {
    [self.placeholder drawInRect:rect withAttributes:@{NSFontAttributeName:self.font, UITextAttributeTextColor:color}];
  } else {
    [color setFill];
    [self.placeholder drawInRect:rect withFont:self.font];
  }
}

Upvotes: 2

digdog
digdog

Reputation: 4198

Maybe you want to try this way, but Apple might warn you about accessing private ivar:

[self.myTextField setValue:[UIColor darkGrayColor] 
                forKeyPath:@"_placeholderLabel.textColor"];

NOTE
This is not working on iOS 7 anymore, according to Martin Alléus.

Upvotes: 157

Tomer Even
Tomer Even

Reputation: 4980

I needed to keep the placeholder alignment so adam's answer was not enough for me.

To solve this I used a small variation that I hope will help some of you too:

- (void) drawPlaceholderInRect:(CGRect)rect {
    //search field placeholder color
    UIColor* color = [UIColor whiteColor];

    [color setFill];
    [self.placeholder drawInRect:rect withFont:self.font lineBreakMode:UILineBreakModeTailTruncation alignment:self.textAlignment];
}

Upvotes: 1

anka
anka

Reputation: 3857

I would suggest another solution. Since the placeholder text uses the default font settings of the textfield, just set the initial font color to the placeholder font color you want. Then set the delegate of your UITextField and implement the following methods:

- (BOOL)textField:(UITextField *)textField shouldChangeCharactersInRange:(NSRange)range replacementString:(NSString *)string
{
    //set color for text input
    textField.textColor = [UIColor blackColor];
    return YES;
}

- (BOOL)textFieldShouldClear:(UITextField *)textField
{
    //set color for placeholder text
    textField.textColor = [UIColor redColor];
    return YES;
}

So, if a user starts typing in the textfield the color of the text changes to black and after the textfield gets cleared again the placeholder text will appear in red color again.

Cheers, anka

Upvotes: -10

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