How to present popover properly in iOS 8

Question

I'm trying to add a UIPopoverView to my Swift iOS 8 app, but I am unable to access the PopoverContentSize property, as the popover does not show in the correct shape. my code:

var popover: UIPopoverController? = nil 

    func addCategory() {

    var newCategory = storyboard.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("NewCategory") as UIViewController
    var nav = UINavigationController(rootViewController: newCategory)
    popover = UIPopoverController(contentViewController: nav)
    popover!.setPopoverContentSize(CGSizeMake(550, 600), animated: true)
    popover!.delegate = self
    popover!.presentPopoverFromBarButtonItem(self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem, permittedArrowDirections: UIPopoverArrowDirection.Any, animated: true)
}

output:

When I am doing the same thing through UIPopoverPresentationController, I still don't get it done. this is my code:

func addCategory() {

    var popoverContent = self.storyboard.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("NewCategory") as UIViewController
    var nav = UINavigationController(rootViewController: popoverContent)
    nav.modalPresentationStyle = UIModalPresentationStyle.Popover
    var popover = nav.popoverPresentationController as UIPopoverPresentationController
    popover.delegate = self
    popover.popoverContentSize = CGSizeMake(1000, 300)
    popover.sourceView = self.view
    popover.sourceRect = CGRectMake(100,100,0,0)

    self.presentViewController(nav, animated: true, completion: nil)

}

I get the exact same output.

How do I customize the size of my popover? Any help would be highly appreciated!

Ep

There is a WWDC video on the developer site called "A Look Inside Presentation Controllers" It explains how to use the UIPopoverPresentationController – Mylander

I have edited my question according to the apple video regarding the UIpopoverpresentationctontroller, but nothing changed! do you maybe se anything that I should change about this? Thanks for the input though! – Ep

Answer 1

Okay, A housemate took a look at it and figured it out:

 func addCategory() {

    var popoverContent = self.storyboard?.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("NewCategory") as UIViewController
    var nav = UINavigationController(rootViewController: popoverContent)
    nav.modalPresentationStyle = UIModalPresentationStyle.Popover
    var popover = nav.popoverPresentationController
    popoverContent.preferredContentSize = CGSizeMake(500,600)
    popover.delegate = self
    popover.sourceView = self.view
    popover.sourceRect = CGRectMake(100,100,0,0)

    self.presentViewController(nav, animated: true, completion: nil)

}

That's the way.

You don't talk to the popover itself anymore, you talk to the view controller inside of it to set the content size, by calling the property preferredContentSize

Ep

Probably stating the obvious, but this is not just swift-related. I also had to do this in my obj-c app :) – Garrote

Another comment on the code - you can use "let" instead of "var". Apple recommends it for cases where you don't need to reassign the value. – Karlow

This is bugged in the GM for iPhone. If you try to present while the simulator is in portrait, it is always full screen. If you rotate to landscape, it becomes a popover. If you rotate back to portrait again, it stays a popover. – Chainplate

The solution is to set up the popover BEFORE calling presentViewController. This is exactly the opposite of Apple's example where they explicitly tell you to set up the popover AFTER calling presentViewController. – Chainplate

@PsychoDad can u please provide link to this solution u mentioned. I am still stuck at "while the simulator is in portrait, it is always full screen". Thanks – Loats

Is it working properly in iOS 8.1 as well ? In my case it's working fine in iOS 8.0 but not in iOS 8.1. Can Anyone help it out ? – Bilge

preferredContentSize is readonly in iOS8.1. Also UIPopoverPresentationController.popoverContentSize is not there anymore either. How are people handling size change? – Pickering

I'm pretty sure that whenever you have width regular (e.g. iphone in portrait mode) these popovers are forced to be full-screen and there is no way to avoid it. – Skilled

Why is sourceRect looks invalid? – Ziska

Can you give objective c version of it – Maurreen

this API just from IOS 8,but I need support IOS 7 – Alimentation

How to do it without storyboard? – Caputo

Answer 2

Actually it is much simpler than that. In the storyboard you should make the viewcontroller you want to use as popover and make a viewcontroller class for it as usual. Make a segue as shown below from the object you want to open the popover, in this case the UIBarButton named "Config".

In the "mother viewcontroller" implement the UIPopoverPresentationControllerDelegate and the delegate method:

func popoverPresentationControllerDidDismissPopover(popoverPresentationController: UIPopoverPresentationController) {
    //do som stuff from the popover
}

Override the prepareForSeque method like this:

override func prepare(for segue: UIStoryboardSegue, sender: Any?) {
     //segue for the popover configuration window
    if segue.identifier == "yourSegueIdentifierForPopOver" {
        if let controller = segue.destinationViewController as? UIViewController {
            controller.popoverPresentationController!.delegate = self
            controller.preferredContentSize = CGSize(width: 320, height: 186)
        }
    }
}

And you're done. And you can now treat the popover view as any other view, ie. add fields and what not! And you get hold of the the content controller by using the popoverPresentationController.presentedViewController method in the UIPopoverPresentationController.

Also on an iPhone you would have to overwrite

func adaptivePresentationStyle(for controller: UIPresentationController) -> UIModalPresentationStyle {

        return UIModalPresentationStyle.none
    } 

Gensmer

Answer 3

I found a complete example of how to get this all to work so that you can always display a popover no matter the device/orientation https://github.com/frogcjn/AdaptivePopover_iOS8_Swift.

The key is to implement UIAdaptivePresentationControllerDelegate

func adaptivePresentationStyleForPresentationController(PC: UIPresentationController!) -> UIModalPresentationStyle {
    // This *forces* a popover to be displayed on the iPhone
    return .None
}

Then extend the example above (from Imagine Digital):

nav.popoverPresentationController!.delegate = implOfUIAPCDelegate

Wyattwyche

I use UIPopoverPresentationControllerDelegate – Specht

Correct, UIPopoverPresentationControllerDelegate extends UIAdaptivePresentationControllerDelegate. So, by definition, both contain the method 'adaptivePresentationStyleForPresentationController'. I provided the base interface as that is where the method is documented in Apple's API documents. – Wyattwyche

Note this is undocumented behavior. The doc says this delegate method must return "either UIModalPresentationFullScreen or UIModalPresentationOverFullScreen". Furthermore, "If you do not implement this method or return any style other than UIModalPresentationFullScreen or UIModalPresentationOverFullScreen, the presentation controller adjusts the presentation style to the UIModalPresentationFullScreen style." – Witha

Current documentation advises that from iOS 8.3 onwards you should use - adaptivePresentationStyleForPresentationController:traitCollection: and that returned style must be "UIModalPresentationFullScreen, UIModalPresentationOverFullScreen, UIModalPresentationFormSheet, or UIModalPresentationNone." – Stuck

Answer 4

Swift 2.0

Well I worked out. Have a look. Made a ViewController in StoryBoard. Associated with PopOverViewController class.

import UIKit

class PopOverViewController: UIViewController {
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()    
        self.preferredContentSize = CGSizeMake(200, 200)    
        self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(barButtonSystemItem: .Done, target: self, action: "dismiss:")    
    }    
    func dismiss(sender: AnyObject) {
        self.dismissViewControllerAnimated(true, completion: nil)
    }
}      

See ViewController:

//  ViewController.swift

import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController, UIPopoverPresentationControllerDelegate
{
    func showPopover(base: UIView)
    {
        if let viewController = self.storyboard?.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("popover") as? PopOverViewController {    

            let navController = UINavigationController(rootViewController: viewController)
            navController.modalPresentationStyle = .Popover

            if let pctrl = navController.popoverPresentationController {
                pctrl.delegate = self

                pctrl.sourceView = base
                pctrl.sourceRect = base.bounds

                self.presentViewController(navController, animated: true, completion: nil)
            }
        }
    }    
    override func viewDidLoad(){
        super.viewDidLoad()
    }    
    @IBAction func onShow(sender: UIButton)
    {
        self.showPopover(sender)
    }    
    func adaptivePresentationStyleForPresentationController(controller: UIPresentationController) -> UIModalPresentationStyle {
        return .None
    }
}  

Note: The func showPopover(base: UIView) method should be placed before ViewDidLoad. Hope it helps !

Fiester

hi @Alvin, I am going to popup a view from map annotation. so i did the same as you did . the difference is that am going to populate tableviewcontroller instead of view. Now the problem is not hitting delegate method ."popoverPresentationControllerDidDismissPopover". when i dismiss the controller. can you help ? (question is not related to the post) – Engineman

Why a showPopover(base: UIView) method should be placed before viewDidLoad()? – Floss

Answer 5

In iOS9 UIPopoverController is depreciated. So can use the below code for Objective-C version above iOS9.x,

- (IBAction)onclickPopover:(id)sender {
UIStoryboard *sb = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:@"Main" bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]];
UIViewController *viewController = [sb instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:@"popover"];

viewController.modalPresentationStyle = UIModalPresentationPopover;
viewController.popoverPresentationController.sourceView = self.popOverBtn;
viewController.popoverPresentationController.sourceRect = self.popOverBtn.bounds;
viewController.popoverPresentationController.permittedArrowDirections = UIPopoverArrowDirectionAny;
[self presentViewController:viewController animated:YES completion:nil]; }

Bathos

The question specifically asks for Swift, not for Objective-C. – Court

Answer 6

Here i Convert "Joris416" Swift Code to Objective-c,

-(void) popoverstart
{
    ViewController *controller = [self.storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:@"PopoverView"];
    UINavigationController *nav = [[UINavigationController alloc]initWithRootViewController:controller];
    nav.modalPresentationStyle = UIModalPresentationPopover;
    UIPopoverPresentationController *popover = nav.popoverPresentationController;
    controller.preferredContentSize = CGSizeMake(300, 200);
    popover.delegate = self;
    popover.sourceView = self.view;
    popover.sourceRect = CGRectMake(100, 100, 0, 0);
    popover.permittedArrowDirections = UIPopoverArrowDirectionAny;
    [self presentViewController:nav animated:YES completion:nil];
}

-(UIModalPresentationStyle) adaptivePresentationStyleForPresentationController: (UIPresentationController * ) controller
{
    return UIModalPresentationNone;
}

Remember to ADD
UIPopoverPresentationControllerDelegate, UIAdaptivePresentationControllerDelegate

Burton

The question specifically asks for Swift, not for Objective-C. – Court

Answer 7

This is best explained on the iOS8 Day-by-Day blog

In short, once you've set your UIViewController's modalPresentationStyle to .Popover, you can get hold of a UIPopoverPresentationClass (a new iOS8 class) via the controller's popoverPresentationController property.

Kianakiang

Answer 8

I made an Objective-C version of Imagine Digitals swift answer above. I don't think I missed anything as it seems to work under preliminary testing, if you spot something let me know, and I'll update it

-(void) presentPopover
{
    YourViewController* popoverContent = [[YourViewController alloc] init]; //this will be a subclass of UIViewController
    UINavigationController* nav =  [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:popoverContent];
    nav.modalPresentationStyle = UIModalPresentationPopover;
    UIPopoverPresentationController* popover = nav.popoverPresentationController;
    popoverContent.preferredContentSize = CGSizeMake(500,600);
    popover.delegate = self;
    popover.sourceRect = CGRectMake(100,100,0,0); //I actually used popover.barButtonItem = self.myBarButton;

    [self presentViewController:nav animated:YES completion:nil];
}

Morril

I think you left out popover.sourceView = self.view; – Pearly

The question specifically asks for Swift, not for Objective-C. – Court

I realise that, but google brings you here even if you are searching for objective-C. That's how I ended up here. – Morril

Answer 9

my two cents for xcode 9.1 / swift 4.

class ViewController: UIViewController, UIPopoverPresentationControllerDelegate {

    override func viewDidLoad(){
        super.viewDidLoad()

        let when = DispatchTime.now() + 0.5

        DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: when, execute: { () -> Void in
            // to test after 05.secs... :)
            self.showPopover(base: self.view)

        })

}


func showPopover(base: UIView) {
    if let viewController = self.storyboard?.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "popover") as? PopOverViewController {

        let navController = UINavigationController(rootViewController: viewController)
        navController.modalPresentationStyle = .popover

        if let pctrl = navController.popoverPresentationController {
            pctrl.delegate = self

            pctrl.sourceView = base
            pctrl.sourceRect = base.bounds

            self.present(navController, animated: true, completion: nil)
        }
    }
}


@IBAction func onShow(sender: UIButton){
    self.showPopover(base: sender)
}

func adaptivePresentationStyle(for controller: UIPresentationController, traitCollection: UITraitCollection) -> UIModalPresentationStyle{
    return .none
}

and experiment in:

func adaptivePresentationStyle...

    return .popover

or: return .pageSheet.... and so on..

Jones

Answer 10

Implement UIAdaptivePresentationControllerDelegate in your Viewcontroller. Then add :

func adaptivePresentationStyle(for controller: UIPresentationController, traitCollection: UITraitCollection) -> UIModalPresentationStyle{
    return .none
}

Tiffie

Answer 11

The following has a pretty comprehensive guide on how to configure and present popovers. https://www.appcoda.com/presentation-controllers-tutorial/

In summary, a viable implementation (with some updates from the original article syntax for Swift 4.2), to then be called from elsewhere, would be something like the following:

func showPopover(ofViewController popoverViewController: UIViewController, originView: UIView) {
    popoverViewController.modalPresentationStyle = UIModalPresentationStyle.popover
    if let popoverController = popoverViewController.popoverPresentationController {
        popoverController.delegate = self
        popoverController.sourceView = originView
        popoverController.sourceRect = originView.bounds
        popoverController.permittedArrowDirections = UIPopoverArrowDirection.any
    }
    self.present(popoverViewController, animated: true)
}

A lot of this was already covered in the answer from @mmc, but the article helps to explain some of those code elements used, and also show how it could be expanded.

It also provides a lot of additional detail about using delegation to handle the presentation style for iPhone vs. iPad, and to allow dismissal of the popover if it's ever shown full-screen. Again, updated for Swift 4.2:

func adaptivePresentationStyle(for: UIPresentationController) -> UIModalPresentationStyle {
    //return UIModalPresentationStyle.fullScreen
    return UIModalPresentationStyle.none
}

func adaptivePresentationStyle(for controller: UIPresentationController, traitCollection: UITraitCollection) -> UIModalPresentationStyle {
    if traitCollection.horizontalSizeClass == .compact {
        return UIModalPresentationStyle.none
        //return UIModalPresentationStyle.fullScreen
    }
    //return UIModalPresentationStyle.fullScreen
    return UIModalPresentationStyle.none
}

func presentationController(_ controller: UIPresentationController, viewControllerForAdaptivePresentationStyle style: UIModalPresentationStyle) -> UIViewController? {
    switch style {
    case .fullScreen:
        let navigationController = UINavigationController(rootViewController: controller.presentedViewController)
        let doneButton = UIBarButtonItem(barButtonSystemItem: UIBarButtonItem.SystemItem.done, target: self, action: #selector(doneWithPopover))
        navigationController.topViewController?.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = doneButton
        return navigationController
    default:
        return controller.presentedViewController
    }
}

// As of Swift 4, functions used in selectors must be declared as @objc
@objc private func doneWithPopover() {
    self.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}

Hope this helps.

Herbartian

Answer 12

 var popoverContent = (self.storyboard?.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "WhatsNewViewController"))! as UIViewController
        var nav = UINavigationController(rootViewController: popoverContent)
    nav.modalPresentationStyle = UIModalPresentationStyle.popover
        var popover = nav.popoverPresentationController
        popoverContent.preferredContentSize = CGSize(width: 500, height: 100)
        popover?.delegate = self
        popover?.sourceView = self.view
        popover?.sourceRect = CGRectMake(100,100,0,0)

    self.present(nav, animated: true, completion: nil)

Tenter

in the latest Xcode we can write like that – Tenter

Answer 13

For those who wants to study!

I created an Open Source project for those who want to study and use Popover view for anypurpose. You can find the project here. https://github.com/tryWabbit/KTListPopup

Fairing