How to set UIButton font via appearance proxy in iOS 8?

Question

I tried to set the font of UIButton via appearance proxy. But it doesn't seem to work. This is what I tried.

UIButton.appearance().titleFont = UIFont(name: FONT_NAME_DEFAULT, size:20.0) UIButton.appearance().titleLabel?.font = UIFont(name: FONT_NAME_DEFAULT, size:20.0)

How to set UIButton font via appearance proxy in iOS 8 ?

EDIT: Found in vaberer's link: "I'm surprised that UIButton doesn't have any UI_APPEARANCE_SELECTOR properties, yet conforms to the UIAppearance protocol."

Vesting

As of iOS 9 you can use UILabel.appearance(whenContainedInInstancesOf: [UIButton.self]).font = ... – Ceiba

Answer 1

Had the same problem with a theme-able app.

1. Add this extension

// UIButton+TitleLabelFont.swift

import UIKit

extension UIButton {
    var titleLabelFont: UIFont! {
        get { return self.titleLabel?.font }
        set { self.titleLabel?.font = newValue }
    }
}

2. Then setup the UIButton appearance prototype object

class Theme {
    static func apply() {
       applyToUIButton()
       // ...
    }

    // It can either theme a specific UIButton instance, or defaults to the appearance proxy (prototype object) by default
    static func applyToUIButton(a: UIButton = UIButton.appearance()) {
       a.titleLabelFont = UIFont(name: FONT_NAME_DEFAULT, size:20.0)
       // other UIButton customizations
    }
}

3. Drop the theme setup in app delegate

func application(application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [NSObject: AnyObject]?) -> Bool {
    Theme.apply()

    // ...

    return true
}

If you're preloading stuff (lazy var VCs from storyboards) earlier, it may be better to instead of using app delegate setup the theme stuff in an override initializer like so:

private var _NSObject__Theme_apply_token: dispatch_once_t = 0

extension NSObject {
    override public class func initialize() {
        super.initialize()
        // see also: https://mcmap.net/q/911051/-why-am-i-getting-deadlock-with-dispatch_once
        var shouldRun = false
        dispatch_once(&_NSObject__Theme_apply_token) {
            shouldRun = true
        }
        if shouldRun {
            Theme.apply()
        }
    }
}

Entomostracan

Step 1 is a great idea, and was all I needed to then use the appearance API in the standard way. – Thekla

Not sure this works anymore as it looks like Apple removed the font from the appearance API for UILabel. Also, I believe you could've just used the 'contained in' version for the label within a UIButton rather than having to use the extension, but again, that won't work now either. – Ogden

Answer 2

Barry's answer works great but the UIButton extension implementation is out of date - you need declare var titleLabelFont like:

@objc dynamic var titleLabelFont: UIFont! {
    get { return self.titleLabel?.font }
    set { self.titleLabel?.font = newValue }
  }

See full implementation here: http://blog.iseinc.biz/use-uiappearance-create-ios-app-themes

Quay

I tried Barry's solution (without the NSObject extension), and it did not work. Adding @objc dynamic was the key to making it work. – Simdars

Answer 3

Set the UIButton's font with UIAppearance as follows:

label = UILabel.appearance(whenContainedInInstancesOf: [UIButton.self])
label.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 20)

You may add the above code in your AppDelegate's method application(_:, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:), or wherever it is appropriate to set the theme for your application.

In UIViewController.viewDidLoad set adjustsFontForContentSizeCategory property of the button instance's titleLabel to true.

class ExampleVC: UIViewController

    @IBOutlet weak var btnOkay: UIButton!

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        btnOkay.titleLabel?.adjustsFontForContentSizeCategory = true
    }
}

Daub

Answer 4

You are trying to set a font of UILabel inside UIButton. Since UILabel is not tagged with UI_APPEARANCE_SELECTOR. You can't do it like this.

Look at the list of the UIAppearance elements at: What properties can I set via an UIAppearance proxy?

Ruelle

Found in your link: "I'm surprised that UIButton doesn't have any UI_APPEARANCE_SELECTOR properties, yet conforms to the UIAppearance protocol. Is this an oversight by Apple?" – Vesting

Yes, but since titleLabel property return optional UILabel, you need to look at UILabel's appearance. – Ruelle

Answer 5

You can apply it to the label when contained in a button:

UILabel.appearance(whenContainedInInstancesOf: [UIButton.self])
  .font = .systemFont(ofSize: 19, weight: .medium)

Saintsimonianism

This might sound weird, but set the font size to 17 in storyboard and it should kick in. Seems to be a magic default number or bug. – Saintsimonianism