Add placeholder text inside UITextView in Swift

Question

How can I add a placeholder in a UITextView  similar to the one you can set for UITextField  in Swift

User · Answer

x000D   x000D  func setPlaceholder    x000D  var placeholderLabel   UILabel   x000D          placeholderLabel text    Describe your need     x000D          placeholderLabel font   UIFont init name   Lato-Regular   size  15 0     UIFont boldSystemFont ofSize  14 0  x000D          placeholderLabel sizeToFit   x000D          descriptionTextView addSubview placeholderLabel  x000D          placeholderLabel frame origin   CGPoint x  5  y   descriptionTextView font  pointSize     2  x000D          placeholderLabel textColor   UIColor lightGray x000D          placeholderLabel isHidden    descriptionTextView text isEmpty x000D    x000D   x000D   x000D   x000D    Delegate Method  x000D   x000D  func textViewDidChange   textView  UITextView    x000D          placeholderLabel isHidden    textView text isEmpty x000D        x000D    x000D   x000D   x000D

User · Answer

One more solution  Swift 3    import UIKit  protocol PlaceholderTextViewDelegate       func placeholderTextViewDidChangeText   text String      func placeholderTextViewDidEndEditing   text String     final class PlaceholderTextView  UITextView        var notifier PlaceholderTextViewDelegate       var placeholder  String            didSet               placeholderLabel  text   placeholder                     var placeholderColor   UIColor lightGray     var placeholderFont   UIFont appMainFontForSize 14 0            didSet               placeholderLabel  font   placeholderFont                      fileprivate var placeholderLabel  UILabel          MARK  - LifeCycle      init             super init frame  CGRect zero  textContainer  nil          awakeFromNib              required init  coder aDecoder  NSCoder            super init coder  aDecoder             override func awakeFromNib             super awakeFromNib            self delegate   self         NotificationCenter default addObserver self  selector   selector PlaceholderTextView textDidChangeHandler notification     name   UITextViewTextDidChange  object  nil           placeholderLabel   UILabel           placeholderLabel  textColor   placeholderColor         placeholderLabel  text   placeholder         placeholderLabel  textAlignment    left         placeholderLabel  numberOfLines   0            override func layoutSubviews             super layoutSubviews            placeholderLabel  font   placeholderFont          var height CGFloat   placeholderFont lineHeight         if let data   placeholderLabel  text                let expectedDefaultWidth CGFloat   bounds size width             let fontSize CGFloat   placeholderFont pointSize              let textView   UITextView               textView text   data             textView font   UIFont appMainFontForSize fontSize              let sizeForTextView   textView sizeThatFits CGSize width  expectedDefaultWidth                                                                 height  CGFloat greatestFiniteMagnitude               let expectedTextViewHeight   sizeForTextView height              if expectedTextViewHeight  gt  height                   height   expectedTextViewHeight                                  placeholderLabel  frame   CGRect x  5  y  0  width  bounds size width - 16  height  height           if text isEmpty               addSubview placeholderLabel               bringSubview toFront  placeholderLabel             else               placeholderLabel  removeFromSuperview                        func textDidChangeHandler notification  Notification            layoutSubviews             extension PlaceholderTextView   UITextViewDelegate          MARK  - UITextViewDelegate     func textView   textView  UITextView  shouldChangeTextIn range  NSRange  replacementText text  String  - gt  Bool           if text      n                 textView resignFirstResponder               return false                   return true            func textViewDidChange   textView  UITextView            notifier  placeholderTextViewDidChangeText textView text             func textViewDidEndEditing   textView  UITextView            notifier  placeholderTextViewDidEndEditing textView text            result

User · Answer

I like  nerdist s solution  Based on that  I created an extension to UITextView   import Foundation import UIKit  extension UITextView     private func add   placeholder  UILabel        for view in self subviews           if let lbl   view as  UILabel                if lbl text    placeholder text                   lbl removeFromSuperview                                     self addSubview placeholder         func addPlaceholder   placeholder  UILabel         if let ph   placeholder         ph numberOfLines   0     support for multiple lines       ph font   UIFont italicSystemFont ofSize   self font  pointSize          ph sizeToFit         self add ph        ph frame origin   CGPoint x  5  y   self font  pointSize     2        ph textColor   UIColor white  0  alpha  0 3        updateVisibility ph               func updateVisibility   placeHolder  UILabel         if let ph   placeHolder         ph isHidden    self text isEmpty               In a ViewController class  for example  this is how I use it   class MyViewController  UIViewController  UITextViewDelegate     private var notePlaceholder  UILabel     IBOutlet weak var txtNote  UITextView             UIViewController   override func viewDidLoad         notePlaceholder   UILabel       notePlaceholder text    title nsubtitle nmore         txtNote addPlaceholder notePlaceholder                    UITextViewDelegate   func textViewDidChange   textView  UITextView        txtNote updateVisbility notePlaceholder                Placeholder on UITextview     UPDATE   In case you change textview s text in code  remember to call updateVisibitly method to hide placeholder   txtNote text    something in code  txtNote updateVisibility self notePlaceholder     hide placeholder if text is not empty    To prevent the placeholder being added more than once  a private add   function is added in extension

User · Answer

Swift Answer Here is the custom class  that animates placeholder  class CustomTextView  UITextView                 MARK  - public          public var placeHolderText  String     quot Enter Reason   quot           public lazy var placeHolderLabel  UILabel              let placeHolderLabel   UILabel frame   zero          placeHolderLabel numberOfLines   0         placeHolderLabel backgroundColor    clear         placeHolderLabel alpha   0 5         return placeHolderLabel                       MARK  - Init          override init frame  CGRect  textContainer  NSTextContainer             super init frame  frame  textContainer  textContainer          enableNotifications                  required init  coder aDecoder  NSCoder            super init coder  aDecoder          enableNotifications                  func setup             placeHolderLabel frame   CGRect x  8  y  8  width  self bounds size width - 16  height  15          placeHolderLabel sizeToFit                       MARK  - Cycle          override func awakeFromNib             super awakeFromNib                    textContainerInset   UIEdgeInsets top  8  left  5  bottom  8  right  8          returnKeyType    done         addSubview placeHolderLabel          placeHolderLabel frame   CGRect x  8  y  8  width  self bounds size width - 16  height  15          placeHolderLabel textColor   textColor         placeHolderLabel font   font         placeHolderLabel text   placeHolderText         bringSubviewToFront placeHolderLabel                 override func layoutSubviews             super layoutSubviews           setup                       MARK  - Notifications          private func enableNotifications             NotificationCenter default addObserver self  selector   selector textDidChangeNotification       name  UITextView textDidChangeNotification   object  nil                  objc func textDidChangeNotification   notify  Notification            guard self    notify object as  UITextView else   return           guard placeHolderText    nil else   return                    UIView animate withDuration  0 25  animations                self placeHolderLabel alpha    self text count    0    0 5   0            completion  nil

User · Answer

Swift 3 2     extension EditProfileVC UITextViewDelegate       func textViewDidBeginEditing   textView  UITextView            if textView textColor    UIColor lightGray               textView text   nil             textView textColor   UIColor black                    func textViewDidEndEditing   textView  UITextView            if textView text isEmpty               textView text    Placeholder              textView textColor   UIColor lightGray                     First when user start editing textViewDidBeginEditing call and then check the if colour of text grey means user didn t write anything then set as textview nil and change the colour to black for user texting   When user end editing  textViewDidEndEditing is call and check if user doesn t write anything in textview then text set as grey colour with text  PlaceHolder

User · Answer

Swift   Add your text view programmatically or via Interface Builder  if the last  create the outlet    IBOutlet weak var yourTextView  UITextView    Please add the delegate  UITextViewDelegate    class ViewController  UIViewController  UITextViewDelegate     In the viewDidLoad method  do add the following   override func viewDidLoad             super viewDidLoad              Do any additional setup after loading the view  typically from a nib       yourTextView delegate   self     yourTextView text    Placeholder text goes right here         yourTextView textColor   UIColor lightGray   Now let me introduce the magic part  add this function   func textViewDidBeginEditing   textView  UITextView         if yourTextView textColor    UIColor lightGray           yourTextView text              yourTextView textColor   UIColor black           Do note that this will execute whenever editing starts  there we will check conditions to tell the state  using the color property  Setting text to nil i do not recommend  Right after that  we set the text color to desired  in this case  black   Now add this function too   func textViewDidEndEditing   textView  UITextView         if yourTextView text                  yourTextView text    Placeholder text              yourTextView textColor   UIColor lightGray           Let me insist  do not compare to nil  i have already tried that and it would not work  We then set the values back to placeholder style  and set the color back to placeholder color because it is a condition to check in textViewDidBeginEditing

User · Answer

In swift2 2   public class CustomTextView  UITextView    private struct Constants       static let defaultiOSPlaceholderColor   UIColor red  0 0  green  0 0  blue  0 0980392  alpha  0 22    private let placeholderLabel  UILabel   UILabel    private var placeholderLabelConstraints    NSLayoutConstraint      IBInspectable public var placeholder  String            didSet           placeholderLabel text   placeholder           IBInspectable public var placeholderColor  UIColor   CustomTextView Constants defaultiOSPlaceholderColor       didSet           placeholderLabel textColor   placeholderColor          override public var font  UIFont        didSet           placeholderLabel font   font          override public var textAlignment  NSTextAlignment       didSet           placeholderLabel textAlignment   textAlignment          override public var text  String        didSet           textDidChange            override public var attributedText  NSAttributedString        didSet           textDidChange            override public var textContainerInset  UIEdgeInsets       didSet           updateConstraintsForPlaceholderLabel            override public init frame  CGRect  textContainer  NSTextContainer         super init frame  frame  textContainer  textContainer      commonInit      required public init  coder aDecoder  NSCoder        super init coder  aDecoder      commonInit      private func commonInit         NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter   addObserver self                                                       selector   selector textDidChange                                                        name  UITextViewTextDidChangeNotification                                                       object  nil       placeholderLabel font   font     placeholderLabel textColor   placeholderColor     placeholderLabel textAlignment   textAlignment     placeholderLabel text   placeholder     placeholderLabel numberOfLines   0     placeholderLabel backgroundColor   UIColor clearColor       placeholderLabel translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints   false     addSubview placeholderLabel      updateConstraintsForPlaceholderLabel      private func updateConstraintsForPlaceholderLabel         var newConstraints   NSLayoutConstraint constraintsWithVisualFormat  H  -   textContainerInset left   textContainer lineFragmentPadding  - placeholder                                                                            options                                                                              metrics  nil                                                                          views    placeholder   placeholderLabel       newConstraints    NSLayoutConstraint constraintsWithVisualFormat  V  -   textContainerInset top  - placeholder                                                                         options                                                                           metrics  nil                                                                       views    placeholder   placeholderLabel       newConstraints append NSLayoutConstraint          item  placeholderLabel          attribute   Width          relatedBy   Equal          toItem  self          attribute   Width          multiplier  1 0          constant  - textContainerInset left   textContainerInset right   textContainer lineFragmentPadding   2 0                 removeConstraints placeholderLabelConstraints      addConstraints newConstraints      placeholderLabelConstraints   newConstraints     objc private func textDidChange         placeholderLabel hidden    text isEmpty    public override func layoutSubviews         super layoutSubviews       placeholderLabel preferredMaxLayoutWidth   textContainer size width - textContainer lineFragmentPadding   2 0    deinit       NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter   removeObserver self                                                          name  UITextViewTextDidChangeNotification                                                          object  nil         In swift3   import UIKit   class CustomTextView  UITextView    private struct Constants       static let defaultiOSPlaceholderColor   UIColor red  0 0  green  0 0  blue  0 0980392  alpha  0 22    private let placeholderLabel  UILabel   UILabel    private var placeholderLabelConstraints    NSLayoutConstraint      IBInspectable public var placeholder  String            didSet           placeholderLabel text   placeholder           IBInspectable public var placeholderColor  UIColor   CustomTextView Constants defaultiOSPlaceholderColor       didSet           placeholderLabel textColor   placeholderColor          override public var font  UIFont        didSet           placeholderLabel font   font          override public var textAlignment  NSTextAlignment       didSet           placeholderLabel textAlignment   textAlignment          override public var text  String        didSet           textDidChange            override public var attributedText  NSAttributedString        didSet           textDidChange            override public var textContainerInset  UIEdgeInsets       didSet           updateConstraintsForPlaceholderLabel            override public init frame  CGRect  textContainer  NSTextContainer         super init frame  frame  textContainer  textContainer      commonInit      required public init  coder aDecoder  NSCoder        super init coder  aDecoder      commonInit      private func commonInit         NotificationCenter default addObserver self                                                       selector   selector textDidChange                                                        name  NSNotification Name UITextViewTextDidChange                                                       object  nil       placeholderLabel font   font     placeholderLabel textColor   placeholderColor     placeholderLabel textAlignment   textAlignment     placeholderLabel text   placeholder     placeholderLabel numberOfLines   0     placeholderLabel backgroundColor   UIColor clear     placeholderLabel translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints   false     addSubview placeholderLabel      updateConstraintsForPlaceholderLabel      private func updateConstraintsForPlaceholderLabel         var newConstraints   NSLayoutConstraint constraints withVisualFormat   H  -   textContainerInset left   textContainer lineFragmentPadding  - placeholder            options              metrics  nil          views    placeholder   placeholderLabel       newConstraints    NSLayoutConstraint constraints withVisualFormat   V  -   textContainerInset top  - placeholder            options              metrics  nil          views    placeholder   placeholderLabel       newConstraints append NSLayoutConstraint          item  placeholderLabel          attribute   width          relatedBy   equal          toItem  self          attribute   width          multiplier  1 0          constant  - textContainerInset left   textContainerInset right   textContainer lineFragmentPadding   2 0             removeConstraints placeholderLabelConstraints      addConstraints newConstraints      placeholderLabelConstraints   newConstraints     objc private func textDidChange         placeholderLabel isHidden    text isEmpty    public override func layoutSubviews         super layoutSubviews       placeholderLabel preferredMaxLayoutWidth   textContainer size width - textContainer lineFragmentPadding   2 0    deinit       NotificationCenter default removeObserver self                                                          name  NSNotification Name UITextViewTextDidChange                                                          object  nil         I wrote a class in swift  You need to import this  class whenever required

User · Answer

Swift 3 1  This extension worked well for me  https   github com devxoul UITextView-Placeholder  Here is a code snippet   Install it via pod   pod  UITextView Placeholder      gt  1 2    Import it to your class  import UITextView Placeholder   And add placeholder property to your already created UITextView  textView placeholder    Put some detail    Thats it    Here how it looks  Third box is a UITextView

User · Answer

no there is not any placeholder available for textview  you have to put label above it when user enter in textview then hide it or set by default value when user enters remove all values

User · Answer

TEXT VIEW DELEGATE METHODS Use these two delegate methods and also write UITextViewDelegate in your class func textViewDidBeginEditing   textView  UITextView        if  commentsTextView text     quot Type Your Comments quot                 commentsTextView text   nil         commentsTextView textColor   UIColor darkGray          func textViewDidEndEditing   textView  UITextView        if commentsTextView text isEmpty               commentsTextView text    quot Type Your Comments quot          commentsTextView textColor   UIColor darkGray           textView resignFirstResponder

User · Answer

Another solution could be to use keyboardWillHide and keyboardWillShow notifications  as I did    First you need to handle listening  and unlistening to the notifications in the  viewWillAppear and viewWillAppear methods respectively  to handle memory leaks    override func viewWillAppear   animated  Bool        super viewWillAppear animated      setupKeyboardNotificationListeners enable  true     override func viewWillDisappear   animated  Bool        super viewWillDisappear animated      setupKeyboardNotificationListeners enable  false      Then the method to handle listening unlistening to the notifications    private func setupKeyboardNotificationListeners enable  Bool            if enable               NotificationCenter default addObserver self  selector   selector self keyboardWillShow   name  NSNotification Name UIKeyboardWillShow  object  nil              NotificationCenter default addObserver self  selector   selector self keyboardWillHide   name  NSNotification Name UIKeyboardWillHide  object  nil            else               NotificationCenter default removeObserver self                    Then in the both methods for keyboardWillHide and keyboardWillShow you handle the placeholder and color changes of the text     objc func keyboardWillShow notification  NSNotification        if self textView text    self placeholder           self textView text              self textView textColor    black           objc func keyboardWillHide notification  NSNotification        if self textView text isEmpty           self textView text   self placeholder         self textView textColor    lightGrey           I found this solution to be the best one so far since the text will be removed as soon as the keyboard appears instead of when the user starts typing  which can cause confusion

User · Answer

Floating Placeholder    It s simple  safe and reliable to position a placeholder label above a text view  set its font  color and manage placeholder visibility by tracking changes to the text view s character count   Swift 3   class NotesViewController   UIViewController  UITextViewDelegate         IBOutlet var textView   UITextView      var placeholderLabel   UILabel       override func viewDidLoad             super viewDidLoad            textView delegate   self         placeholderLabel   UILabel           placeholderLabel text    Enter some text             placeholderLabel font   UIFont italicSystemFont ofSize   textView font  pointSize            placeholderLabel sizeToFit           textView addSubview placeholderLabel          placeholderLabel frame origin   CGPoint x  5  y   textView font  pointSize     2          placeholderLabel textColor   UIColor lightGray         placeholderLabel isHidden    textView text isEmpty            func textViewDidChange   textView  UITextView            placeholderLabel isHidden    textView text isEmpty           Swift 2  Same  except italicSystemFontOfSize textView font pointSize   UIColor lightGrayColor

User · Answer

Swift 5 2  Standalone class  Use this if you want a class which you can use anywhere as it is self contained  import UIKit class PlaceHolderTextView UITextView  UITextViewDelegate  var placeholderText    placeholderText   override func willMove toSuperview newSuperview  UIView         textColor    lightText     delegate   self    func textViewDidBeginEditing   textView  UITextView        if textView text    placeholderText          placeholderText   textView text         textView text              textView textColor    darkText          func textViewDidEndEditing   textView  UITextView        if textView text                textView text   placeholderText         textColor    lightText                 The key here is the willMove toSuperView   function as it allows you to setup the view before being added to another view s hierarchy  similar to viewDidLoad viewWillAppear in ViewControllers

User · Answer

Contrary to just about every answer on this post  UITextView does have a placeholder property  For reasons beyond my comprehension  it is only exposed in IB  as such    lt userDefinedRuntimeAttributes gt     lt userDefinedRuntimeAttribute type  string  keyPath  placeholder  value  My Placeholder   gt   lt  userDefinedRuntimeAttributes gt    So if you are using storyboards and a static placeholder will suffice  just set the property on the inspector    You can also set this property in code like this   textView setValue  My Placeholder   forKeyPath   placeholder     Its cloudy as to weather this is accessed via private API  as the property is exposed   I haven t tried submitting with this method  But I will be submitting this way shortly and will update this answer accordingly   UPDATE   I have shipped this code in multiple releases with no issues from Apple   UPDATE  This will only work in Xcode pre 11 2

User · Answer

Updated for Swift 4  UITextView doesn t inherently have a placeholder property so you d have to create and manipulate one programmatically using UITextViewDelegate methods  I recommend using either solution  1 or  2 below depending on the desired behavior   Note  For either solution  add UITextViewDelegate to the class and set textView delegate   self to use the text view   s delegate methods     Solution  1 - If you want the placeholder to disappear as soon as the user selects the text view   First set the UITextView to contain the placeholder text and set it to a light gray color to mimic the look of a UITextField s placeholder text  Either do so in the viewDidLoad or upon the text view s creation   textView text    Placeholder  textView textColor   UIColor lightGray   Then when the user begins to edit the text view  if the text view contains a placeholder  i e  if its text color is light gray  clear the placeholder text and set the text color to black in order to accommodate the user s entry   func textViewDidBeginEditing   textView  UITextView        if textView textColor    UIColor lightGray           textView text   nil         textView textColor   UIColor black           Then when the user finishes editing the text view and it s resigned as the first responder  if the text view is empty  reset its placeholder by re-adding the placeholder text and setting its color to light gray   func textViewDidEndEditing   textView  UITextView        if textView text isEmpty           textView text    Placeholder          textView textColor   UIColor lightGray             Solution  2 - If you want the placeholder to show whenever the text view is empty  even if the text view   s selected   First set the placeholder in the viewDidLoad   textView text    Placeholder  textView textColor   UIColor lightGray  textView becomeFirstResponder    textView selectedTextRange   textView textRange from  textView beginningOfDocument  to  textView beginningOfDocument     Note  Since the OP wanted to have the text view selected as soon as the view loads  I incorporated text view selection into the above code  If this is not your desired behavior and you do not want the text view selected upon view load  remove the last two lines from the above code chunk    Then utilize the shouldChangeTextInRange UITextViewDelegate method  like so   func textView   textView  UITextView  shouldChangeTextIn range  NSRange  replacementText text  String  - gt  Bool           Combine the textView text and the replacement text to        create the updated text string     let currentText String   textView text     let updatedText    currentText as NSString  replacingCharacters in  range  with  text          If updated text view will be empty  add the placeholder        and set the cursor to the beginning of the text view     if updatedText isEmpty            textView text    Placeholder          textView textColor   UIColor lightGray          textView selectedTextRange   textView textRange from  textView beginningOfDocument  to  textView beginningOfDocument                Else if the text view s placeholder is showing and the        length of the replacement string is greater than 0  set         the text color to black then set its text to the        replacement string      else if textView textColor    UIColor lightGray  amp  amp   text isEmpty           textView textColor   UIColor black         textView text   text               For every other case  the text should change with the usual        behavior        else           return true                  otherwise return false since the updates have already        been made     return false     And also implement textViewDidChangeSelection to prevent the user from changing the position of the cursor while the placeholder s visible   Note  textViewDidChangeSelection is called before the view loads so only check the text view s color if the window is visible    func textViewDidChangeSelection   textView  UITextView        if self view window    nil           if textView textColor    UIColor lightGray               textView selectedTextRange   textView textRange from  textView beginningOfDocument  to  textView beginningOfDocument

User · Answer

This is what I did  Leaning towards code clarity and simplicity  I needed to add a textView that will get some additional notes on my app  This additional notes can be created or amended after being saved  See below  HTH     class NotesTextView  UITextView        var placeholder    quot  quot            didSet               showPlaceholder                               if the text is the placeholder  then assign a color fitting for a        placeholder text  else  assign it your color of choice      override var text  String            didSet               textColor   text    placeholder    tertiaryLabel    systemBlue                               override init frame  CGRect  textContainer  NSTextContainer             super init frame  frame  textContainer  textContainer                   delegate   self           config your font and translateAutoResizingMaskIntoConstraints here                required init  coder  NSCoder            fatalError  quot init coder   has not been implemented quot                  private func showPlaceholder             text   placeholder                private func hidePlaceholder             text    quot  quot           extension NotesTextView  UITextViewDelegate       func textViewDidBeginEditing   textView  UITextView            if text    placeholder               hidePlaceholder                            func textViewDidEndEditing   textView  UITextView            if text isEmpty               showPlaceholder

User · Answer

I am surprised that no one mentioned NSTextStorageDelegate  UITextViewDelegate s methods will only be triggered by user interaction  but not programmatically  E g  when you set a text view s text property programmatically  you ll have to set the placeholder s visibility yourself  because the delegate methods will not be called   However  with NSTextStorageDelegate s textStorage   didProcessEditing range changeInLength   method  you ll be notified of any change to the text  even if it s done programmatically  Just assign it like this   textView textStorage delegate   self    In UITextView  this delegate property is nil by default  so it won t affect any default behaviour    Combine it with the UILabel technique  clearlight demonstrates  one can easily wrap the whole UITextView s placeholder implementation into an extension   extension UITextView        private class PlaceholderLabel  UILabel          private var placeholderLabel  PlaceholderLabel           if let label   subviews compactMap     0 as  PlaceholderLabel    first               return label           else               let label   PlaceholderLabel frame   zero              label font   font             addSubview label              return label                       IBInspectable     var placeholder  String           get               return subviews compactMap     0 as  PlaceholderLabel    first  text                         set               let placeholderLabel   self placeholderLabel             placeholderLabel text   newValue             placeholderLabel numberOfLines   0             let width   frame width - textContainer lineFragmentPadding   2             let size   placeholderLabel sizeThatFits CGSize width  width  height   greatestFiniteMagnitude               placeholderLabel frame size height   size height             placeholderLabel frame size width   width             placeholderLabel frame origin   CGPoint x  textContainer lineFragmentPadding  y  textContainerInset top               textStorage delegate   self                     extension UITextView  NSTextStorageDelegate        public func textStorage   textStorage  NSTextStorage  didProcessEditing editedMask  NSTextStorageEditActions  range editedRange  NSRange  changeInLength delta  Int            if editedMask contains  editedCharacters                placeholderLabel isHidden    text isEmpty                      Note that the use of a private  nested  class called PlaceholderLabel  It has no implementation at all  but it provides us a way to identify the placeholder label  which is far more  swifty  than using the tag property    With this approach  you can still assign the delegate of the UITextView to someone else   You don t even have to change your text views  classes  Just add the extension s  and you will be able to assign a placeholder string to every UITextView in your project  even in the Interface Builder   I left out the implementation of a placeholderColor property for clarity reasons  but it can be implemented for just a few more lines with a similar computed variable to placeholder

User · Answer

Swift   Add your TextView   IBOutlet    IBOutlet weak var txtViewMessage  UITextView    In the viewWillAppear method  do add the following    override func viewWillAppear   animated  Bool        super viewWillAppear animated       txtViewMessage delegate   self       Give TextViewMessage delegate Method      txtViewMessage text    Place Holder Name      txtViewMessage textColor   UIColor lightGray      Please add the Delegate Using extension  UITextViewDelegate       MARK  - UITextViewDelegate extension ViewController  UITextViewDelegate        func textViewDidBeginEditing   textView  UITextView                 if  txtViewMessage text  isEmpty  amp  amp  txtViewMessage text      Place Holder Name                        txtViewMessage text                  txtViewMessage textColor   UIColor black                      func textViewDidEndEditing   textView  UITextView                 if txtViewMessage text isEmpty                       txtViewMessage text    Place Holder Name              txtViewMessage textColor   UIColor lightGray

User · Answer

No need to add any third party library  Just use below code    class SubmitReviewVC   UIViewController  UITextViewDelegate     IBOutlet var txtMessage   UITextView  var lblPlaceHolder   UILabel   override func viewDidLoad         super viewDidLoad        txtMessage delegate   self     lblPlaceHolder   UILabel       lblPlaceHolder text    quot Enter message    quot      lblPlaceHolder font   UIFont systemFont ofSize  txtMessage font  pointSize      lblPlaceHolder sizeToFit       txtMessage addSubview lblPlaceHolder      lblPlaceHolder frame origin   CGPoint x  5  y   txtMessage font  pointSize     2      lblPlaceHolder textColor   UIColor lightGray     lblPlaceHolder isHidden    txtMessage text isEmpty    func textViewDidChange   textView  UITextView        lblPlaceHolder isHidden    textView text isEmpty

User · Answer

Here s something that can be dropped into a UIStackView  it will size itself using an internal height constraint  Tweaking may be required to suit specific requirements   import UIKit  public protocol PlaceholderTextViewDelegate  class     func placeholderTextViewTextChanged   textView  PlaceholderTextView  text  String     public class PlaceholderTextView  UIView      public weak var delegate  PlaceholderTextViewDelegate    private var heightConstraint  NSLayoutConstraint     public override init frame  CGRect        self allowsNewLines   true      super init frame  frame       self heightConstraint   self heightAnchor constraint equalToConstant  0      self heightConstraint  isActive   true      self addSubview self placeholderTextView      self addSubview self textView       self pinToCorners self placeholderTextView      self pinToCorners self textView       self updateHeight          public override func didMoveToSuperview         super didMoveToSuperview        self updateHeight          private func pinToCorners   view  UIView        NSLayoutConstraint activate         view leadingAnchor constraint equalTo  self leadingAnchor         view trailingAnchor constraint equalTo  self trailingAnchor         view topAnchor constraint equalTo  self topAnchor         view bottomAnchor constraint equalTo  self bottomAnchor                   Accessors   public var text  String        didSet         self textView text   text       self textViewDidChange self textView        self updateHeight                public var textColor  UIColor        didSet         self textView textColor   textColor       self updateHeight                public var font  UIFont        didSet         self textView font   font       self placeholderTextView font   font       self updateHeight                public override var tintColor  UIColor        didSet         self textView tintColor   tintColor       self placeholderTextView tintColor   tintColor              public var placeholderText  String        didSet         self placeholderTextView text   placeholderText       self updateHeight                public var placeholderTextColor  UIColor        didSet         self placeholderTextView textColor   placeholderTextColor       self updateHeight                public var allowsNewLines  Bool    public required init  coder    NSCoder        fatalError  init coder   has not been implemented          private lazy var textView  UITextView   self newTextView     private lazy var placeholderTextView  UITextView   self newTextView      private func newTextView   - gt  UITextView       let textView   UITextView       textView translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints   false     textView isScrollEnabled   false     textView delegate   self     textView backgroundColor    clear     return textView        private func updateHeight         let maxSize   CGSize width  self frame size width  height   greatestFiniteMagnitude       let textViewSize   self textView sizeThatFits maxSize      let placeholderSize   self placeholderTextView sizeThatFits maxSize       let maxHeight   ceil CGFloat maximum textViewSize height  placeholderSize height        self heightConstraint  constant   maxHeight        extension PlaceholderTextView  UITextViewDelegate     public func textViewDidChangeSelection    UITextView        self placeholderTextView alpha   self textView text isEmpty   1   0     self updateHeight          public func textViewDidChange    UITextView        self delegate  placeholderTextViewTextChanged self  text  self textView text         public func textView    UITextView  shouldChangeTextIn    NSRange                         replacementText text  String  - gt  Bool       let containsNewLines   text rangeOfCharacter from   newlines   isEmpty     some false      guard  containsNewLines    self allowsNewLines else   return false        return true

User · Answer

I can t add comment because of reputation  add one more delegate need in  clearlight answer   func textViewDidBeginEditing   textView  UITextView             cell placeholderLabel isHidden    textView text isEmpty     is need  because textViewDidChange is not called first time

User · Answer

var placeholderLabel   UILabel    textviewDescription delegate   self     placeholderLabel   UILabel       placeholderLabel text    Add a description      func textViewDidChange   textView  UITextView                 placeholderLabel isHidden    textviewDescription text isEmpty

User · Answer

I tried to make code convenient from clearlight s answer   extension UITextView       func setPlaceholder              let placeholderLabel   UILabel           placeholderLabel text    Enter some text             placeholderLabel font   UIFont italicSystemFont ofSize   self font  pointSize            placeholderLabel sizeToFit           placeholderLabel tag   222         placeholderLabel frame origin   CGPoint x  5  y   self font  pointSize     2          placeholderLabel textColor   UIColor lightGray         placeholderLabel isHidden    self text isEmpty          self addSubview placeholderLabel             func checkPlaceholder             let placeholderLabel   self viewWithTag 222  as  UILabel         placeholderLabel isHidden    self text isEmpty            usage  override func viewDidLoad         textView delegate   self     textView setPlaceholder      func textViewDidChange   textView  UITextView        textView checkPlaceholder

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This is my ready to use solution if you are working with multiple text views  func textViewShouldBeginEditing textView  UITextView  - gt  Bool                  Set cursor to the beginning if placeholder is set     if textView textColor    UIColor lightGrayColor             textView selectedTextRange   textView textRangeFromPosition textView beginningOfDocument  toPosition  textView beginningOfDocument             return true    func textView textView  UITextView  shouldChangeTextInRange range  NSRange  replacementText text  String  - gt  Bool          Remove placeholder     if textView textColor    UIColor lightGrayColor    amp  amp  text characters count  gt  0           textView text              textView textColor   UIColor blackColor              if text      n            textView resignFirstResponder           return false            return true    func textViewDidChange textView  UITextView           Set placeholder if text is empty     if textView text isEmpty           textView text   NSLocalizedString  Hint   comment   hint           textView textColor   UIColor lightGrayColor           textView selectedTextRange   textView textRangeFromPosition textView beginningOfDocument  toPosition  textView beginningOfDocument           func textViewDidChangeSelection textView  UITextView           Set cursor to the beginning if placeholder is set     let firstPosition   textView textRangeFromPosition textView beginningOfDocument  toPosition  textView beginningOfDocument          Do not change position recursively     if textView textColor    UIColor lightGrayColor    amp  amp  textView selectedTextRange    firstPosition           textView selectedTextRange   firstPosition

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Use This Extension this is the best way to set placeholder in UITextView  But make sure you have attached delegates to the TextView  You can set Place holder like this -   yourTextView placeholder    Placeholder    extension UITextView  UITextViewDelegate            Resize the placeholder when the UITextView bounds change     override open var bounds  CGRect           didSet               self resizePlaceholder                            The UITextView placeholder text     public var placeholder  String            get               var placeholderText  String               if let placeholderLabel   self viewWithTag 100  as  UILabel                   placeholderText   placeholderLabel text                            return placeholderText                   set               if let placeholderLabel   self viewWithTag 100  as  UILabel                    placeholderLabel text   newValue                 placeholderLabel sizeToFit                 else                   self addPlaceholder newValue                                          When the UITextView did change  show or hide the label based on if the UITextView is empty or not                 - Parameter textView  The UITextView that got updated     public func textViewDidChange   textView  UITextView            if let placeholderLabel   self viewWithTag 100  as  UILabel               placeholderLabel isHidden   self text characters count  gt  0                          Resize the placeholder UILabel to make sure it s in the same position as the UITextView text     private func resizePlaceholder             if let placeholderLabel   self viewWithTag 100  as  UILabel                let labelX   self textContainer lineFragmentPadding             let labelY   self textContainerInset top - 2             let labelWidth   self frame width -  labelX   2              let labelHeight   placeholderLabel frame height              placeholderLabel frame   CGRect x  labelX  y  labelY  width  labelWidth  height  labelHeight                           Adds a placeholder UILabel to this UITextView     private func addPlaceholder   placeholderText  String            let placeholderLabel   UILabel            placeholderLabel text   placeholderText         placeholderLabel sizeToFit            placeholderLabel font   self font         placeholderLabel textColor   UIColor lightGray         placeholderLabel tag   100          placeholderLabel isHidden   self text characters count  gt  0          self addSubview placeholderLabel          self resizePlaceholder           self delegate   self

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A simple and quick solution that works for me is     IBDesignable class PlaceHolderTextView  UITextView         IBInspectable var placeholder  String                 didSet               updatePlaceHolder                         IBInspectable var placeholderColor  UIColor   UIColor gray           didSet               updatePlaceHolder                        private var originalTextColor   UIColor darkText     private var originalText  String           private func updatePlaceHolder              if self text          self text    placeholder                 self text   placeholder             self textColor   placeholderColor             if let color   self textColor                    self originalTextColor   color                           self originalText                else               self textColor   self originalTextColor             self originalText   self text                       override func becomeFirstResponder   - gt  Bool           let result   super becomeFirstResponder           self text   self originalText         self textColor   self originalTextColor         return result           override func resignFirstResponder   - gt  Bool           let result   super resignFirstResponder           updatePlaceHolder            return result

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There is no such property in ios to add placeholder directly in TextView rather you can add a label and show hide on the change in textView  SWIFT 2 0 and make sure to implement the textviewdelegate  func textViewDidChange TextView  UITextView      if  txtShortDescription text                     self lblShortDescription hidden   false           else               self lblShortDescription hidden   true

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Swift - I wrote a class that inherited UITextView and I added a UILabel as a subview to act as a placeholder      import UIKit    IBDesignable   class HintedTextView  UITextView           IBInspectable var hintText  String    hintText              didSet                hintLabel text   hintText                            private lazy var hintLabel  UILabel               let label   UILabel             label font   UIFont systemFontOfSize 16            label textColor   UIColor lightGrayColor             label translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints   false           return label                   override init frame  CGRect  textContainer  NSTextContainer               super init frame  frame  textContainer  textContainer            setupView                  required init  coder aDecoder  NSCoder             super init coder  aDecoder           setupView                  override func prepareForInterfaceBuilder              super prepareForInterfaceBuilder            setupView                  private func setupView              translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints   false         delegate   self         font   UIFont systemFontOfSize 16           addSubview hintLabel           NSLayoutConstraint activateConstraints               hintLabel leftAnchor constraintEqualToAnchor leftAnchor  constant  4              hintLabel rightAnchor constraintEqualToAnchor rightAnchor  constant  8              hintLabel topAnchor constraintEqualToAnchor topAnchor  constant  4              hintLabel heightAnchor constraintEqualToConstant 30                               override func layoutSubviews             super layoutSubviews           setupView

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I did this by using two different text views    One in the background that is used as a placeholder  One in the foreground  with a transparent background  that the user actually types in    The idea is that once the user starts typing stuff in the foreground view  the placeholder in the background disappears  and reappears if the user deletes everything   So it behaves exactly like a placeholder for the single line text field   Here s the code I used for it  Note that descriptionField is the field the user types in and descriptionPlaceholder is the one in the background   func textViewDidChange descriptionField  UITextView        if descriptionField text isEmpty    false           descriptionPlaceholder text            else           descriptionPlaceholder text   descriptionPlaceholderText

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I don t know why people over complicate this issue so much     It s fairly straight forward and simple  Here s a subclass of UITextView that provides the requested functionality    -  void customInit       self contentMode   UIViewContentModeRedraw        NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter  addObserver self selector  selector textChanged   name UITextViewTextDidChangeNotification object nil          -  void textChanged  NSNotification   notification               if  notification object    self                if self textStorage length    0     self textStorage length                     self setNeedsDisplay                                        pragma mark - Setters      -  void setPlaceholderText  NSString   placeholderText withFont  UIFont   font               self placeholderText   placeholderText          self placeholderTextFont   font                -  void drawRect  CGRect rect                super drawRect rect             UIColor lightGrayColor  setFill            if  self textStorage length    0                return                     CGRect inset   CGRectInset rect  8  8    Default rect insets for textView         NSDictionary  attributes      NSFontAttributeName  self placeholderTextFont  NSForegroundColorAttributeName   UIColor grayColor             self placeholderText drawInRect inset withAttributes attributes

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I believe this is a very clean solution  It adds a dummy text view underneath the actual text view and shows or hides it depending on the text in the actual text view   import Foundation import UIKit  class TextViewWithPlaceholder  UITextView        private var placeholderTextView  UITextView   UITextView        var placeholder  String            didSet               placeholderTextView text   placeholder                      override var text  String            didSet               placeholderTextView isHidden   text isEmpty    false                      override init frame  CGRect  textContainer  NSTextContainer             super init frame  frame  textContainer  textContainer          commonInit              required init  coder aDecoder  NSCoder            super init coder  aDecoder          commonInit              private func commonInit             applyCommonTextViewAttributes to  self          configureMainTextView           addPlaceholderTextView           NotificationCenter default addObserver self                                                 selector   selector textDidChange                                                  name  UITextView textDidChangeNotification                                                 object  nil             func addPlaceholderTextView             applyCommonTextViewAttributes to  placeholderTextView          configurePlaceholderTextView           insertSubview placeholderTextView  at  0             private func applyCommonTextViewAttributes to textView  UITextView            textView translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints   false         textView textContainer lineFragmentPadding   0         textView textContainerInset   UIEdgeInsets top  10                                                     left  10                                                     bottom  10                                                     right  10             private func configureMainTextView                Do any configuration of the actual text view here            private func configurePlaceholderTextView             placeholderTextView text   placeholder         placeholderTextView font   font         placeholderTextView textColor   UIColor lightGray         placeholderTextView frame   bounds         placeholderTextView autoresizingMask     flexibleWidth   flexibleHeight             override func layoutSubviews             super layoutSubviews           placeholderTextView frame   bounds             objc func textDidChange             placeholderTextView isHidden    text isEmpty

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I had to dispatch queue to get my placeholder text to reappear once editing was completed   func textViewDidBeginEditing   textView  UITextView         if textView text     Description            textView text   nil          func textViewDidEndEditing   textView  UITextView         if textView text isEmpty           DispatchQueue main async               textView text    Description

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Our solution avoids mucking with the UITextView text and textColor properties  which is handy if you re maintaining a character counter   It s simple   1  Create a dummy UITextView in Storyboard with the same properties as the master UITextView  Assign placeholder text to the dummy text   2  Align the top  left  and right edges of the two UITextViews   3  Place the dummy behind the master   4  Override the textViewDidChange textView   delegate function of the master  and show the dummy if the master has 0 characters  Otherwise  show the master   This assumes both UITextViews have transparent backgrounds  If they do not  place the dummy on top when there are 0 characters  and push it underneath when there are   0 characters  You will also have to swap responders to make sure the cursor follows the right UITextView

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I know this is a an old question but wanted to share what I thought was a useful way of extending UITextView to have placeholderText and placeholderColor fields   Basically you cast the UITextView into a UITextField and then set the attributedPlaceholder field  PlaceholderText and placeholderColor are IBInspectable fields  so their values can be set in IB and behaves exactly as the UITextField placeholder functionality   UITextView Extend h   import  lt UIKit UIKit h gt    interface UITextView  Extend    property  nonatomic  IBInspectable NSString  placeholderText   property  nonatomic  IBInspectable UIColor  placeholderColor    end   UITextView Extend m   import  UITextView Extend h   import  objc runtime h    implementation UITextView  Extend   -  void setPlaceholderText  NSString   placeholderText       objc setAssociatedObject self   selector placeholderText   placeholderText  OBJC ASSOCIATION RETAIN NONATOMIC        self updatePlaceholderText      -  NSString  placeholderText       return objc getAssociatedObject self   selector placeholderText       -  void setPlaceholderColor  UIColor   placeholderColor       objc setAssociatedObject self   selector placeholderColor   placeholderColor  OBJC ASSOCIATION RETAIN NONATOMIC        self updatePlaceholderText      -  UIColor  placeholderColor       return objc getAssociatedObject self   selector placeholderColor       -  void updatePlaceholderText       NSString  text   self placeholderText      UIColor  color   self placeholderColor      if text  amp  amp  color                UITextField  textField    UITextField  self          textField attributedPlaceholder     NSAttributedString alloc  initWithString text attributes   NSForegroundColorAttributeName color              end

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SET value in view load      txtVw  autocorrectionType   UITextAutocorrectionType No     txtVw  text    Write your Placeholder      txtVw  textColor   UIColor lightGrayColor      func textViewDidBeginEditing textView  UITextView        if  txtVw  text     Write your Placeholder                  txtVw  text   nil         txtVw  textColor   UIColor blackColor            func textViewDidEndEditing textView  UITextView        if txtVw  text isEmpty               txtVw  text    Write your Placeholder          txtVw  textColor   UIColor lightGrayColor             textView resignFirstResponder

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Swift 4  4 2 and 5      IBOutlet var detailTextView  UITextView   override func viewDidLoad             super viewDidLoad           detailTextView delegate   self    extension ContactUsViewController   UITextViewDelegate        public func textViewDidBeginEditing   textView  UITextView            if textView text     Write your message here                   detailTextView text                  detailTextView textColor   UIColor init red  0 255  green  0 255  blue  0 255  alpha  0 86                     textView becomeFirstResponder              public func textViewDidEndEditing   textView  UITextView             if textView text                     detailTextView text    Write your message here                 detailTextView textColor   UIColor init red  0 255  green  0 255  blue  0 255  alpha  0 30                    textView resignFirstResponder               1   1

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there is my simple version of UITextView with placeholder  The main idea is    hide placeholder if user starts editing and placeholder is visible  show placeholder if user ends editing and text of text view is empty    class PlaceholderTextView  UITextView        var placeholder                didSet               if isPlaceholderVisible                   showPlaceholder                                      var isPlaceholderVisible   true           didSet               isPlaceholderVisible   showPlaceholder     hidePlaceholder                        init             super init frame   zero  textContainer  nil          delegate   self            required init  coder  NSCoder            fatalError  init coder   has not been implemented              private func showPlaceholder             text   placeholder            Set other things like color of text for placeholder                 private func hidePlaceholder             text                 Set other things like color of text for normal input                extension PlaceholderTextView  UITextViewDelegate       func textViewDidBeginEditing   textView  UITextView            if isPlaceholderVisible               isPlaceholderVisible   false                      func textViewDidEndEditing   textView  UITextView            if text isEmpty               isPlaceholderVisible   true

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Here is my way of solving this problem  Swift 4    The idea was to make the simplest possible solution which allows to use placeholders of different colors  resizes to placeholders size  will not overwrite a delegate meanwhile keeping all UITextView functions work as expected   import UIKit  class PlaceholderTextView  UITextView       var placeholderColor  UIColor    lightGray     var defaultTextColor  UIColor    black      private var isShowingPlaceholder   false           didSet               if isShowingPlaceholder                   text   placeholder                 textColor   placeholderColor               else                   textColor   defaultTextColor                                    var placeholder  String            didSet               isShowingPlaceholder    hasText                       objc private func textViewDidBeginEditing notification  Notification            textColor   defaultTextColor         if isShowingPlaceholder   text   nil               objc private func textViewDidEndEditing notification  Notification            isShowingPlaceholder    hasText               MARK  - Construction -     override init frame  CGRect  textContainer  NSTextContainer             super init frame  frame  textContainer  textContainer          setup              required init  coder aDecoder  NSCoder            super init coder  aDecoder          setup              private func setup             NotificationCenter default addObserver self  selector   selector textViewDidBeginEditing notification     name  UITextView textDidBeginEditingNotification  object  nil          NotificationCenter default addObserver self  selector   selector textViewDidEndEditing notification     name  UITextView textDidEndEditingNotification  object  nil                MARK  - Destruction -     deinit   NotificationCenter default removeObserver self

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SWIFTUI Here is a Swiftui TextView made using UIVIewRepresentable that has placeholder functionality and border colors struct TextView  UIViewRepresentable     Binding var text  String var placeholderText  String var textStyle  UIFont TextStyle  func makeUIView context  Context  - gt  UITextView       let textView   UITextView        textView font   UIFont preferredFont forTextStyle  textStyle      textView autocapitalizationType    sentences     textView isSelectable   true     textView isUserInteractionEnabled   true     textView delegate   context coordinator     textView layer borderWidth   0 6     textView layer borderColor   UIColor lightGray cgColor     textView layer cornerRadius   10     textView text   placeholderText     textView textColor   UIColor lightGray     return textView    func updateUIView   uiView  UITextView  context  Context        uiView text   text     uiView font   UIFont preferredFont forTextStyle  textStyle     func makeCoordinator   - gt  Coordinator       Coordinator self      class Coordinator  NSObject  UITextViewDelegate       var parent  TextView       init   parent  TextView            self parent   parent             func textViewDidChange   textView  UITextView            self parent text   textView text                func textViewDidBeginEditing   textView  UITextView            if textView textColor    UIColor lightGray               textView text   nil             textView textColor   UIColor black                          func textViewDidEndEditing   textView  UITextView            if textView text isEmpty               textView text   self parent placeholderText             textView textColor   UIColor lightGray                      then in your View you can use it like this TextView text  self  viewModel addPostCommentText  placeholderText   quot Share your story about this cash quot   textStyle   body                   padding                    frame height  150

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Here is what I m using for this job done   IBDesignable class UIPlaceholderTextView  UITextView            var placeholderLabel  UILabel           override init frame  CGRect  textContainer  NSTextContainer             super init frame  frame  textContainer  textContainer          sharedInit                  required init  coder aDecoder  NSCoder            super init coder  aDecoder          sharedInit                  override func prepareForInterfaceBuilder             sharedInit                  func sharedInit             refreshPlaceholder           NotificationCenter default addObserver self  selector   selector textChanged   name  UITextView textDidChangeNotification  object  nil              IBInspectable var placeholder  String            didSet               refreshPlaceholder                         IBInspectable var placeholderColor  UIColor     darkGray           didSet               refreshPlaceholder                             IBInspectable var placeholderFontSize  CGFloat   14           didSet               refreshPlaceholder                            func refreshPlaceholder             if placeholderLabel    nil               placeholderLabel   UILabel               let contentView   self subviews first    self                          contentView addSubview placeholderLabel               placeholderLabel  translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints   false                          placeholderLabel  leftAnchor constraint equalTo  contentView leftAnchor  constant  textContainerInset left   4  isActive   true             placeholderLabel  rightAnchor constraint equalTo  contentView rightAnchor  constant  textContainerInset right   4  isActive   true             placeholderLabel  topAnchor constraint equalTo  contentView topAnchor  constant  textContainerInset top  isActive   true             placeholderLabel  bottomAnchor constraint lessThanOrEqualTo  contentView bottomAnchor  constant  textContainerInset bottom                    placeholderLabel  text   placeholder         placeholderLabel  textColor   placeholderColor         placeholderLabel  font   UIFont systemFont ofSize  placeholderFontSize                  objc func textChanged             if self placeholder  isEmpty    true               return                            UIView animate withDuration  0 25                if self text isEmpty                   self placeholderLabel  alpha   1 0               else                   self placeholderLabel  alpha   0 0                                        override var text  String            didSet               textChanged                       I know there re several approaches similar to this but the benefits from this one are that it can   Set placeholder text  font size and color in IB  No longer shows the warning of  quot Scroll View has ambiguous scrollable content quot  in IB  Add animation to show hide of placeholder

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Based on some of the great suggestions here already  I was able to put together the following lightweight  Interface-Builder-compatible subclass of UITextView  which   Includes configurable placeholder text  styled just like that of UITextField  Doesn t require any additional subviews or constraints  Doesn t require any delegation or other behaviour from the ViewController  Doesn t require any notifications  Keeps that placeholder text fully separated from any outside classes looking at the field s text property   Any improvement suggestions are welcome  especially if there s any way to pull iOS s placeholder color programatically  rather than hard-coding it  Swift v5  import UIKit  IBDesignable class TextViewWithPlaceholder  UITextView            override var text  String       Ensures that the placeholder text is never returned as the field s text         get               if showingPlaceholder                   return  quot  quot     When showing the placeholder  there s no real text to return               else   return super text                     set   super text   newValue              IBInspectable var placeholderText  String    quot  quot       IBInspectable var placeholderTextColor  UIColor   UIColor red  0 78  green  0 78  blue  0 80  alpha  1 0     Standard iOS placeholder color   C7C7CD   See https   stackoverflow com questions 31057746 whats-the-default-color-for-placeholder-text-in-uitextfield     private var showingPlaceholder  Bool   true    Keeps track of whether the field is currently showing a placeholder          override func didMoveToWindow             super didMoveToWindow           if text isEmpty               showPlaceholderText      Load up the placeholder text when first appearing  but not if coming back to a view where text was already entered                          override func becomeFirstResponder   - gt  Bool              If the current text is the placeholder  remove it         if showingPlaceholder               text   nil             textColor   nil    Put the text back to the default  unmodified color             showingPlaceholder   false                   return super becomeFirstResponder                  override func resignFirstResponder   - gt  Bool              If there s no text  put the placeholder back         if text isEmpty               showPlaceholderText                     return super resignFirstResponder                  private func showPlaceholderText             showingPlaceholder   true         textColor   placeholderTextColor         text   placeholderText

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Protocol version of clearlight s answer above  because protocols are great   Pop in it where ever you please  Dunk   extension UITextViewPlaceholder where Self  UIViewController           Use this in ViewController s ViewDidLoad method      func addPlaceholder text  String  toTextView  UITextView  font  UIFont    nil            placeholderLabel   UILabel           placeholderLabel text   text         placeholderLabel font   font    UIFont italicSystemFont ofSize   toTextView font  pointSize            placeholderLabel sizeToFit           toTextView addSubview placeholderLabel          placeholderLabel frame origin   CGPoint x  5  y   toTextView font  pointSize     2          placeholderLabel textColor   UIColor lightGray         placeholderLabel isHidden    toTextView text isEmpty               Use this function in the ViewController s textViewDidChange delegate method      func textViewWithPlaceholderDidChange   textView  UITextView            placeholderLabel isHidden    textView text isEmpty

[ios] Add placeholder text inside UITextView in Swift?

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