[ios] NSNotificationCenter addObserver in Swift

How do you add an observer in Swift to the default notification center? I'm trying to port this line of code that sends a notification when the battery level changes.

[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(batteryLevelChanged:) name:UIDeviceBatteryLevelDidChangeNotification object:nil];

Swift 4.0 & Xcode 9.0+:

Send(Post) Notification:

NotificationCenter.default.post(name: Notification.Name("NotificationIdentifier"), object: nil)

OR

NotificationCenter.default.post(name: Notification.Name("NotificationIdentifier"), object: nil, userInfo: ["Renish":"Dadhaniya"])

Receive(Get) Notification:

NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(self.methodOfReceivedNotification(notification:)), name: Notification.Name("NotificationIdentifier"), object: nil)

Function-Method handler for received Notification:

@objc func methodOfReceivedNotification(notification: Notification) {}

Swift 3.0 & Xcode 8.0+:

Send(Post) Notification:

NotificationCenter.default.post(name: Notification.Name("NotificationIdentifier"), object: nil)

Receive(Get) Notification:

NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(YourClassName.methodOfReceivedNotification(notification:)), name: Notification.Name("NotificationIdentifier"), object: nil)

Method handler for received Notification:

func methodOfReceivedNotification(notification: Notification) {
  // Take Action on Notification
}

Remove Notification:

deinit {
  NotificationCenter.default.removeObserver(self, name: Notification.Name("NotificationIdentifier"), object: nil)
}

Swift 2.3 & Xcode 7:

Send(Post) Notification

NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().postNotificationName("NotificationIdentifier", object: nil)

Receive(Get) Notification

NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: #selector(YourClassName.methodOfReceivedNotification(_:)), name:"NotificationIdentifier", object: nil)

Method handler for received Notification

func methodOfReceivedNotification(notification: NSNotification){
  // Take Action on Notification
}

For historic Xcode versions...

Send(Post) Notification

NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().postNotificationName("NotificationIdentifier", object: nil)

Receive(Get) Notification

NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: "methodOfReceivedNotification:", name:"NotificationIdentifier", object: nil)

Remove Notification

NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().removeObserver(self, name: "NotificationIdentifier", object: nil)
NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().removeObserver(self) // Remove from all notifications being observed

Method handler for received Notification

func methodOfReceivedNotification(notification: NSNotification) {
  // Take Action on Notification
}

Annotate either the class or the target method with @objc

@objc private func methodOfReceivedNotification(notification: NSNotification) {
  // Take Action on Notification
}

// Or

dynamic private func methodOfReceivedNotification(notification: NSNotification) {
  // Take Action on Notification
}

Pass Data using NSNotificationCenter

You can also pass data using NotificationCentre in swift 3.0 and NSNotificationCenter in swift 2.0.

Swift 2.0 Version

Pass info using userInfo which is a optional Dictionary of type [NSObject : AnyObject]?

let imageDataDict:[String: UIImage] = ["image": image]

// Post a notification
 NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().postNotificationName(notificationName, object: nil, userInfo: imageDataDict)

// Register to receive notification in your class
NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: #selector(self.showSpinningWheel(_:)), name: notificationName, object: nil)

// handle notification
func showSpinningWheel(notification: NSNotification) {
  if let image = notification.userInfo?["image"] as? UIImage {
  // do something with your image   
  }
}

Swift 3.0 Version

The userInfo now takes [AnyHashable:Any]? as an argument, which we provide as a dictionary literal in Swift

let imageDataDict:[String: UIImage] = ["image": image]

// post a notification
 NotificationCenter.default.post(name: NSNotification.Name(rawValue: "notificationName"), object: nil, userInfo: imageDataDict) 
// `default` is now a property, not a method call

// Register to receive notification in your class
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(self.showSpinningWheel(_:)), name: NSNotification.Name(rawValue: "notificationName"), object: nil)

// handle notification
func showSpinningWheel(_ notification: NSNotification) {

  if let image = notification.userInfo?["image"] as? UIImage {
  // do something with your image   
  }
}

Source pass data using NotificationCentre(swift 3.0) and NSNotificationCenter(swift 2.0)

In swift 2.2 - XCode 7.3, we use #selector for NSNotificationCenter

 NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: #selector(rotate), name: UIDeviceOrientationDidChangeNotification, object: nil)

NSNotificationCenter add observer syntax in Swift 4.0 for iOS 11

  NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(keyboardShow), name: NSNotification.Name.UIKeyboardWillShow, object: nil)

This is for keyboardWillShow notification name type. Other type can be selected from the available option

the Selector is of type @objc func which handle how the keyboard will show ( this is your user function )

In swift 3, Xcode 8.2:- checking battery state level

//Add observer
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(batteryStateDidChange), name: NSNotification.Name.UIDeviceBatteryStateDidChange, object: nil)


 //Fired when battery level changes

 func batteryStateDidChange(notification: NSNotification){
        //perform manipulation here
    }

Swift 5 Notification Observer

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad() 
    NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(batteryLevelChanged), name: UIDevice.batteryLevelDidChangeNotification, object: nil)
}

@objc func batteryLevelChanged(notification : NSNotification){
    //do here code
}

override func viewWillDisappear(_ animated: Bool) {
    NotificationCenter.default.removeObserver(self, name: UIDevice.batteryLevelDidChangeNotification, object: nil)

}

Swift 5 & Xcode 10.2:

NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(
            self,
            selector: #selector(batteryLevelDidChangeNotification),
            name: UIDevice.batteryLevelDidChangeNotification,
            object: nil)

A nice way of doing this is to use the addObserver(forName:object:queue:using:) method rather than the addObserver(_:selector:name:object:) method that is often used from Objective-C code. The advantage of the first variant is that you don't have to use the @objc attribute on your method:

    func batteryLevelChanged(notification: Notification) {
        // do something useful with this information
    }

    let observer = NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(
        forName: NSNotification.Name.UIDeviceBatteryLevelDidChange,
        object: nil, queue: nil,
        using: batteryLevelChanged)

and you can even just use a closure instead of a method if you want:

    let observer = NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(
        forName: NSNotification.Name.UIDeviceBatteryLevelDidChange,
        object: nil, queue: nil) { _ in print("") }

You can use the returned value to stop listening for the notification later:

    NotificationCenter.default.removeObserver(observer)

There used to be another advantage in using this method, which was that it doesn't require you to use selector strings which couldn't be statically checked by the compiler and so were fragile to breaking if the method is renamed, but Swift 2.2 and later include #selector expressions that fix that problem.

Swift 3.0 in Xcode 8

Swift 3.0 has replaced many "stringly-typed" APIs with struct "wrapper types", as is the case with NotificationCenter. Notifications are now identified by a struct Notfication.Name rather than by String. See the Migrating to Swift 3 guide.

Previous usage:

// Define identifier
let notificationIdentifier: String = "NotificationIdentifier"

// Register to receive notification
NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: #selector(YourClassName.methodOfReceivedNotification(_:)), name: notificationIdentifier, object: nil)

// Post a notification
NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().postNotificationName(notificationIdentifier, object: nil)

New Swift 3.0 usage:

// Define identifier
let notificationName = Notification.Name("NotificationIdentifier")

// Register to receive notification
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(YourClassName.methodOfReceivedNotification), name: notificationName, object: nil)

// Post notification
NotificationCenter.default.post(name: notificationName, object: nil)

All of the system notification types are now defined as static constants on Notification.Name; i.e. .UIDeviceBatteryLevelDidChange, .UIApplicationDidFinishLaunching, .UITextFieldTextDidChange, etc.

You can extend Notification.Name with your own custom notifications in order to stay consistent with the system notifications:

// Definition:
extension Notification.Name {
    static let yourCustomNotificationName = Notification.Name("yourCustomNotificationName")
}

// Usage:
NotificationCenter.default.post(name: .yourCustomNotificationName, object: nil)

I'm able to do one of the following to successfully use a selector - without annotating anything with @objc:

NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self,
    selector:"batteryLevelChanged:" as Selector,
    name:"UIDeviceBatteryLevelDidChangeNotification",
    object:nil)    

OR

let notificationSelector: Selector = "batteryLevelChanged:"

NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self,
    selector: notificationSelector,
    name:"UIDeviceBatteryLevelDidChangeNotification",
    object:nil)    

My xcrun version shows Swift 1.2, and this works on Xcode 6.4 and Xcode 7 beta 2 (which I thought would be using Swift 2.0):

$xcrun swift --version

Apple Swift version 1.2 (swiftlang-602.0.53.1 clang-602.0.53)

In Swift 5

Let's say if want to Receive Data from ViewControllerB to ViewControllerA

ViewControllerA (Receiver)

import UIKit

class ViewControllerA: UIViewController  {

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        //MARK: - - - - - Code for Passing Data through Notification Observer - - - - -
        // add observer in controller(s) where you want to receive data
        NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(self.methodOfReceivedNotification(notification:)), name: Notification.Name("NotificationIdentifier"), object: nil)
    }

    //MARK: - - - - - Method for receiving Data through Post Notificaiton - - - - -
    @objc func methodOfReceivedNotification(notification: Notification) {
        print("Value of notification : ", notification.object ?? "")
    }
}

ViewControllerB (Sender)

import UIKit

class ViewControllerB: UIViewController {

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        //MARK: - - - - - Set data for Passing Data Post Notification - - - - -
        let objToBeSent = "Test Message from Notification"
        NotificationCenter.default.post(name: Notification.Name("NotificationIdentifier"), object: objToBeSent)
    }

}

1. Declare a notification name

   extension Notification.Name {
       static let purchaseDidFinish = Notification.Name("purchaseDidFinish")
   }
   

2. You can add observer in two ways:

   Using Selector

   NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(myFunction), name: .purchaseDidFinish, object: nil)
   
   @objc func myFunction(notification: Notification) {
       print(notification.object ?? "") //myObject
       print(notification.userInfo ?? "") //[AnyHashable("key"): "Value"]
   }
   

   or using block

   NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(forName: .purchaseDidFinish, object: nil, queue: nil) { [weak self] (notification) in
       guard let strongSelf = self else {
           return
       }
   
       strongSelf.myFunction(notification: notification)
   }
   
   func myFunction(notification: Notification) {
       print(notification.object ?? "") //myObject
       print(notification.userInfo ?? "") //[AnyHashable("key"): "Value"]
   }
   

3. Post your notification

   NotificationCenter.default.post(name: .purchaseDidFinish, object: "myObject", userInfo: ["key": "Value"])
   

from iOS 9 and OS X 10.11. It is no longer necessary for an NSNotificationCenter observer to un-register itself when being deallocated. more info

For a block based implementation you need to do a weak-strong dance if you want to use self inside the block. more info

Block based observers need to be removed more info

let center = NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter()
center.removeObserver(self.localeChangeObserver)

We should remove notification also.

Ex.

deinit 
{
  NotificationCenter.default.removeObserver(self, name:NSNotification.Name(rawValue: "notify"), object: nil)

}