Important: This check should always be performed asynchronously. The majority of answers below are synchronous so be careful otherwise you'll freeze up your app.

Swift

1. Install via CocoaPods or Carthage: https://github.com/ashleymills/Reachability.swift

2. Test reachability via closures

   let reachability = Reachability()!
   
   reachability.whenReachable = { reachability in
       if reachability.connection == .wifi {
           print("Reachable via WiFi")
       } else {
           print("Reachable via Cellular")
       }
   }
   
   reachability.whenUnreachable = { _ in
       print("Not reachable")
   }
   
   do {
       try reachability.startNotifier()
   } catch {
       print("Unable to start notifier")
   }
   

Objective-C

1. Add SystemConfiguration framework to the project but don't worry about including it anywhere

2. Add Tony Million's version of Reachability.h and Reachability.m to the project (found here: https://github.com/tonymillion/Reachability)

3. Update the interface section

   #import "Reachability.h"
   
   // Add this to the interface in the .m file of your view controller
   @interface MyViewController ()
   {
       Reachability *internetReachableFoo;
   }
   @end
   

4. Then implement this method in the .m file of your view controller which you can call

   // Checks if we have an internet connection or not
   - (void)testInternetConnection
   {
       internetReachableFoo = [Reachability reachabilityWithHostname:@"www.google.com"];
   
       // Internet is reachable
       internetReachableFoo.reachableBlock = ^(Reachability*reach)
       {
           // Update the UI on the main thread
           dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
               NSLog(@"Yayyy, we have the interwebs!");
           });
       };
   
       // Internet is not reachable
       internetReachableFoo.unreachableBlock = ^(Reachability*reach)
       {
           // Update the UI on the main thread
           dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
               NSLog(@"Someone broke the internet :(");
           });
       };
   
       [internetReachableFoo startNotifier];
   }
   

Important Note: The Reachability class is one of the most used classes in projects so you might run into naming conflicts with other projects. If this happens, you'll have to rename one of the pairs of Reachability.h and Reachability.m files to something else to resolve the issue.

Note: The domain you use doesn't matter. It's just testing for a gateway to any domain.

Use views for control and layers for eye candy. Layers don't receive events so it's easier to use a view for those cases, but when you want to animate a sprite or backgrounds, etc., layers make sense. Events pass right through layers to the backing view so you can have a pretty visual representation without messing up your events. Try to overlay a view that you're just using for visual representation and you'll have to pass tap events through to the underlying view yourself.