Ios – UITableViewHeaderFooterView: Unable to change background color

iosiphoneuitableviewxcode

I'm trying to change the background color of UITableViewHeaderFooterView. Although the view is appearing, the background color remains the default color. I'm getting a log from xcode saying:

Setting the background color on UITableViewHeaderFooterView has been
deprecated. Please use contentView.backgroundColor instead.

However, none of the following options work:

myTableViewHeaderFooterView.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];
myTableViewHeaderFooterView.backgroundView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];
myTableViewHeaderFooterView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];

I've also tried changing the background color of the view in the xib file.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Best Answer

iOS 8, 9, 10, 11...

The only way to set any color (with any alpha) is to use backgroundView:

Swift

self.backgroundView = UIView(frame: self.bounds)
self.backgroundView.backgroundColor = UIColor(white: 0.5, alpha: 0.5)

Obj-C

self.backgroundView = ({
    UIView * view = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:self.bounds];
    view.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithWhite: 0.5 alpha:0.5];
    view;
    });

Responses to Comments

  • None of these other options reliably work (despite the comments below)

    // self.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
// self.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
// self.tintColor = [UIColor clearColor];

  • the backgroundView is resized automatically. (No need to add constraints)

  • Control alpha with UIColor(white: 0.5, alpha: 0.5) or backgroundView.alpha = 0.5.
    (of course, any color will do)

  • When using XIB, make root view a UITableViewHeaderFooterView and associate the backgroundView programmatically:

    Register with:

    tableView.register(UINib(nibName: "View", bundle: nil),
                   forHeaderFooterViewReuseIdentifier: "header")

    Load with:

    override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView,
                        viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
    if let header =
        tableView.dequeueReusableHeaderFooterView(withIdentifier: "header") {
        let backgroundView = UIView(frame: header.bounds)
        backgroundView.backgroundColor = UIColor(white: 0.5, alpha: 0.5)
        header.backgroundView = backgroundView
        return header
    }
    return nil
}

Demo

↻ replay animation

► Find this solution on GitHub and additional details on Swift Recipes.

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