Attributed String Foreground color not working in Swift

Question

I am using the following code to change the foreground color and font of a attribute string using Swift. But the Font changing perfectly without any problem but the foreground color is not changing

var checklistText = NSMutableAttributedString()
        checklistText = NSMutableAttributedString(string: "\(lblChecklistName.text!),\(checklistName)")
        checklistText.addAttribute(NSFontAttributeName,
                                   value: UIFont(
                                    name: "Helvetica",
                                    size: 11.0)!,
                                   range: NSRange(location: lblChecklistName.text!.length(), length: checklistName.length()))
        checklistText.addAttribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, value: UIColor.redColor(), range: NSRange(location: lblChecklistName.text!.length(), length: checklistName.length()+1))
        lblChecklistName.attributedText = checklistText

i think String doesn't not method `length`, i use `.characters.count` — Phu Duy, Jul 20 '16 at 07:42
When using correct ranges your code works ok. Check the ranges you're using. — Eric Aya, Jul 20 '16 at 08:32

score 11 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 24 '19 at 08:43

I have meet the same issue. Although I'm not using ranges to construct a AttributedString My code looked like

self.contentTextLabel.attributedText = NSAttributedString(string: "content",
                                                            attributes: [.foregroundColor: UIColor.red, .background: UIColor.blue])

When running, the background color shows blue, but the foreground color does not appear red. I thought it a swift's issue, so I also tried it in Objective-C, but still does not work.

I'm using storyboard and I resolved this by remove the named color set on that label. I think it's Apple's bug, somehow named color set on label have override foreground color set in attributed string.

`I'm using storyboard and I resolved this by remove the named color set on that label. I think it's Apple's bug, somehow named color set on label have override foreground color set in attributed string.` Yes, this is apple bug, and still is an issue for Xcode ver 11.3.1. Setting the color from the code is fine, but setting `named color` from the storyboard breaks the foreground color in attributedText. Note that setting system color from the storyboard works fine (the bug appears for custom asset catalog colors). — dvp.petrov, Jun 19 '20 at 16:14

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 05 '19 at 06:32

For foregroundColor to work you need to set the .strokeWidth to negative :

let attributes : [ NSAttributedString.Key : Any ] = [.font : UIFont(name: "Helvetica", size: 11.0),
                                                             .foregroundColor : UIColor.red,
                                                             .strokeWidth : -5]
        let stringWithAttributes = NSAttributedString(string: "YOUR STRING", attributes: attributes)

Aleti · Answer 3 · 2021-04-24T09:32:55.233

Set strokeWidth to negative and strokeColor as desired color. This worked for me. It works with namedColor.

let gdprString = "test test test"

let gdprAttributes = [
    NSAttributedString.Key.underlineStyle: 
    NSUnderlineStyle.single.rawValue,
    NSAttributedString.Key.font: UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 15.0),
    NSAttributedString.Key.link: gdprString,
    NSAttributedString.Key.strokeWidth: -3.0,      
    NSAttributedString.Key.strokeColor: UIColor.blue 
] as [NSAttributedString.Key : Any]

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 21 '21 at 17:11

2

You should check your label text color. If you setup your label text color after giving attributed text value, it may overrides attributed color.

yourLabel.attributedText = attrStr //attributed string
yourLabel.textColor = UIColor.black

answered Feb 21 '21 at 17:11

Ahrorbek Abdullayev

71
3

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 16 '21 at 04:16

1

On my case, its happened on ios below 13. Add negative strokeWidth will do the trick.

NSAttributedString.Key.strokeWidth: -3.0

answered Feb 16 '21 at 04:16

darul firmansyah

11
1

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 30 '21 at 10:21

April 2021, I have the same bug and nothing from the above helped me. But this helped:

Set textColor of the label to any color before you set an attributedText.

let label = UILabel()
label.textColor = .black

label.attributedText = NSAttributedString(string: "Hello, World!", attributes: [.foregroundColor: UIColor.red])

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 30 '23 at 14:24

This is an old question, but I just wasted a bunch of time on this same issue with the new AttributedString. Named colors do not work for AttributedString foreground color.

This does not work:

attributedString.foregroundColor = .blue

This works:

attributedString.foregroundColor = UIColor(red: 0.0, green: 0.0, blue: 1.0, alpha: 1.0)

Avoid using named colors with text color (foregroundColor) for AttributedString.

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 20 '16 at 07:23

Reference form: NSMutableAttributedString

var myString:NSString = "I AM KIRIT MODI"
var myMutableString = NSMutableAttributedString()
myMutableString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: myString as 
String, attributes: [NSFontAttributeName:UIFont(name: "Georgia", size: 18.0)!])
myMutableString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: myString as String, attributes: [NSFontAttributeName:UIFont(name: "Georgia", size: 18.0)!])
            myMutableString.addAttribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, value: UIColor.redColor(), range: NSRange(location:2,length:2))
lbl_First.attributedText = myMutableString

See Image :

Thanks for your response, I tried that but thats not working — Balaji Kondalrayal, Jul 20 '16 at 07:29

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Nov 10 '21 at 15:09

I have face the same issue. Although I'm not using ranges to construct a AttributedString. So I found a weird thing that you should set the textcolor for label or textfield to clear and then set the colors through attributed string. Here is a sample code:

//Have to set the textColor to clear to make attributed string of multiple foreground colors
    termsAndConditionsLabel.textColor = .clear
    let attributedString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: "By signing up, you agree to our", attributes: [
        NSAttributedString.Key.font : UIFont(resource: .captionRegular),
        NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: ThemeManager.shared.gray1
    ])
    let optionString = NSAttributedString(string: " Terms and Conditions", attributes: [
                                            NSAttributedString.Key.font: UIFont(resource: .captionRegular),
        NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: ThemeManager.shared.systemBlue
    ])
    
    attributedString.append(optionString)
    
    termsAndConditionsLabel.attributedText = attributedString

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Feb 10 '22 at 13:50

0

for UIButton this issue solves by:

let bin = UIButton(type: .system)
btn.setTitleColor(nil, for: .normal)

answered Feb 10 '22 at 13:50

Mike Glukhov

1,758
19
18

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Dec 12 '22 at 16:28

0

Was using iOS 16 simulator. My issue was that I was setting a .link value (even if it was an empty string) which made the text color always blue. Checking for nil or "" before setting the link attributed property helped

answered Dec 12 '22 at 16:28

kbunarjo

1,277
2
11
27

Attributed String Foreground color not working in Swift

11 Answers11