UITextView that expands to text using auto layout

Question

I have a view that is laid out completely using auto layout programmatically. I have a UITextView in the middle of the view with items above and below it. Everything works fine, but I want to be able to expand UITextView as text is added. This should push everything below it down as it expands.

I know how to do this the "springs and struts" way, but is there an auto layout way of doing this? The only way I can think of is by removing and re-adding the constraint every time it needs to grow.

Answer 1

Summary: Disable scrolling of your text view, and don't constraint its height.

To do this programmatically, put the following code in viewDidLoad:

let textView = UITextView(frame: .zero, textContainer: nil)
textView.backgroundColor = .yellow // visual debugging
textView.isScrollEnabled = false   // causes expanding height
view.addSubview(textView)

// Auto Layout
textView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
let safeArea = view.safeAreaLayoutGuide
NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
    textView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: safeArea.topAnchor),
    textView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: safeArea.leadingAnchor),
    textView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: safeArea.trailingAnchor)
])

To do this in Interface Builder, select the text view, uncheck Scrolling Enabled in the Attributes Inspector, and add the constraints manually.

Note: If you have other view/s above/below your text view, consider using a UIStackView to arrange them all.