Can I set the `attributedText` property of `UILabel`

Question

Can I set the attributedText property of a UILabel object? I tried the below code:

UILabel *label = [[UILabel alloc] init]; label.attributedText = @"asdf"; 

But it gives this error:

Property "attributedText" not found on object of type 'UILabel *'

#import <CoreText/CoreText.h> not working

Answer 1

Here is a complete example of how to use an attributed text on a label:

NSString *redText = @"red text"; NSString *greenText = @"green text"; NSString *purpleBoldText = @"purple bold text";  NSString *text = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Here are %@, %@ and %@",                    redText,                     greenText,                     purpleBoldText];  // If attributed text is supported (iOS6+) if ([self.label respondsToSelector:@selector(setAttributedText:)]) {      // Define general attributes for the entire text     NSDictionary *attribs = @{                               NSForegroundColorAttributeName: self.label.textColor,                               NSFontAttributeName: self.label.font                               };     NSMutableAttributedString *attributedText =          [[NSMutableAttributedString alloc] initWithString:text                                                attributes:attribs];      // Red text attributes     UIColor *redColor = [UIColor redColor];     NSRange redTextRange = [text rangeOfString:redText];// * Notice that usage of rangeOfString in this case may cause some bugs - I use it here only for demonstration     [attributedText setAttributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName:redColor}                             range:redTextRange];      // Green text attributes     UIColor *greenColor = [UIColor greenColor];     NSRange greenTextRange = [text rangeOfString:greenText];// * Notice that usage of rangeOfString in this case may cause some bugs - I use it here only for demonstration     [attributedText setAttributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName:greenColor}                             range:greenTextRange];      // Purple and bold text attributes     UIColor *purpleColor = [UIColor purpleColor];     UIFont *boldFont = [UIFont boldSystemFontOfSize:self.label.font.pointSize];     NSRange purpleBoldTextRange = [text rangeOfString:purpleBoldText];// * Notice that usage of rangeOfString in this case may cause some bugs - I use it here only for demonstration     [attributedText setAttributes:@{NSForegroundColorAttributeName:purpleColor,                                     NSFontAttributeName:boldFont}                             range:purpleBoldTextRange];      self.label.attributedText = attributedText; } // If attributed text is NOT supported (iOS5-) else {     self.label.text = text; } 

Answer 2

Unfortunately, UILabel doesn't support attributed strings. You can use OHAttributedLabel instead.

Update: Since iOS6, UILabel does support attributed strings. See UILabel reference or Michael Kessler's answer below for more details.