Change string color with NSAttributedString?

Question

There is no need for using NSAttributedString. All you need is a simple label with the proper textColor. Plus this simple solution will work with all versions of iOS, not just iOS 6.

But if you needlessly wish to use NSAttributedString, you can do something like this:

UIColor *color = [UIColor redColor]; // select needed color
NSString *string = ... // the string to colorize
NSDictionary *attrs = @{ NSForegroundColorAttributeName : color };
NSAttributedString *attrStr = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:string attributes:attrs];
self.scanLabel.attributedText = attrStr;

Use something like this (Not compiler checked)

NSMutableAttributedString *string = [[NSMutableAttributedString alloc]initWithString:self.text.text];
NSRange range=[self.myLabel.text rangeOfString:texts[sliderValue]]; //myLabel is the outlet from where you will get the text, it can be same or different

NSArray *colors=@[[UIColor redColor],
                  [UIColor redColor],
                  [UIColor yellowColor],
                  [UIColor greenColor]
                 ];

[string addAttribute:NSForegroundColorAttributeName 
               value:colors[sliderValue] 
               range:range];           

[self.scanLabel setAttributedText:texts[sliderValue]];

In Swift 4:

// Custom color
let greenColor = UIColor(red: 10/255, green: 190/255, blue: 50/255, alpha: 1)
// create the attributed colour
let attributedStringColor = [NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor : greenColor];
// create the attributed string
let attributedString = NSAttributedString(string: "Hello World!", attributes: attributedStringColor)
// Set the label
label.attributedText = attributedString

In Swift 3:

// Custom color
let greenColor = UIColor(red: 10/255, green: 190/255, blue: 50/255, alpha: 1)
// create the attributed color
let attributedStringColor : NSDictionary = [NSForegroundColorAttributeName : greenColor];
// create the attributed string
let attributedString = NSAttributedString(string: "Hello World!", attributes: attributedStringColor as? [String : AnyObject])
// Set the label
label.attributedText = attributedString 

Enjoy.

For Swift 5:

var attributes = [NSAttributedString.Key: AnyObject]()
attributes[.foregroundColor] = UIColor.red

let attributedString = NSAttributedString(string: "Very Bad", attributes: attributes)

label.attributedText = attributedString

For Swift 4:

var attributes = [NSAttributedStringKey: AnyObject]()
attributes[.foregroundColor] = UIColor.red

let attributedString = NSAttributedString(string: "Very Bad", attributes: attributes)

label.attributedText = attributedString

For Swift 3:

var attributes = [String: AnyObject]()
attributes[NSForegroundColorAttributeName] = UIColor.red

let attributedString = NSAttributedString(string: "Very Bad", attributes: attributes)

label.attributedText = attributedString

You can create NSAttributedString

NSDictionary *attributes = @{ NSForegroundColorAttributeName : [UIColor redColor] };
NSAttributedString *attrStr = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:@"My Color String" attributes:attrs];

OR NSMutableAttributedString to apply custom attributes with Ranges.

NSMutableAttributedString *attributedString = [[NSMutableAttributedString alloc] initWithString:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@%@", methodPrefix, method] attributes: @{ NSFontAttributeName : FONT_MYRIADPRO(48) }];
[attributedString addAttribute:NSFontAttributeName value:FONT_MYRIADPRO_SEMIBOLD(48) range:NSMakeRange(methodPrefix.length, method.length)];

Available Attributes: NSAttributedStringKey

---

UPDATE:

Swift 5.1

let message: String = greeting + someMessage
let paragraphStyle = NSMutableParagraphStyle()
paragraphStyle.lineSpacing = 2.0
    
// Note: UIFont(appFontFamily:ofSize:) is extended init.
let regularAttributes: [NSAttributedString.Key : Any] = [.font : UIFont(appFontFamily: .regular, ofSize: 15)!, .paragraphStyle : paragraphStyle]
let boldAttributes = [NSAttributedString.Key.font : UIFont(appFontFamily: .semiBold, ofSize: 15)!]

let mutableString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: message, attributes: regularAttributes)
mutableString.addAttributes(boldAttributes, range: NSMakeRange(0, greeting.count))