UITableView reload and move rows in same batch update results in 'Attempt to create two animations for cell'

Question

Here's a simple example (basically made from "Master-Detail" Xcode template).

I'm trying to move one row ("B") and reload another row ("A1" -> "A2") in a batch update in UITableView.

- (void)awakeFromNib
{
    [super awakeFromNib];
    self.objects = @[@"B", @"A1"];
}

- (IBAction)boom
{
    self.objects = @[@"A2", @"B"];

    NSIndexPath *path0 = [NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:0 inSection:0];
    NSIndexPath *path1 = [NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:1 inSection:0];

    [self.tableView beginUpdates];
    [self.tableView reloadRowsAtIndexPaths:@[path1] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationAutomatic];
    [self.tableView moveRowAtIndexPath:path0 toIndexPath:path1];
    [self.tableView endUpdates];
}

This results in the following exception:

2015-01-14 17:58:51.290 batchtest[34004:806671] *** Assertion failure in -[_UITableViewUpdateSupport _setupAnimationsForNewlyInsertedCells], /SourceCache/UIKit_Sim/UIKit-3318.16.14/UITableViewSupport.m:1216
2015-01-14 17:58:51.335 batchtest[34004:806671] *** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInternalInconsistencyException', reason: 'Attempt to create two animations for cell'
*** First throw call stack:
(
    0   CoreFoundation                      0x00946946 __exceptionPreprocess + 182
    1   libobjc.A.dylib                     0x005cfa97 objc_exception_throw + 44
    2   CoreFoundation                      0x009467da +[NSException raise:format:arguments:] + 138
    3   Foundation                          0x00243810 -[NSAssertionHandler handleFailureInMethod:object:file:lineNumber:description:] + 118
    4   UIKit                               0x010b18e5 -[_UITableViewUpdateSupport(Private) _setupAnimationsForNewlyInsertedCells] + 8447
    5   UIKit                               0x010bb422 -[_UITableViewUpdateSupport _setupAnimations] + 207
    6   UIKit                               0x00df8bc1 -[UITableView _updateWithItems:updateSupport:] + 2089
    7   UIKit                               0x00df24a8 -[UITableView _endCellAnimationsWithContext:] + 13867
    8   UIKit                               0x00e07b6f -[UITableView endUpdatesWithContext:] + 51
    9   UIKit                               0x00e07b9d -[UITableView endUpdates] + 41

Same thing happens when I try to pass @[path0] to reloadRowsAtIndexPaths instead of @[path1].

This looks like an iOS bug to me. Is there a way around it? Am I doing something wrong?

Answer 1

From my point of view, there is nothing wrong with this exception. The reloadRowsAtIndexPaths:withRowAnimation: creates an animation for a row being reloaded, and moveRowAtIndexPath:toIndexPath: also creates an animation. Obviously, UITableView can't handle 2 simultaneous animations and throws an exception.

I guess that passing the UITableViewRowAnimationNone to the reloadRowsAtIndexPaths:withRowAnimation: could solve the problem but not sure; still, worth to try.

I'd propose a workaround like this:

[self.tableView moveRowAtIndexPath:path0 toIndexPath:path1];
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
    self.objects = @[@"A2", @"B"];
    [self.tableView reloadRowsAtIndexPaths:@[path1]
                          withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationAutomatic];
});

or this:

[CATransaction begin];
[CATransaction setCompletionBlock:^{
    self.objects = @[@"A2", @"B"];
    [self.tableView reloadRowsAtIndexPaths:@[path1]
                          withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationAutomatic];
}];
[self.tableView moveRowAtIndexPath:path0 toIndexPath:path1];
[CATransaction commit];

or this:

[UIView animateWithDuration:0.2 animations:^{
    [self.tableView moveRowAtIndexPath:path0 toIndexPath:path1];
} completion:^(BOOL finished){
    self.objects = @[@"A2", @"B"];
    [self.tableView reloadRowsAtIndexPaths:@[path1]
                          withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationAutomatic];
}];