UITableViewHeaderFooterView: Unable to change background color

Question

I'm trying to change the background color of UITableViewHeaderFooterView. Although the view is appearing, the background color remains the default color. I'm getting a log from xcode saying:

Setting the background color on UITableViewHeaderFooterView has been deprecated. Please use contentView.backgroundColor instead.

However, none of the following options work:

myTableViewHeaderFooterView.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor]; myTableViewHeaderFooterView.backgroundView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor]; myTableViewHeaderFooterView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor]; 

I've also tried changing the background color of the view in the xib file.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Answer 1

iOS 8, 9, 10, 11...

The only way to set any color (with any alpha) is to use backgroundView:

Swift

self.backgroundView = UIView(frame: self.bounds) self.backgroundView.backgroundColor = UIColor(white: 0.5, alpha: 0.5) 

Obj-C

self.backgroundView = ({     UIView * view = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:self.bounds];     view.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithWhite: 0.5 alpha:0.5];     view;     }); 

---

Responses to Comments

• None of these other options reliably work (despite the comments below)

  // self.contentView.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor]; // self.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor]; // self.tintColor = [UIColor clearColor]; 

• the backgroundView is resized automatically. (No need to add constraints)

• Control alpha with UIColor(white: 0.5, alpha: 0.5) or backgroundView.alpha = 0.5.
  (of course, any color will do)

• When using XIB, make root view a UITableViewHeaderFooterView and associate the backgroundView programmatically:

  Register with:

  tableView.register(UINib(nibName: "View", bundle: nil),                    forHeaderFooterViewReuseIdentifier: "header") 

  Load with:

  override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView,                         viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {     if let header =         tableView.dequeueReusableHeaderFooterView(withIdentifier: "header") {         let backgroundView = UIView(frame: header.bounds)         backgroundView.backgroundColor = UIColor(white: 0.5, alpha: 0.5)         header.backgroundView = backgroundView         return header     }     return nil } 

---

↻ replay animation

► Find this solution on GitHub and additional details on Swift Recipes.