Flipping a circular UIView - ios

I'm working on a project that has circular views that flip over.
So far, I've tried a couple of the solutions provided here on SOflow:
simply rounding the corners of the view's layer.
creating a custom CircleView that sets backgroundColor to [UIColor clearColor] and manually drawing the circle on in drawRect.
In each case, when the view flips to the new view, it's a rectangular portion of the screen that flips, not just the circle. I'd like the flip to just be the circle, but I'm not sure where to go next.
Here's the method I'm using to flip the view currently:
-(void)changeSpotToView:(SpotView *)toView {
[UIView transitionFromView:self.activeView
toView:toView
duration:1.0
options:UIViewAnimationOptionTransitionFlipFromTop
completion:^(BOOL finished) {
self.activeView = toView;
}];
}
The container the SpotViews are in is also a SpotView, so it should be just a circle as well.
Any guidance would be appreciated!

The problem is transitionFromView:toView:… animates the superview of the fromView.
I reproduced the problem:
I was able to fix it in my test case simply by embedding my fromView and toView in a container view with a clear background. Here's my working version:
My nib looks like this:
I have bounds rectangles enabled (Editor > Canvas > Show Bounds Rectangles), so you can see the outline of the container view, which is bigger than its subviews.
I have a red view and a blue view as subviews of the container view. The blue view is behind the red view and has the same frame. I apply circular masks to them in code.
Here's my code:
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
self.blueView.hidden = YES;
}
- (void)viewDidLayoutSubviews {
[super viewDidLayoutSubviews];
[self addCircleMaskToView:self.blueView];
[self addCircleMaskToView:self.redView];
}
- (void)addCircleMaskToView:(UIView *)view {
CAShapeLayer *maskLayer = [CAShapeLayer layer];
maskLayer.frame = view.bounds;
maskLayer.path = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithOvalInRect:view.bounds].CGPath;
maskLayer.fillColor = [UIColor whiteColor].CGColor;
view.layer.mask = maskLayer;
}
- (IBAction)buttonWasTapped:(id)sender {
[UIView transitionFromView:self.redView toView:self.blueView
duration:1.0 options:UIViewAnimationOptionTransitionFlipFromTop
| UIViewAnimationOptionShowHideTransitionViews
completion:nil];
}

Related

Rounded UIImageView with border - raw edges

I'm trying to get smooth corners, but without success.
This is how it looks:
I have Subclass of UIImageView where in layoutSubviews I have the logic for putting the rounded corner for uiimageview, and it's clipped to bounds.
But I'm not getting why some images are drawn with these raw edges, and they are OUT of the border layer...
Because it's clipped, I can't make a custom layer with different frame for border, because whole superlayer is clipped.
- (void)layoutSubviews
{
[super layoutSubviews];
[self layoutIfNeeded];
[self.layer setCornerRadius:self.frame.size.width/2];
[self.layer setBorderWidth:BORDERSIZE];
[self.layer setBorderColor:[BORDERCOLOR CGColor]];
[self setClipsToBounds:YES];
}
To make the circular imageview use this following code in viewDidLoad. For clipped to bounds set it to yes.
self.MyImageView.layer.cornerRadius = self.MyImageView.frame.size.width / 2;
self.MyImageView.clipsToBounds = YES;
To apply the border use this code in viewDidLoad:
self.MyImageView.layer.borderWidth = 3.0f;
self.MyImageView.layer.borderColor = [UIColor whiteColor].CGColor;
This will definitely works out.

Rounded corners of UIView with autolayout cropping the view

I am creating IOS app with autolayout enable. In my app for views there are rounded corners (top corners only). I am using the following function:
- (void)setMaskTo:(UIView*)view byRoundingCorners:(UIRectCorner)corners
{
UIBezierPath *rounded = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRoundedRect:view.bounds
byRoundingCorners:corners
cornerRadii:CGSizeMake(5.0, 5.0)];
CAShapeLayer *shape = [[CAShapeLayer alloc] init];
[shape setPath:rounded.CGPath];
view.layer.mask = shape;
}
and calling this function in viewDidAppear like:
-(void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated {
[self setMaskTo:contentView byRoundingCorners:UIRectCornerTopLeft|UIRectCornerTopRight];
}
This is working fine, but the issue is when app is in landscape mode and when I am navigating from one view to another, it is cropping the view like Portrait view. Please let me know is there any issue with this approach?
Autolayout won't recalculate your mask, so you will have to set the mask each time your layout changes. Move setMaskTo:byRoundingCorners: from viewDidAppear: to viewDidLayoutSubviews:
- (void)viewDidLayoutSubviews{
[super viewDidLayoutSubviews];
[self setMaskTo:contentView byRoundingCorners:UIRectCornerTopLeft|UIRectCornerTopRight];
}

How to round off one corner of a resizable UIView in IOS?

I'm using this code to round off one corner of my UIView:
UIBezierPath *maskPath = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRoundedRect:
self.view.bounds byRoundingCorners:(UIRectCornerTopLeft) cornerRadii:
CGSizeMake(10.0, 10.0)];
CAShapeLayer *maskLayer = [[CAShapeLayer alloc] init];
maskLayer.frame = self.view.bounds;
maskLayer.path = maskPath.CGPath;
self.view.layer.mask = maskLayer;
self.view.layer.masksToBounds = NO;
This code works, as long as I don't ever resize the view. If I make the view larger, the new area does not appear because it's outside the bounds of the mask layer (this mask layer does not automatically resize itself with the view). I could just make the mask as large as it will ever need to be, but it could be full-screen on the iPad so I'm worried about performance with a mask that big (I'll have more than one of these in my UI). Also, a super-sized mask wouldn't work for the situation where I need the upper right corner (alone) to be rounded off.
Is there a simpler, easier way to achieve this?
Update: here is what I'm trying to achieve: http://i.imgur.com/W2AfRBd.png (the rounded corner I want is circled here in green).
I have achieved a working version of this, using a subclass of UINavigationController and overriding viewDidLayoutSubviews like so:
- (void)viewDidLayoutSubviews {
CGRect rect = self.view.bounds;
UIBezierPath *maskPath = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRoundedRect:rect
byRoundingCorners:UIRectCornerTopLeft cornerRadii:CGSizeMake(8.0, 8.0)];
self.maskLayer = [CAShapeLayer layer];
self.maskLayer.frame = rect;
self.maskLayer.path = maskPath.CGPath;
self.view.layer.mask = self.maskLayer;
}
I then instantiate my UINavigationController subclass with my view controller, and then I offset the frame of the nav controller's view by 20px (y) to expose the status bar and leave a 44-px high navigation bar, as shown in the picture.
The code is working, except that it doesn't handle rotation very well at all. When the app rotates, viewDidLayoutSubviews gets called before the rotation and my code creates a mask that fits the view after rotation; this creates an undesirable blockiness to the rotation, where bits that should be hidden are exposed during the rotation. Also, whereas the app's rotation is perfectly smooth without this mask, with the mask being created the rotation becomes noticeably jerky and slow.
The iPad app Evomail also has rounded corners like this, and their app suffers from the same problem.
The problem is, CoreAnimation properties do not animate in UIKit animation blocks. You need to create a separate animation which will have the same curve and duration as the UIKit animation.
I created the mask layer in viewDidLoad. When the view is about to be layout, I only modify the path property of the mask layer.
You do not know the rotation duration inside the layout callback methods, but you do know it right before rotation (and before layout is triggered), so you can keep it there.
The following code works well.
- (void)willRotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)toInterfaceOrientation duration:(NSTimeInterval)duration
{
//Keep duration for next layout.
_duration = duration;
}
-(void)viewWillLayoutSubviews
{
[super viewWillLayoutSubviews];
UIBezierPath* maskPath = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRoundedRect:self.view.bounds byRoundingCorners:UIRectCornerTopLeft cornerRadii:CGSizeMake(10, 10)];
CABasicAnimation* animation;
if(_duration > 0)
{
animation = [CABasicAnimation animationWithKeyPath:#"path"];
animation.timingFunction = [CAMediaTimingFunction functionWithName:kCAMediaTimingFunctionEaseInEaseOut];
[animation setDuration:_duration];
//Set old value
[animation setFromValue:(id)((CAShapeLayer*)self.view.layer.mask).path];
//Set new value
[animation setToValue:(id)maskPath.CGPath];
}
((CAShapeLayer*)self.view.layer.mask).path = maskPath.CGPath;
if(_duration > 0)
{
[self.view.layer.mask addAnimation:animation forKey:#"path"];
}
//Zero duration for next layout.
_duration = 0;
}
I know this is a pretty hacky way of doing it but couldn't you just add a png over the top of the corner?
Ugly I know, but it won't affect performance, rotation will be fine if its a subview and users won't notice.
Two ideas:
Resize the mask when the view is resized. You don't get automatic resizing of sublayers the way you get automatic resizing of subviews, but you still get an event, so you can do manual resizing of sublayers.
Or... If this a view whose drawing and display you are in charge of, make the rounding of the corner a part of how you draw the view in the first place (by clipping). That is in fact the most efficient approach.
You could subclass the view you are using and override "layoutSubviews"method. This one gets called everytime your view dimensions change.
Even if "self.view"(referenced in your code) is your viewcontroller's view, you can still set this view to a custom class in your storyboard. Here's the modified code for the subclass:
- (void)layoutSubviews {
[super layoutSubviews];
UIBezierPath *maskPath = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRoundedRect:
self.bounds byRoundingCorners:(UIRectCornerTopLeft) cornerRadii:
CGSizeMake(10.0, 10.0)];
CAShapeLayer *maskLayer = [[CAShapeLayer alloc] init];
maskLayer.frame = self.bounds;
maskLayer.path = maskPath.CGPath;
self.layer.mask = maskLayer;
self.layer.masksToBounds = NO;
}
I think you should create a custom view that updates itself any time it is needed, which means anytime that setNeedsDisplay is called.
What I'm suggesting is to create a custom UIView subclass to be implemented as follows:
// OneRoundedCornerUIView.h
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface OneRoundedCornerUIView : UIView //Subclass of UIView
#end
// OneRoundedCornerUIView.m
#import "OneRoundedCornerUIView.h"
#implementation OneRoundedCornerUIView
- (void) setFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
[super setFrame:frame];
[self setNeedsDisplay];
}
// Override drawRect as follows.
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect
{
UIBezierPath *maskPath = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRoundedRect:
self.bounds byRoundingCorners:(UIRectCornerTopLeft) cornerRadii:
CGSizeMake(10.0, 10.0)];
CAShapeLayer *maskLayer = [[CAShapeLayer alloc] init];
maskLayer.frame = self.bounds;
maskLayer.path = maskPath.CGPath;
self.layer.mask = maskLayer;
self.layer.masksToBounds = NO;
}
#end
Once you've done this you simply need to make your view an OneRoundedCornerUIView instance instead of an UIView one and your view will be updated smoothly every time you resize or change its frame. I've just done some testing and it seems to work perfectly.
This solution can also be easily customised in order to have a view for which you can easily set which corners should be on and which corners should not from your View Controller. Implementation as follows:
// OneRoundedCornerUIView.h
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface OneRoundedCornerUIView : UIView //Subclass of UIView
// This properties are declared in the public API so that you can setup from your ViewController (it also works if you decide to add/remove corners at any time as the setter of each of these properties will call setNeedsDisplay - as shown in the implementation file)
#property (nonatomic, getter = isTopLeftCornerOn) BOOL topLeftCornerOn;
#property (nonatomic, getter = isTopRightCornerOn) BOOL topRightCornerOn;
#property (nonatomic, getter = isBottomLeftCornerOn) BOOL bottomLeftCornerOn;
#property (nonatomic, getter = isBottomRightCornerOn) BOOL bottomRightCornerOn;
#end
// OneRoundedCornerUIView.m
#import "OneRoundedCornerUIView.h"
#implementation OneRoundedCornerUIView
- (void) setFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
[super setFrame:frame];
[self setNeedsDisplay];
}
- (void) setTopLeftCornerOn:(BOOL)topLeftCornerOn
{
_topLeftCornerOn = topLeftCornerOn;
[self setNeedsDisplay];
}
- (void) setTopRightCornerOn:(BOOL)topRightCornerOn
{
_topRightCornerOn = topRightCornerOn;
[self setNeedsDisplay];
}
-(void) setBottomLeftCornerOn:(BOOL)bottomLeftCornerOn
{
_bottomLeftCornerOn = bottomLeftCornerOn;
[self setNeedsDisplay];
}
-(void) setBottomRightCornerOn:(BOOL)bottomRightCornerOn
{
_bottomRightCornerOn = bottomRightCornerOn;
[self setNeedsDisplay];
}
// Override drawRect as follows.
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect
{
UIRectCorner topLeftCorner = 0;
UIRectCorner topRightCorner = 0;
UIRectCorner bottomLeftCorner = 0;
UIRectCorner bottomRightCorner = 0;
if (self.isTopLeftCornerOn) topLeftCorner = UIRectCornerTopLeft;
if (self.isTopRightCornerOn) topRightCorner = UIRectCornerTopRight;
if (self.isBottomLeftCornerOn) bottomLeftCorner = UIRectCornerBottomLeft;
if (self.isBottomRightCornerOn) bottomRightCorner = UIRectCornerBottomRight;
UIRectCorner corners = topLeftCorner | topRightCorner | bottomLeftCorner | bottomRightCorner;
UIBezierPath *maskPath = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRoundedRect:
self.bounds byRoundingCorners:(corners) cornerRadii:
CGSizeMake(10.0, 10.0)];
CAShapeLayer *maskLayer = [[CAShapeLayer alloc] init];
maskLayer.frame = self.bounds;
maskLayer.path = maskPath.CGPath;
self.layer.mask = maskLayer;
self.layer.masksToBounds = NO;
}
#end
I'm a fan of doing what #Martin suggests. As long as there isn't animated content behind the rounded-corner then you can pull this off - even with a bitmap image displayed behind the frontmost view needing the rounded corner.
I created a sample project to mimic your screenshot. The magic happens in a UIView subclass called TSRoundedCornerView. You can place this view anywhere you want - above the view you want to show a rounded corner on, set a property to say what corner to round (adjust the radius by adjusting the size of the view), and setting a property that is the "background view" that you want to be visible in the corner.
Here's the repo for the sample: https://github.com/TomSwift/testRoundedCorner
And here's the drawing magic for the TSRoundedCornerView. Basically we create an inverted clip path with our rounded corner, then draw the background.
- (void) drawRect:(CGRect)rect
{
CGContextRef gc = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextSaveGState(gc);
{
// create an inverted clip path
// (thanks rob mayoff: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9042725/drawrect-how-do-i-do-an-inverted-clip)
UIBezierPath* bp = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRoundedRect: self.bounds
byRoundingCorners: self.corner // e.g. UIRectCornerTopLeft
cornerRadii: self.bounds.size];
CGContextAddPath(gc, bp.CGPath);
CGContextAddRect(gc, CGRectInfinite);
CGContextEOClip(gc);
// self.backgroundView is the view we want to show peering out behind the rounded corner
// this works well enough if there's only one layer to render and not a view hierarchy!
[self.backgroundView.layer renderInContext: gc];
//$ the iOS7 way of rendering the contents of a view. It works, but only if the UIImageView has already painted... I think.
//$ if you try this, be sure to setNeedsDisplay on this view from your view controller's viewDidAppear: method.
// CGRect r = self.backgroundView.bounds;
// r.origin = [self.backgroundView convertPoint: CGPointZero toView: self];
// [self.backgroundView drawViewHierarchyInRect: r
// afterScreenUpdates: YES];
}
CGContextRestoreGState(gc);
}
I thought about this again and I think there is a simpler solution. I updated my sample to showcase both solutions.
The new solution is to simply create a container view that has 4 rounded corners (via CALayer cornerRadius). You can size that view so only the corner you're interested in is visible on screen. This solution doesn't work well if you need 3 corners rounded, or two opposite (on the diagonal) corners rounded. I think it works in most other cases, including the one you've described in your question and screenshot.
Here's the repo for the sample: https://github.com/TomSwift/testRoundedCorner
Try this. Hope this will helps you.
UIView* parent = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10,10,100,100)];
parent.clipsToBounds = YES;
UIView* child = [[UIView alloc] new];
child.clipsToBounds = YES;
child.layer.cornerRadius = 3.0f;
child.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
child.frame = CGRectOffset(parent.bounds, +4, -4);
[parent addSubView:child];
If you want to do it in Swift I could advice you to use an extension of an UIView. By doing so all subclasses will be able to use the following method:
import QuartzCore
extension UIView {
func roundCorner(corners: UIRectCorner, radius: CGFloat) {
let maskPath = UIBezierPath(roundedRect: self.bounds, byRoundingCorners: corners, cornerRadii: CGSizeMake(radius, radius))
var maskLayer = CAShapeLayer()
maskLayer.frame = self.bounds;
maskLayer.path = maskPath.CGPath;
self.layer.mask = maskLayer;
}
}
self.anImageView.roundCorner(UIRectCorner.TopRight, radius: 10)

How to animate resizing of a UIView which uses a CAShapeLayer?

Intention:
I want to draw a circle within a view that I can move, resize and re-colour from the ViewController.
Setup:
I subclassed UIView to create a view to just hold the circle:
#implementation CircleView
+ (Class)layerClass //override
{
return [CAShapeLayer class];
}
- (id)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
self = [super initWithFrame:frame];
if (self)
{
self.opaque = NO;
CAShapeLayer *layer = (CAShapeLayer *)self.layer;
layer.fillColor = nil;
layer.strokeColor = [UIColor colorWithWhite:1 alpha:1].CGColor;
layer.lineWidth = 2;
}
return self;
}
-(void) layoutSubviews
{
CAShapeLayer *layer = (CAShapeLayer *)self.layer;
layer.path = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithOvalInRect:self.bounds].CGPath;
}
#end
I then initialise it like so in the parent view initWithFrame:
{
CGFloat diam = MIN(frame.size.width, frame.size.height);
self.circleView = [[VCCCircleView alloc] initWithFrame:ASRectCenteredOnPoint(ASRectGetCenter(frame), (CGSize){diam,diam})];
self.circleView.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleBottomMargin | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleLeftMargin|UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleTopMargin | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleRightMargin;
[self addSubview:self.circleView];
}
Finally the parent view also provides a method for animating the view:
-(void)setCircleFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
CAShapeLayer *layer = (CAShapeLayer *)self.circleView.layer;
[UIView animateWithDuration:1 delay:10 options:UIViewAnimationOptionLayoutSubviews animations:^(void)
{
circleView.frame = frame;
//for debug: circleView.frame = CGRectInset(circleView.frame, -30, -30);
} completion:nil];
}
The idea being that you can just set the frame and the circle will move and resize. Simple right?
Problem:
The circle does *not*animate it's change in size but it does animate it's change in position. - the result being it jumps to the new size, then animates the movement of the origin. This is particularly obvious with the large delay I introduced to the animation.
I notice that if i just change the location of the circle, layoutSubviews of the circleView is not called but if I change the bounds it is.
I am not using any transform.
What I've tried:
Removing the autoresizemask stuff from the initialisation of the circle view
Various combinations of options to the animation (including: BeginFromCurrentState)
Calling [self layoutSubviews] in the animation block after the new frame is set
Editing the bounds rather than the frame
Combinations of the above
What I haven't tried:
Using a CABasicAnimation directly. Is this necessary? 'Frame' is
supposed to be animatable of UIView?

Cut Out Shape with Animation

I want to do something similar to the following:
How to mask an image in IOS sdk?
I want to cover the entire screen with translucent black. Then, I want to cut a circle out of the translucent black covering so that you can see through clearly. I'm doing this to highlight parts of the screen for a tutorial.
I then want to animate the cut-out circle to other parts of the screen. I also want to be able to stretch the cut-out circle horizontally & vertically, as you would do with a generic button background image.
(UPDATE: Please see also my other answer which describes how to set up multiple independent, overlapping holes.)
Let's use a plain old UIView with a backgroundColor of translucent black, and give its layer a mask that cuts a hole out of the middle. We'll need an instance variable to reference the hole view:
#implementation ViewController {
UIView *holeView;
}
After loading the main view, we want to add the hole view as a subview:
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
[self addHoleSubview];
}
Since we want to move the hole around, it will be convenient to make the hole view be very large, so that it covers the rest of the content regardless of where it's positioned. We'll make it 10000x10000. (This doesn't take up any more memory because iOS doesn't automatically allocate a bitmap for the view.)
- (void)addHoleSubview {
holeView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 10000, 10000)];
holeView.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithWhite:0.0 alpha:0.5];
holeView.autoresizingMask = 0;
[self.view addSubview:holeView];
[self addMaskToHoleView];
}
Now we need to add the mask that cuts a hole out of the hole view. We'll do this by creating a compound path consisting of a huge rectangle with a smaller circle at its center. We'll fill the path with black, leaving the circle unfilled and therefore transparent. The black part has alpha=1.0 and so it makes the hole view's background color show. The transparent part has alpha=0.0, so that part of the hole view is also transparent.
- (void)addMaskToHoleView {
CGRect bounds = holeView.bounds;
CAShapeLayer *maskLayer = [CAShapeLayer layer];
maskLayer.frame = bounds;
maskLayer.fillColor = [UIColor blackColor].CGColor;
static CGFloat const kRadius = 100;
CGRect const circleRect = CGRectMake(CGRectGetMidX(bounds) - kRadius,
CGRectGetMidY(bounds) - kRadius,
2 * kRadius, 2 * kRadius);
UIBezierPath *path = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithOvalInRect:circleRect];
[path appendPath:[UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRect:bounds]];
maskLayer.path = path.CGPath;
maskLayer.fillRule = kCAFillRuleEvenOdd;
holeView.layer.mask = maskLayer;
}
Notice that I've put the circle at the center of the 10000x10000 view. This means that we can just set holeView.center to set the center of the circle relative to the other content. So, for example, we can easily animate it up and down over the main view:
- (void)viewDidLayoutSubviews {
CGRect const bounds = self.view.bounds;
holeView.center = CGPointMake(CGRectGetMidX(bounds), 0);
// Defer this because `viewDidLayoutSubviews` can happen inside an
// autorotation animation block, which overrides the duration I set.
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
[UIView animateWithDuration:2 delay:0
options:UIViewAnimationOptionRepeat
| UIViewAnimationOptionAutoreverse
animations:^{
holeView.center = CGPointMake(CGRectGetMidX(bounds),
CGRectGetMaxY(bounds));
} completion:nil];
});
}
Here's what it looks like:
But it's smoother in real life.
You can find a complete working test project in this github repository.
This is not a simple one. I can get you a good bit of the way there. It's the animating that is tricky. Here's the output of some code I threw together:
The code is like this:
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
// Create a containing layer and set it contents with an image
CALayer *containerLayer = [CALayer layer];
[containerLayer setBounds:CGRectMake(0.0f, 0.0f, 500.0f, 320.0f)];
[containerLayer setPosition:[[self view] center]];
UIImage *image = [UIImage imageNamed:#"cool"];
[containerLayer setContents:(id)[image CGImage]];
// Create your translucent black layer and set its opacity
CALayer *translucentBlackLayer = [CALayer layer];
[translucentBlackLayer setBounds:[containerLayer bounds]];
[translucentBlackLayer setPosition:
CGPointMake([containerLayer bounds].size.width/2.0f,
[containerLayer bounds].size.height/2.0f)];
[translucentBlackLayer setBackgroundColor:[[UIColor blackColor] CGColor]];
[translucentBlackLayer setOpacity:0.45];
[containerLayer addSublayer:translucentBlackLayer];
// Create a mask layer with a shape layer that has a circle path
CAShapeLayer *maskLayer = [CAShapeLayer layer];
[maskLayer setBorderColor:[[UIColor purpleColor] CGColor]];
[maskLayer setBorderWidth:5.0f];
[maskLayer setBounds:[containerLayer bounds]];
// When you create a path, remember that origin is in upper left hand
// corner, so you have to treat it as if it has an anchor point of 0.0,
// 0.0
UIBezierPath *path = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithOvalInRect:
CGRectMake([translucentBlackLayer bounds].size.width/2.0f - 100.0f,
[translucentBlackLayer bounds].size.height/2.0f - 100.0f,
200.0f, 200.0f)];
// Append a rectangular path around the mask layer so that
// we can use the even/odd fill rule to invert the mask
[path appendPath:[UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRect:[maskLayer bounds]]];
// Set the path's fill color since layer masks depend on alpha
[maskLayer setFillColor:[[UIColor blackColor] CGColor]];
[maskLayer setPath:[path CGPath]];
// Center the mask layer in the translucent black layer
[maskLayer setPosition:
CGPointMake([translucentBlackLayer bounds].size.width/2.0f,
[translucentBlackLayer bounds].size.height/2.0f)];
// Set the fill rule to even odd
[maskLayer setFillRule:kCAFillRuleEvenOdd];
// Set the translucent black layer's mask property
[translucentBlackLayer setMask:maskLayer];
// Add the container layer to the view so we can see it
[[[self view] layer] addSublayer:containerLayer];
}
You would have to animate the mask layer which you could build up based on user input, but it will be a bit challenging. Notice the lines where I append a rectangular path to the circle path and then set the fill rule a few lines later on the shape layer. These are what make the inverted mask possible. If you leave those out you will instead show the translucent black in the center of the circle and then nothing on the outer part (if that makes sense).
Maybe try to play with this code a bit and see if you can get it animating. I'll play with it some more as I have time, but this is a pretty interesting problem. Would love to see a complete solution.
UPDATE: So here's another stab at it. The trouble here is that this one makes the translucent mask look white instead of black, but the upside is that circle can be animated pretty easily.
This one builds up a composite layer with the translucent layer and the circle layer being siblings inside of a parent layer that gets used as the mask.
I added a basic animation to this one so we could see the circle layer animate.
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
CGRect baseRect = CGRectMake(0.0f, 0.0f, 500.0f, 320.0f);
CALayer *containerLayer = [CALayer layer];
[containerLayer setBounds:baseRect];
[containerLayer setPosition:[[self view] center]];
UIImage *image = [UIImage imageNamed:#"cool"];
[containerLayer setContents:(id)[image CGImage]];
CALayer *compositeMaskLayer = [CALayer layer];
[compositeMaskLayer setBounds:baseRect];
[compositeMaskLayer setPosition:CGPointMake([containerLayer bounds].size.width/2.0f, [containerLayer bounds].size.height/2.0f)];
CALayer *translucentLayer = [CALayer layer];
[translucentLayer setBounds:baseRect];
[translucentLayer setBackgroundColor:[[UIColor blackColor] CGColor]];
[translucentLayer setPosition:CGPointMake([containerLayer bounds].size.width/2.0f, [containerLayer bounds].size.height/2.0f)];
[translucentLayer setOpacity:0.35];
[compositeMaskLayer addSublayer:translucentLayer];
CAShapeLayer *circleLayer = [CAShapeLayer layer];
UIBezierPath *circlePath = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithOvalInRect:CGRectMake(0.0f, 0.0f, 200.0f, 200.0f)];
[circleLayer setBounds:CGRectMake(0.0f, 0.0f, 200.0f, 200.0f)];
[circleLayer setPosition:CGPointMake([containerLayer bounds].size.width/2.0f, [containerLayer bounds].size.height/2.0f)];
[circleLayer setPath:[circlePath CGPath]];
[circleLayer setFillColor:[[UIColor blackColor] CGColor]];
[compositeMaskLayer addSublayer:circleLayer];
[containerLayer setMask:compositeMaskLayer];
[[[self view] layer] addSublayer:containerLayer];
CABasicAnimation *posAnimation = [CABasicAnimation animationWithKeyPath:#"position"];
[posAnimation setFromValue:[NSValue valueWithCGPoint:[circleLayer position]]];
[posAnimation setToValue:[NSValue valueWithCGPoint:CGPointMake([circleLayer position].x + 100.0f, [circleLayer position].y + 100)]];
[posAnimation setDuration:1.0f];
[posAnimation setRepeatCount:INFINITY];
[posAnimation setAutoreverses:YES];
[circleLayer addAnimation:posAnimation forKey:#"position"];
}
Here's an answer that works with multiple independent, possibly overlapping spotlights.
I'll set up my view hierarchy like this:
SpotlightsView with black background
UIImageView with `alpha`=.5 (“dim view”)
UIImageView with shape layer mask (“bright view”)
The dim view will appear dimmed because its alpha mixes its image with the black of the top-level view.
The bright view is not dimmed, but it only shows where its mask lets it. So I just set the mask to contain the spotlight areas and nowhere else.
Here's what it looks like:
I'll implement it as a subclass of UIView with this interface:
// SpotlightsView.h
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface SpotlightsView : UIView
#property (nonatomic, strong) UIImage *image;
- (void)addDraggableSpotlightWithCenter:(CGPoint)center radius:(CGFloat)radius;
#end
I'll need QuartzCore (also called Core Animation) and the Objective-C runtime to implement it:
// SpotlightsView.m
#import "SpotlightsView.h"
#import <QuartzCore/QuartzCore.h>
#import <objc/runtime.h>
I'll need instance variables for the subviews, the mask layer, and an array of individual spotlight paths:
#implementation SpotlightsView {
UIImageView *_dimImageView;
UIImageView *_brightImageView;
CAShapeLayer *_mask;
NSMutableArray *_spotlightPaths;
}
To implement the image property, I just pass it through to your image subviews:
#pragma mark - Public API
- (void)setImage:(UIImage *)image {
_dimImageView.image = image;
_brightImageView.image = image;
}
- (UIImage *)image {
return _dimImageView.image;
}
To add a draggable spotlight, I create a path outlining the spotlight, add it to the array, and flag myself as needing layout:
- (void)addDraggableSpotlightWithCenter:(CGPoint)center radius:(CGFloat)radius {
UIBezierPath *path = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithOvalInRect:CGRectMake(center.x - radius, center.y - radius, 2 * radius, 2 * radius)];
[_spotlightPaths addObject:path];
[self setNeedsLayout];
}
I need to override some methods of UIView to handle initialization and layout. I'll handle being created either programmatically or in a xib or storyboard by delegating the common initialization code to a private method:
#pragma mark - UIView overrides
- (instancetype)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
if (self = [super initWithFrame:frame]) {
[self commonInit];
}
return self;
}
- (instancetype)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder {
if (self = [super initWithCoder:aDecoder]) {
[self commonInit];
}
return self;
}
I'll handle layout in separate helper methods for each subview:
- (void)layoutSubviews {
[super layoutSubviews];
[self layoutDimImageView];
[self layoutBrightImageView];
}
To drag the spotlights when they are touched, I need to override some UIResponder methods. I want to handle each touch separately, so I just loop over the updated touches, passing each one to a helper method:
#pragma mark - UIResponder overrides
- (void)touchesBegan:(NSSet *)touches withEvent:(UIEvent *)event {
for (UITouch *touch in touches){
[self touchBegan:touch];
}
}
- (void)touchesMoved:(NSSet *)touches withEvent:(UIEvent *)event {
for (UITouch *touch in touches){
[self touchMoved:touch];
}
}
- (void)touchesEnded:(NSSet *)touches withEvent:(UIEvent *)event {
for (UITouch *touch in touches) {
[self touchEnded:touch];
}
}
- (void)touchesCancelled:(NSSet *)touches withEvent:(UIEvent *)event {
for (UITouch *touch in touches) {
[self touchEnded:touch];
}
}
Now I'll implement the private appearance and layout methods.
#pragma mark - Implementation details - appearance/layout
First I'll do the common initialization code. I want to set my background color to black, since that is part of making the dimmed image view dim, and I want to support multiple touches:
- (void)commonInit {
self.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];
self.multipleTouchEnabled = YES;
[self initDimImageView];
[self initBrightImageView];
_spotlightPaths = [NSMutableArray array];
}
My two image subviews will be configured mostly the same way, so I'll call another private method to create the dim image view, then tweak it to actually be dim:
- (void)initDimImageView {
_dimImageView = [self newImageSubview];
_dimImageView.alpha = 0.5;
}
I'll call the same helper method to create the bright view, then add its mask sublayer:
- (void)initBrightImageView {
_brightImageView = [self newImageSubview];
_mask = [CAShapeLayer layer];
_brightImageView.layer.mask = _mask;
}
The helper method that creates both image views sets the content mode and adds the new view as a subview:
- (UIImageView *)newImageSubview {
UIImageView *subview = [[UIImageView alloc] init];
subview.contentMode = UIViewContentModeScaleAspectFill;
[self addSubview:subview];
return subview;
}
To lay out the dim image view, I just need to set its frame to my bounds:
- (void)layoutDimImageView {
_dimImageView.frame = self.bounds;
}
To lay out the bright image view, I need to set its frame to my bounds, and I need to update its mask layer's path to be the union of the individual spotlight paths:
- (void)layoutBrightImageView {
_brightImageView.frame = self.bounds;
UIBezierPath *unionPath = [UIBezierPath bezierPath];
for (UIBezierPath *path in _spotlightPaths) {
[unionPath appendPath:path];
}
_mask.path = unionPath.CGPath;
}
Note that this isn't a true union that encloses each point once. It relies on the fill mode (the default, kCAFillRuleNonZero) to ensure that repeatedly-enclosed points are included in the mask.
Next up, touch handling.
#pragma mark - Implementation details - touch handling
When UIKit sends me a new touch, I'll find the individual spotlight path containing the touch, and attach the path to the touch as an associated object. That means I need an associated object key, which just needs to be some private thing I can take the address of:
static char kSpotlightPathAssociatedObjectKey;
Here I actually find the path and attach it to the touch. If the touch is outside any of my spotlight paths, I ignore it:
- (void)touchBegan:(UITouch *)touch {
UIBezierPath *path = [self firstSpotlightPathContainingTouch:touch];
if (path == nil)
return;
objc_setAssociatedObject(touch, &kSpotlightPathAssociatedObjectKey,
path, OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN_NONATOMIC);
}
When UIKit tells me a touch has moved, I see if the touch has a path attached. If so, I translate (slide) the path by the amount that the touch has moved since I last saw it. Then I flag myself for layout:
- (void)touchMoved:(UITouch *)touch {
UIBezierPath *path = objc_getAssociatedObject(touch,
&kSpotlightPathAssociatedObjectKey);
if (path == nil)
return;
CGPoint point = [touch locationInView:self];
CGPoint priorPoint = [touch previousLocationInView:self];
[path applyTransform:CGAffineTransformMakeTranslation(
point.x - priorPoint.x, point.y - priorPoint.y)];
[self setNeedsLayout];
}
I don't actually need to do anything when the touch ends or is cancelled. The Objective-C runtime will de-associated the attached path (if there is one) automatically:
- (void)touchEnded:(UITouch *)touch {
// Nothing to do
}
To find the path that contains a touch, I just loop over the spotlight paths, asking each one if it contains the touch:
- (UIBezierPath *)firstSpotlightPathContainingTouch:(UITouch *)touch {
CGPoint point = [touch locationInView:self];
for (UIBezierPath *path in _spotlightPaths) {
if ([path containsPoint:point])
return path;
}
return nil;
}
#end
I have uploaded a full demo to github.
I've been struggling with this same problem and found some great help here on SO so I thought I'd share my solution combining a few different ideas I found online. One additional feature I added was for the cut-out to have a gradient effect. The added benefit to this solution is that it works with any UIView and not just with images.
First subclass UIView to black out everything except the frames you want cut out:
// BlackOutView.h
#interface BlackOutView : UIView
#property (nonatomic, retain) UIColor *fillColor;
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSArray *framesToCutOut;
#end
// BlackOutView.m
#implementation BlackOutView
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect
{
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextSetBlendMode(context, kCGBlendModeDestinationOut);
for (NSValue *value in self.framesToCutOut) {
CGRect pathRect = [value CGRectValue];
UIBezierPath *path = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithRect:pathRect];
// change to this path for a circular cutout if you don't want a gradient
// UIBezierPath *path = [UIBezierPath bezierPathWithOvalInRect:pathRect];
[path fill];
}
CGContextSetBlendMode(context, kCGBlendModeNormal);
}
#end
If you don't want the blur effect, then you can swap paths to the oval one and skip the blur mask below. Otherwise, the cutout will be square and filled with a circular gradient.
Create a gradient shape with the center transparent and slowly fading in black:
// BlurFilterMask.h
#interface BlurFilterMask : CAShapeLayer
#property (assign) CGPoint origin;
#property (assign) CGFloat diameter;
#property (assign) CGFloat gradient;
#end
// BlurFilterMask.m
#implementation CRBlurFilterMask
- (void)drawInContext:(CGContextRef)context
{
CGFloat gradientWidth = self.diameter * 0.5f;
CGFloat clearRegionRadius = self.diameter * 0.25f;
CGFloat blurRegionRadius = clearRegionRadius + gradientWidth;
CGColorSpaceRef baseColorSpace = CGColorSpaceCreateDeviceRGB();
CGFloat colors[8] = { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, // Clear region colour.
0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, self.gradient }; // Blur region colour.
CGFloat colorLocations[2] = { 0.0f, 0.4f };
CGGradientRef gradient = CGGradientCreateWithColorComponents (baseColorSpace, colors, colorLocations, 2);
CGContextDrawRadialGradient(context, gradient, self.origin, clearRegionRadius, self.origin, blurRegionRadius, kCGGradientDrawsAfterEndLocation);
CGColorSpaceRelease(baseColorSpace);
CGGradientRelease(gradient);
}
#end
Now you just need to call these two together and pass in the UIViews that you want cutout
- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated
{
[super viewWillAppear:animated];
[self addMaskInViews:#[self.viewCutout1, self.viewCutout2]];
}
- (void) addMaskInViews:(NSArray *)viewsToCutOut
{
NSMutableArray *frames = [NSMutableArray new];
for (UIView *view in viewsToCutOut) {
view.hidden = YES; // hide the view since we only use their bounds
[frames addObject:[NSValue valueWithCGRect:view.frame]];
}
// Create the overlay passing in the frames we want to cut out
BlackOutView *overlay = [[BlackOutView alloc] initWithFrame:self.view.frame];
overlay.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithWhite:0.0 alpha:0.8];
overlay.framesToCutOut = frames;
[self.view insertSubview:overlay atIndex:0];
// add a circular gradients inside each view
for (UIView *maskView in viewsToCutOut)
{
BlurFilterMask *blurFilterMask = [BlurFilterMask layer];
blurFilterMask.frame = maskView.frame;
blurFilterMask.gradient = 0.8f;
blurFilterMask.diameter = MIN(maskView.frame.size.width, maskView.frame.size.height);
blurFilterMask.origin = CGPointMake(maskView.frame.size.width / 2, maskView.frame.size.height / 2);
[self.view.layer addSublayer:blurFilterMask];
[blurFilterMask setNeedsDisplay];
}
}
If you just want something that is plug and play, I added a library to CocoaPods that allows you to create overlays with rectangular/circular holes, allowing the user to interact with views behind the overlay. It is a Swift implementation of similar strategies used in other answers. I used it to create this tutorial for one of our apps:
The library is called TAOverlayView, and is open source under Apache 2.0.
Note: I haven't implemented moving holes yet (unless you move the entire overlay as in other answers).

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