Change the width of Master in UISplitViewController

Question

The iPad programming guide says that the splitView's left pane is fixed to 320 points. But 320 pixels for my master view controller is too much. I would like to reduce it and give more space to detail view controller. Is it possible by anyway?

Link to the document which speaks about fixed width.

Solution 1

If you subclass UISplitViewController, you can implement -viewDidLayoutSubviews and adjust the width there. This is clean, no hacks or private APIs, and works even with rotation.

- (void)viewDidLayoutSubviews
{
    const CGFloat kMasterViewWidth = 240.0;

    UIViewController *masterViewController = [self.viewControllers objectAtIndex:0];
    UIViewController *detailViewController = [self.viewControllers objectAtIndex:1];

    if (detailViewController.view.frame.origin.x > 0.0) {
        // Adjust the width of the master view
        CGRect masterViewFrame = masterViewController.view.frame;
        CGFloat deltaX = masterViewFrame.size.width - kMasterViewWidth;
        masterViewFrame.size.width -= deltaX;
        masterViewController.view.frame = masterViewFrame;

        // Adjust the width of the detail view
        CGRect detailViewFrame = detailViewController.view.frame;
        detailViewFrame.origin.x -= deltaX;
        detailViewFrame.size.width += deltaX;
        detailViewController.view.frame = detailViewFrame;

        [masterViewController.view setNeedsLayout];
        [detailViewController.view setNeedsLayout];
    }
}

Solution 2

In IOS 8.0 you can easily do this by doing the following:

1. In your MasterSplitViewController.h add

@property(nonatomic, assign) CGFloat maximumPrimaryColumnWidth NS_AVAILABLE_IOS(8_0);

2. In your MasterSplitViewController.m viewDidLoad method add

 self.maximumPrimaryColumnWidth = 100;
 self.splitViewController.maximumPrimaryColumnWidth = self.maximumPrimaryColumnWidth;

This is a really good, simple and easy feature of IOS 8.

Solution 3

this code is work for me

[splitViewController setValue:[NSNumber numberWithFloat:200.0] forKey:@"_masterColumnWidth"];

Solution 4

No.

---

There are two private properties

@property(access,nonatomic) CGFloat masterColumnWidth;
@property(access,nonatomic) CGFloat leftColumnWidth; // both are the same!

but being private mean they can't be used for AppStore apps.

Solution 5

iOS 8 introduced a new property:

// An animatable property that can be used to adjust the maximum absolute width of the primary view controller in the split view controller.
@property(nonatomic, assign) CGFloat maximumPrimaryColumnWidth NS_AVAILABLE_IOS(8_0); // default: UISplitViewControllerAutomaticDimension

Use this property to adjust your master viewcontroller to your desired width.

View more solutions

Comments

[oliveryas01]

Why not try Matt Gemmell's excellent MGSplitViewController? It's open source, and is available on GitHub. Gregor, Sweden

[Raj Pawan Gumdal]

Thanks, but I am not going to use the private APIs, rather I would implement own split view controller . . .

[nacho4d]

I know that privates can be modified using categories like this one, but this is the second time I try it and getting the same error:"_OBJC_IVAR_$_UISplitViewController._masterColumnWidth‌​", referenced from: _OBJC_IVAR_$_UISplitViewController._masterColumnWidth$non_la‌​zy_ptr in UISplitViewController+myExt.o (maybe you meant: _OBJC_IVAR_$_UISplitViewController._masterColumnWidth$non_la‌​zy_ptr) Symbol(s) not found. Collect2: ld returned 1 exit status

[Raj Pawan Gumdal]

I am afraid that we will be changing the private properties in this case. Better not do it. Who knows, Apple might decide to change its class hierarchy?

[Dan Rosenstark]

@Raj @pryiyanka, also you're assured rejection in the appstore.

[Raj Pawan Gumdal]

Yes, and thats the reason why I have implemented own SplitViewController, Matt Gamell's splitViewController didnt exist back then but now you can use MGSplitViewController, its good.

[Kyle Clegg]

@Raj how could I subclass UISplitViewController and only override the masterColumnWidth?

[Raj Pawan Gumdal]

@Kyle - Cannot go with the above approach, if you want to submit the app to appstore. Otherwise, if you still insist using it, you dont have to subclass it. See this answer below: stackoverflow.com/a/4022406/260665

[Kyle Clegg]

@Raj - I need to submit to the App Store. Is there a way to use the answer you suggested in a fashion that Apple will accept? I am assuming the answer is a subclass, or is that bad too?

[Raj Pawan Gumdal]

No no, I am changing the accepted answer for posterity sake. You cannot use this approach or even subclass and change the width if you want to submit to appstore. It will be rejected for sure. Use Matt Gemmell's split view controller. See my new accepted answer.

[Cutetare]

Would this cause the app to be rejected at the AppStore?

[jrc]

I don't see why it would, as no private APIs are used.

[Charlie Seligman]

This worked great for me in landscape but when I went back to portrait the view was shifted left. Any ideas how to resolve that?

[jrc]

Good catch. Edited my answer.

[nigong]

I can correctly resize the master view, however when the detailViewController.view.frame gets a new value, the app just goes purely black. Any idea?

[kmiklas]

In iOS7, this worked for me: [self.splitViewController setValue:@78 forKey:@"_masterColumnWidth"];

[d512]

This should be the accepted answer. It's ridiculous that Apple makes you jump through hoops like this when they could easily expose a setting, but I'm glad you shared this.

[lordB8r]

@nigong I'm getting the same problem. It somehow causes an infinite loop that I cannot get out of. If I don't set detailViewController.view.frame = detailViewFrame, then the masterViewController.view.frame updates correctly, but the detail doesn't. If I uncomment it, I get an infinite loop :(

[DaSilva]

did you got any solution for the infinite loop? @AndréCytryn

[Andre Cytryn]

yes. on my subclass I added: self.preferredPrimaryColumnWidthFraction = 0.3 but the thing is that I does not go more than 0.4 I dont know why

[Bill]

The black screen only happens on iOS 8. On iOS 8, you don't need this code - use maximumPrimaryColumnWidth instead. On iOS 7, the black screen doesn't occur and @jrc's solution works.

[Kenny Wyland]

INFINITE LOOP AVOIDANCE: Some change in iOS8 is what causes the infinite loop. To avoid it, we used the above code, but wrapped it in an if() block that checked for the version of iOS. If it's less than 8.0, then use the above code, else, just set: self.maximumPrimaryColumnWidth = masterViewWidth; Please go upvote @SJTriggs and Twan's answers for this solution.

[romiem]

Would anyone be able to provide me the Swift equivalent of this code please? I can't seem to get this working in a Swift project.

[romiem]

Never mind, I managed to find the solution (although it is a bit different) stackoverflow.com/questions/2949067/…

[Jason G]

add splitViewController.maximumPrimaryColumnWidth = ### to your appdelegate.swift

[Erik van der Neut]

Infinite loop is obviously very easy to avoid (test whether you already have the width you're after and only change it if you don't), but as Bill pointed out above: use maximumPrimaryColumnWidth on iOS8 and if you still support iOS7, then follow jrc's solution (although I would still improve that with a check of whether you need to adjust the width or not).

[aroon65]

This approach mostly works (+1) but introduces a secondary problem. There is a transparent view used to detect touches outside the master area and instigate closure of the master. If this view's frame isn't updated to be the same as the detail view's frame, it becomes possible for the user to interact with the details whilst the master is open. To fix this, I did this: this.View.Subviews[2].Frame = detailFrame; straight after setting the detail frame.

[malhal]

Since there are many different screen sizes you are better using preferredPrimaryColumnWidthFraction

[JJack_]

Used with iOS 10 GM, xCode 8 and Swift 2.3. It works like a charm! :)

[AppsolutEinfach]

Worked still under iOS 9, now under iOS 10 it crashes!

[Himanshu jamnani]

It will crash for iOS10