How to load image from camera or photo library in Swift

Question

How do you take a photo with the camera or pick an image from the photo library to be able to display it in an imageView for example?

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Solution

Full update for Swift 5+ including Github Repo

First of all we want to organize everything into a dedicated class.

import MobileCoreServices
import UIKit

class CameraProvider: NSObject {

    enum PhotoLibraryTypes {
        case photoLibrary, savedPhotosAlbum
        var casted: UIImagePickerController.SourceType {
            switch self {
            case .photoLibrary: return UIImagePickerController.SourceType.photoLibrary
            case .savedPhotosAlbum: return UIImagePickerController.SourceType.savedPhotosAlbum
            }
        }
    }

    public typealias SourceType = UIImagePickerController.SourceType
    public typealias ImagePicker = UIImagePickerController
    public typealias Delegate = UINavigationControllerDelegate & UIImagePickerControllerDelegate

    private let delegate: Delegate

    init(delegate: Delegate) {
        self.delegate = delegate
    }

    // MARK: - Public

    public func getImagePicker(source: PhotoLibraryTypes,
                               canEditPhotos: Bool = true,
                               onlyImages: Bool = false) throws -> ImagePicker {

        do {
            return try getBaseController(
                source: source.casted,
                allowsEditing: canEditPhotos,
                onlyImages: onlyImages
            )
        } catch {
            throw error
        }
    }

    public func getCamera(canEditPhotos: Bool = true,
                          onlyImages: Bool = false) throws -> ImagePicker {

        do {
            let picker = try getBaseController(
                source: .camera,
                allowsEditing: canEditPhotos,
                onlyImages: onlyImages
            )

            if UIImagePickerController.isCameraDeviceAvailable(.rear) {
                picker.cameraDevice = .rear
            } else if UIImagePickerController.isCameraDeviceAvailable(.front) {
                picker.cameraDevice = .front
            } else {
                throw "No known camera type available"
            }

            picker.showsCameraControls = true
            return picker
        } catch {
            throw error
        }
    }

    // MARK: - Private

    private func getBaseController(source: SourceType,
                                   allowsEditing: Bool,
                                   onlyImages: Bool) throws -> ImagePicker {

        guard UIImagePickerController.isSourceTypeAvailable(source) else {
            throw "Requested source not available"
        }

        let picker = UIImagePickerController()
        let imageType = kUTTypeImage as String
        picker.sourceType = source
        picker.allowsEditing = allowsEditing
        picker.delegate = self.delegate

        if onlyImages,
           let mediaTypes = UIImagePickerController.availableMediaTypes(for: source),
           mediaTypes.contains(imageType){
            picker.mediaTypes = [imageType]
        }

        return picker
    }
}

extension String: LocalizedError {
    public var errorDescription: String? { return self }
}

Lastly we call our CameraProvider as following.

import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {
    override func viewDidAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
        super.viewDidAppear(animated)
        let provider = CameraProvider(delegate: self)

        do {
            let picker = try provider.getImagePicker(source: .photoLibrary)
            present(picker, animated: true)
        } catch {
            NSLog("Error: \(error.localizedDescription)")
        }
    }
}

extension ViewController: UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate {

    func imagePickerController(_ picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [UIImagePickerController.InfoKey : Any]) {
        let image = (
            info[UIImagePickerController.InfoKey.editedImage] as? UIImage ??
            info[UIImagePickerController.InfoKey.originalImage] as? UIImage
        )
        picker.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
    }
}