What properties can I set via an UIAppearance proxy?

Question

What properties can I set via an UIAppearance proxy? Apple's UIKit documentation does not list them. Is there a list of these properties?

Solution

Properties that can be set via UIAppearance are tagged with UI_APPEARANCE_SELECTOR in the corresponding header file.

To generate a list of properties tagged with UI_APPEARANCE_SELECTOR, you can use the following unix commands in a terminal:

cd /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer‌​/SDKs/iPhoneOS5.1.sdk/System/Library/Frameworks/UIKit.framework/Headers
grep -H UI_APPEARANCE_SELECTOR ./* | sed 's/ __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_NA,__IPHONE_5_0) UI_APPEARANCE_SELECTOR;//'

Here is a list that I compiled using the above commands. This is for the 5.0 SDK. The corresponding getter methods have been omitted for brevity.

---

UIActivityIndicatorView

@property (readwrite, nonatomic, retain) UIColor *color

UIBarButtonItem

@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *tintColor
- (void)setBackgroundImage:(UIImage *)backgroundImage forState:(UIControlState)state barMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics
- (void)setBackgroundVerticalPositionAdjustment:(CGFloat)adjustment forBarMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics 
- (void)setTitlePositionAdjustment:(UIOffset)adjustment forBarMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics 
- (void)setBackButtonBackgroundImage:(UIImage *)backgroundImage forState:(UIControlState)state barMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics
- (void)setBackButtonTitlePositionAdjustment:(UIOffset)adjustment forBarMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics
- (void)setBackButtonBackgroundVerticalPositionAdjustment:(CGFloat)adjustment forBarMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics 

[iOS 6.0]
- (void)setBackgroundImage:(UIImage *)backgroundImage forState:(UIControlState)state style:(UIBarButtonItemStyle)style barMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics [iOS 6.0]

UIBarItem

- (void)setTitleTextAttributes:(NSDictionary *)attributes forState:(UIControlState)state

UINavigationBar

@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *tintColor
@property(nonatomic,copy) NSDictionary *titleTextAttributes
- (void)setBackgroundImage:(UIImage *)backgroundImage forBarMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics
- (void)setTitleVerticalPositionAdjustment:(CGFloat)adjustment forBarMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics

[iOS 6.0]
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIImage *shadowImage

[iOS 7.0]
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *barTintColor 
- (void)setBackgroundImage:(UIImage *)backgroundImage forBarPosition:(UIBarPosition)barPosition barMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics 
- (UIImage *)backgroundImageForBarPosition:(UIBarPosition)barPosition barMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics 
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIImage *backIndicatorImage 
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIImage *backIndicatorTransitionMaskImage 

UIPageControl

[iOS 6.0]
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *pageIndicatorTintColor
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *currentPageIndicatorTintColor

UIProgressView

@property(nonatomic, retain) UIColor* progressTintColor    
@property(nonatomic, retain) UIColor* trackTintColor    
@property(nonatomic, retain) UIImage* progressImage
@property(nonatomic, retain) UIImage* trackImage

UIRefreshControl

[iOS 6.0]
@property (nonatomic, retain) UIColor *tintColor
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSAttributedString *attributedTitle

UISearchBar

@property(nonatomic,retain) UIImage *backgroundImage
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIImage *scopeBarBackgroundImage
@property(nonatomic) UIOffset searchFieldBackgroundPositionAdjustment
@property(nonatomic) UIOffset searchTextPositionAdjustment
- (void)setSearchFieldBackgroundImage:(UIImage *)backgroundImage forState:(UIControlState)state
- (void)setImage:(UIImage *)iconImage forSearchBarIcon:(UISearchBarIcon)icon state:(UIControlState)state
- (void)setScopeBarButtonBackgroundImage:(UIImage *)backgroundImage forState:(UIControlState)state 
- (void)setScopeBarButtonDividerImage:(UIImage *)dividerImage forLeftSegmentState:(UIControlState)leftState rightSegmentState:(UIControlState)rightState
- (void)setScopeBarButtonTitleTextAttributes:(NSDictionary *)attributes forState:(UIControlState)state
- (void)setPositionAdjustment:(UIOffset)adjustment forSearchBarIcon:(UISearchBarIcon)icon

[iOS 7.0]
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *barTintColor 
- (void)setBackgroundImage:(UIImage *)backgroundImage forBarPosition:(UIBarPosition)barPosition barMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics 
- (UIImage *)backgroundImageForBarPosition:(UIBarPosition)barPosition barMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics 

UISegmentedControl

@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *tintColor UI_APPEARANCE_SELECTOR;
- (void)setBackgroundImage:(UIImage *)backgroundImage forState:(UIControlState)state barMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics 
- (void)setDividerImage:(UIImage *)dividerImage forLeftSegmentState:(UIControlState)leftState rightSegmentState:(UIControlState)rightState barMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics
- (void)setTitleTextAttributes:(NSDictionary *)attributes forState:(UIControlState)state
- (void)setContentPositionAdjustment:(UIOffset)adjustment forSegmentType:(UISegmentedControlSegment)leftCenterRightOrAlone barMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics

UISlider

@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *minimumTrackTintColor
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *maximumTrackTintColor
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *thumbTintColor

UIStepper

[iOS 6.0]
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *tintColor
- (void)setBackgroundImage:(UIImage*)image forState:(UIControlState)state
- (void)setDividerImage:(UIImage*)image forLeftSegmentState:(UIControlState)leftState rightSegmentState:(UIControlState)rightState
- (void)setIncrementImage:(UIImage *)image forState:(UIControlState)state
- (void)setDecrementImage:(UIImage *)image forState:(UIControlState)state

UISwitch

@property(nonatomic, retain) UIColor* onTintColor

[iOS 6.0]
@property(nonatomic, retain) UIColor *tintColor
@property(nonatomic, retain) UIColor *thumbTintColor
@property(nonatomic, retain) UIImage *onImage
@property(nonatomic, retain) UIImage *offImage

UITabBar

@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *tintColor
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *selectedImageTintColor
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIImage *backgroundImage
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIImage *selectionIndicatorImage

[iOS 6.0]
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIImage *shadowImage

[iOS 7.0]
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *barTintColor 
@property(nonatomic) UITabBarItemPositioning itemPositioning 
@property(nonatomic) CGFloat itemWidth 
@property(nonatomic) CGFloat itemSpacing 
@property(nonatomic) UIBarStyle barStyle 

UITabBarItem

- (void)setTitlePositionAdjustment:(UIOffset)adjustment

UITableView

[iOS 6.0]
@property(nonatomic, retain) UIColor *sectionIndexColor
@property(nonatomic, retain) UIColor *sectionIndexTrackingBackgroundColor

[iOS 7.0]
@property (nonatomic) UIEdgeInsets separatorInset 
@property(nonatomic, retain) UIColor *sectionIndexBackgroundColor 

UITableViewCell

[iOS 7.0]
@property (nonatomic) UIEdgeInsets separatorInset 

UITableViewHeaderFooterView

[iOS 6.0]
@property(nonatomic, retain) UIColor *tintColor

UIToolbar

@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *tintColor;
- (void)setBackgroundImage:(UIImage *)backgroundImage forToolbarPosition:(UIToolbarPosition)topOrBottom barMetrics:(UIBarMetrics)barMetrics

[iOS 6.0]
- (void)setShadowImage:(UIImage *)shadowImage forToolbarPosition:(UIToolbarPosition)topOrBottom

[iOS 7.0]
@property(nonatomic,retain) UIColor *barTintColor 

---

(July 3, 2012): This list hasn't changed up til the most recent version of XCode (4.3.3).

---

(March 12, 2013): List updated for SDK 6.1. Properties that apply for iOS 6.0 (or greater) are listed under the [iOS 6.0] tag.

---

(Oct. 24, 2013): List updated for SDK 7.0. Properties that apply for iOS 7.0 (or greater) are listed under the [iOS 7.0] tag.

Comments

[Pierre]

Mattt Thompson provided a great article about that topic on NSHipster: nshipster.com/uiappearance

[Emile Cormier]

I'm surprised that UIButton doesn't have any UI_APPEARANCE_SELECTOR properties, yet conforms to the UIAppearance protocol. Is this an oversight by Apple?

[Phillip Mills]

I've looked for such a list without finding it. The UI_APPEARANCE_SELECTOR macro doesn't seem to be the whole story either as UIView.h doesn't use it (5.0, at least) and yet the following code works: [[UIView appearance] setBackgroundColor:[UIColor redColor]];

[Erik]

With the App Store Xcode and iOS 5.1, the header path is now: /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneO‌​S.platform/Developer‌​/SDKs/iPhoneOS5.1.sd‌​k/System/Library/Fra‌​meworks/UIKit.framew‌​ork/Headers

[Pascal]

Use xcode-select --print-path to get the path to the Developer directory.

[Nic Wise]

for XCode 4.5 it's: /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneO‌​S.platform/Developer‌​/SDKs/iPhoneOS6.0.sd‌​k/System/Library/Fra‌​meworks/UIKit.framew‌​ork/Headers/

[Lee Probert]

and what about UITabBar setTitleTextAttributes ??

[Lee Probert]

this work s: [[UITabBarItem appearance] setTitleTextAttributes:tabBarItemOptions forState:UIControlStateNormal]; [[UITabBarItem appearance] setTitlePositionAdjustment:UIOffsetMake(0.0f, 2.0f) forBarMetrics:UIBarMetricsDefault];

[Emile Cormier]

@LeeProbert: setTitleTextAttributes didn't exist back when I made the list. I would've thought that Apple would be properly documenting these by now.

[Lee Probert]

am doing quite a bit of work on this at the moment so will comment on anything I find out. Good work with the original list. Maybe a blog post?

[David Rönnqvist]

@PhillipMills that should probably be interpreted as "not officially supported". It may work but it's not guaranteed. It's similar to the fact that you can observe a lot of properties using KVO even though they aren't documented as fully KVO compliant. It may still work but there are no guarantees that the behaviour doesn't change or the it doesn't have issues.

[Emile Cormier]

@MaciejSwic: Thanks, I'll try to update this answer during March break. What version SDK did you use to generated that list?

[Hlung]

Did you forget UILabel ?

[Emile Cormier]

@Hlung: If UILabel has an UI_APPEARANCE_SELECTOR tag, then it must have been introduced in iOS 8. I'm no longer doing any iOS development, so someone else will have to update the answer for iOS 8.

[Emile Cormier]

Geez, you'd think that Apple would have these properly documented by now. I bet that Apple's own employees are using this answer as a reference! :-P

[Emile Cormier]

Making this a community wiki, as I'm no longer able to maintain it.

[ThomasW]

UITextView textColor (and probably other properties) support the UIAppearance proxy, despite the properties not being marked as such.

[Emile Cormier]

Perhaps we could add another section for properties that seemingly support UIAppearance proxy, despite not being documented as such. However, there should be a warning that support for those undocumented properties could change without notice. See @DavidRönnqvist 's comment above.