The Core iOS Developer’s Cookbook, Fifth Edition

Recipe: Making Text-Input-Aware Views

While only a few views support text input by default, with a bit of effort, you can add keyboard support to almost any view. The key is the simple UIKeyInput protocol. By combining it with a little first responder manipulation, you can update any view to offer text input.

Recipe 6-5 illustrates how to transform a standard UIToolbar into a view that accepts keyboard entry, letting users type text directly into the toolbar, as shown in Figure 6-7. As the user types, the toolbar text updates, even properly handling the Delete key.

Figure 6-7 Adding the UIKeyInput protocol to a toolbar transforms the view into ...