UITableView load more when scrolling to bottom like Facebook application

Details

  • Swift 5.1, Xcode 11.2.1

Solution

Worked with UIScrollView / UICollectionView / UITableView

import UIKit

class LoadMoreActivityIndicator {

    private let spacingFromLastCell: CGFloat
    private let spacingFromLastCellWhenLoadMoreActionStart: CGFloat
    private weak var activityIndicatorView: UIActivityIndicatorView?
    private weak var scrollView: UIScrollView?

    private var defaultY: CGFloat {
        guard let height = scrollView?.contentSize.height else { return 0.0 }
        return height + spacingFromLastCell
    }

    deinit { activityIndicatorView?.removeFromSuperview() }

    init (scrollView: UIScrollView, spacingFromLastCell: CGFloat, spacingFromLastCellWhenLoadMoreActionStart: CGFloat) {
        self.scrollView = scrollView
        self.spacingFromLastCell = spacingFromLastCell
        self.spacingFromLastCellWhenLoadMoreActionStart = spacingFromLastCellWhenLoadMoreActionStart
        let size:CGFloat = 40
        let frame = CGRect(x: (scrollView.frame.width-size)/2, y: scrollView.contentSize.height + spacingFromLastCell, width: size, height: size)
        let activityIndicatorView = UIActivityIndicatorView(frame: frame)
        if #available(iOS 13.0, *)
        {
            activityIndicatorView.color = .label
        }
        else
        {
            activityIndicatorView.color = .black
        }
        activityIndicatorView.autoresizingMask = [.flexibleLeftMargin, .flexibleRightMargin]
        activityIndicatorView.hidesWhenStopped = true
        scrollView.addSubview(activityIndicatorView)
        self.activityIndicatorView = activityIndicatorView
    }

    private var isHidden: Bool {
        guard let scrollView = scrollView else { return true }
        return scrollView.contentSize.height < scrollView.frame.size.height
    }

    func start(closure: (() -> Void)?) {
        guard let scrollView = scrollView, let activityIndicatorView = activityIndicatorView else { return }
        let offsetY = scrollView.contentOffset.y
        activityIndicatorView.isHidden = isHidden
        if !isHidden && offsetY >= 0 {
            let contentDelta = scrollView.contentSize.height - scrollView.frame.size.height
            let offsetDelta = offsetY - contentDelta
            
            let newY = defaultY-offsetDelta
            if newY < scrollView.frame.height {
                activityIndicatorView.frame.origin.y = newY
            } else {
                if activityIndicatorView.frame.origin.y != defaultY {
                    activityIndicatorView.frame.origin.y = defaultY
                }
            }

            if !activityIndicatorView.isAnimating {
                if offsetY > contentDelta && offsetDelta >= spacingFromLastCellWhenLoadMoreActionStart && !activityIndicatorView.isAnimating {
                    activityIndicatorView.startAnimating()
                    closure?()
                }
            }

            if scrollView.isDecelerating {
                if activityIndicatorView.isAnimating && scrollView.contentInset.bottom == 0 {
                    UIView.animate(withDuration: 0.3) { [weak self] in
                        if let bottom = self?.spacingFromLastCellWhenLoadMoreActionStart {
                            scrollView.contentInset = UIEdgeInsets(top: 0, left: 0, bottom: bottom, right: 0)
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

    func stop(completion: (() -> Void)? = nil) {
        guard let scrollView = scrollView , let activityIndicatorView = activityIndicatorView else { return }
        let contentDelta = scrollView.contentSize.height - scrollView.frame.size.height
        let offsetDelta = scrollView.contentOffset.y - contentDelta
        if offsetDelta >= 0 {
            UIView.animate(withDuration: 0.3, animations: {
                scrollView.contentInset = UIEdgeInsets(top: 0, left: 0, bottom: 0, right: 0)
            }) { _ in completion?() }
        } else {
            scrollView.contentInset = UIEdgeInsets(top: 0, left: 0, bottom: 0, right: 0)
            completion?()
        }
        activityIndicatorView.stopAnimating()
    }
}

Usage

init

activityIndicator = LoadMoreActivityIndicator(scrollView: tableView, spacingFromLastCell: 10, spacingFromLastCellWhenLoadMoreActionStart: 60)

handling

extension ViewController: UITableViewDelegate {
    func scrollViewDidScroll(_ scrollView: UIScrollView) {
        activityIndicator.start {
            DispatchQueue.global(qos: .utility).async {
                sleep(3)
                DispatchQueue.main.async { [weak self] in
                    self?.activityIndicator.stop()
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Full Sample

Do not forget to paste the solution code.

import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {
    
    fileprivate var activityIndicator: LoadMoreActivityIndicator!
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        let tableView = UITableView(frame: view.frame)
        view.addSubview(tableView)
        tableView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        tableView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.topAnchor).isActive = true
        tableView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.bottomAnchor).isActive = true
        tableView.leftAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.leftAnchor).isActive = true
        tableView.rightAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.rightAnchor).isActive = true
        
        tableView.dataSource = self
        tableView.delegate = self
        tableView.tableFooterView = UIView()
        activityIndicator = LoadMoreActivityIndicator(scrollView: tableView, spacingFromLastCell: 10, spacingFromLastCellWhenLoadMoreActionStart: 60)
    }
}

extension ViewController: UITableViewDataSource {
    
    func numberOfSections(in tableView: UITableView) -> Int {
        return 1
    }
    
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return 30
    }
    
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
        let cell = UITableViewCell()
        cell.textLabel?.text = "\(indexPath)"
        return cell
    }
}

extension ViewController: UITableViewDelegate {
    func scrollViewDidScroll(_ scrollView: UIScrollView) {
        activityIndicator.start {
            DispatchQueue.global(qos: .utility).async {
                for i in 0..<3 {
                    print("!!!!!!!!! \(i)")
                    sleep(1)
                }
                DispatchQueue.main.async { [weak self] in
                    self?.activityIndicator.stop()
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Result

enter image description here


You can do that by adding a check on where you're at in the cellForRowAtIndexPath: method. This method is easy to understand and to implement :

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    // Classic start method
    static NSString *cellIdentifier = @"MyCell";
    MyCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:cellIdentifier];
    if (!cell)
    {
        cell = [[MyCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:MainMenuCellIdentifier];
    }

    MyData *data = [self.dataArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
    // Do your cell customisation
    // cell.titleLabel.text = data.title;

    BOOL lastItemReached = [data isEqual:[[self.dataArray] lastObject]]; 
    if (!lastItemReached && indexPath.row == [self.dataArray count] - 1)
    {
        [self launchReload];
    }
}

EDIT : added a check on last item to prevent recursion calls. You'll have to implement the method defining whether the last item has been reached or not.

EDIT2 : explained lastItemReached


Swift

Method 1: Did scroll to bottom

Here is the Swift version of Pedro Romão's answer. When the user stops scrolling it checks if it has reached the bottom.

func scrollViewDidEndDragging(scrollView: UIScrollView, willDecelerate decelerate: Bool) {

    // UITableView only moves in one direction, y axis
    let currentOffset = scrollView.contentOffset.y
    let maximumOffset = scrollView.contentSize.height - scrollView.frame.size.height

    // Change 10.0 to adjust the distance from bottom
    if maximumOffset - currentOffset <= 10.0 {
        self.loadMore()
    }
}

Method 2: Reached last row

And here is the Swift version of shinyuX's answer. It checks if the user has reached the last row.

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {

    // set up cell
    // ...

    // Check if the last row number is the same as the last current data element
    if indexPath.row == self.dataArray.count - 1 {
        self.loadMore()
    }

}

Example of a loadMore() method

I set up these three class variables for fetching batches of data.

// number of items to be fetched each time (i.e., database LIMIT)
let itemsPerBatch = 50

// Where to start fetching items (database OFFSET)
var offset = 0

// a flag for when all database items have already been loaded
var reachedEndOfItems = false

This is the function to load more items from the database into the table view.

func loadMore() {

    // don't bother doing another db query if already have everything
    guard !self.reachedEndOfItems else {
        return
    }

    // query the db on a background thread
    DispatchQueue.global(qos: .background).async {

        // determine the range of data items to fetch
        var thisBatchOfItems: [MyObjects]?
        let start = self.offset
        let end = self.offset + self.itemsPerBatch

        // query the database
        do {
            // SQLite.swift wrapper
            thisBatchOfItems = try MyDataHelper.findRange(start..<end)
        } catch _ {
            print("query failed")
        }

        // update UITableView with new batch of items on main thread after query finishes
        DispatchQueue.main.async {

            if let newItems = thisBatchOfItems {

                // append the new items to the data source for the table view
                self.myObjectArray.appendContentsOf(newItems)

                // reload the table view
                self.tableView.reloadData()

                // check if this was the last of the data
                if newItems.count < self.itemsPerBatch {
                    self.reachedEndOfItems = true
                    print("reached end of data. Batch count: \(newItems.count)")
                }

                // reset the offset for the next data query
                self.offset += self.itemsPerBatch
            }

        }
    }
}

Better to use willDisplayCell method to check if which cell will be loaded. Once we get the current indexPath.row is last we can load more cells. This will load more cells on scrolling down.

 - (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView 
       willDisplayCell:(UITableViewCell *)cell    
       forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    // check if indexPath.row is last row
    // Perform operation to load new Cell's.
}