A UILabel subclass that adds a typewriting animation effect - as if a 👻 was typing it directly on your user's device!

This pod was inspired by the following post here.

To integrate GhostTypewriter into your Xcode project using CocoaPods, specify it in your Podfile:

source 'https://github.com/CocoaPods/Specs.git'
platform :ios, '10.0'

pod 'GhostTypewriter'

Then, run the following command:

$ pod install

CocoaPods 1.1.1+ is required to build GhostTypewriter.

TypewriterLabel is a subclass of UILabel and where the animation (magic) happens. It works by taking advantage of the attributedText property on the label and changing the properties of the text content to gradually expose the text using an animation similar to what you get on a mechanical typewriter.

A TypewriterLabel instance when added as a subview will hide it's content.

Starting the animation will cause the content of the label to be reveal one character at a time.

How quickly each character is revealed is controlled by setting the typingTimeInterval property.

There are two ways to start an animation: with and without a completion closure.

With a completion closure:

import GhostTypewriter

@IBAction func startAnimationButtonPressed(_ sender: Any) {
    titleLabel.startTypewritingAnimation {
        //Implement your completion closure body here...
    }
}

Without a completion closure:

import GhostTypewriter

@IBAction func startAnimationButtonPressed(_ sender: Any) {
    titleLabel.startTypewritingAnimation()
}

Stopping an animation causes the characters that have been revealed to remain as is and no new characters being revealed.

import GhostTypewriter

@IBAction func stopAnimationButtonPressed(_ sender: Any) {
    titleLabel.stopTypewritingAnimation()
}

Resetting an animation causes all characters to be hidden.

import GhostTypewriter

@IBAction func resetAnimationButtonPressed(_ sender: Any) {
    titleLabel.resetTypewritingAnimation()
}

It's important to note that resetting an TypewriterLabel instance does not cause the animation to restart instead you need to call restartAnimationButtonPressed().

Restarting an animation causes all characters to be hidden and for the animation to begin from the start again.

There are two ways to start an animation: with and without a completion closure.

Without a completion closure:

import GhostTypewriter

@IBAction func restartAnimationButtonPressed(_ sender: Any) {
    titleLabel.restartTypewritingAnimation()
}

With a completion closure:

import GhostTypewriter

@IBAction func restartAnimationButtonPressed(_ sender: Any) {
    titleLabel.restartTypewritingAnimation {
        //Implement your completion closure body here...
    }
}

Completing an animation causes all characters to instantly be revealed.

import GhostTypewriter

@IBAction func completeAnimationButtonPressed(_ sender: Any) {
    titleLabel.completeTypewritingAnimation()
}

By default TypewriterLabel hides the content of itself before revealing each character from index 0 to n-1. However it is possible to change this.

To hide each character rather than reveal, set the animationStyle property to .hide:

import GhostTypewriter

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    titleLabel.animationStyle = .hide
}

animationStyle is defaulted to .reveal.

To go from index n-1 to 0, set the animationDirection to .backward:

import GhostTypewriter

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    titleLabel.animationDirection = .backward
}

animationDirection is defaulted to .forward.

Each character of a TypewriterLabel instance is revealed at a pace set by the typingTimeInterval property.

typingTimeInterval defaults to 0.1 second.

import GhostTypewriter

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    titleLabel.typingTimeInterval = 0.3
}

It's important to note that setting/changing typingTimeInterval after an animation has been started, has no affect on the timing of that animation.

As TypewriterLabel is contained in a pod, when using it with storyboards you will need to set the Module field to GhostTypewriter.

Version 2.0.0 of GhostTypewriter contains breaking changes.

• cancelTypewritingAnimation() now use resetTypewritingAnimation().
• cancelTypewritingAnimation(clearText: true) now use resetTypewritingAnimation().
• cancelTypewritingAnimation(clearText: false) now use stopTypewritingAnimation().

GhostTypewriter comes with an example project to provide more details than listed above.

Please open a new Issue here if you run into a problem specific to GhostTypewriterLabel, have a feature request, or want to share a comment.

Pull requests are encouraged and greatly appreciated! Please try to maintain consistency with the existing code style. If you're considering taking on significant changes or additions to the project, please communicate in advance by opening a new Issue. This allows everyone to get onboard with upcoming changes, ensures that changes align with the project's design philosophy, and avoids duplicated work.