Can I load a UIImage from a URL?

Question

I have a URL for an image (got it from UIImagePickerController) but I no longer have the image in memory (the URL was saved from a previous run of the app). Can I reload the UIImage from the URL again?

I see that UIImage has a imageWithContentsOfFile: but I have a URL. Can I use NSData's dataWithContentsOfURL: to read the URL?

EDIT1

---

based on @Daniel's answer I tried the following code but it doesn't work...

NSLog(@"%s %@", __PRETTY_FUNCTION__, photoURL);     
if (photoURL) {
    NSURL* aURL = [NSURL URLWithString:photoURL];
    NSData* data = [[NSData alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:aURL];
    self.photoImage = [UIImage imageWithData:data];
    [data release];
}

When I ran it the console shows:

-[PhotoBox willMoveToWindow:] file://localhost/Users/gary/Library/Application%20Support/iPhone%20Simulator/3.2/Media/DCIM/100APPLE/IMG_0004.JPG
*** -[NSURL length]: unrecognized selector sent to instance 0x536fbe0
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '*** -[NSURL length]: unrecognized selector sent to instance 0x536fbe0'

Looking at the call stack, I'm calling URLWithString, which calls URLWithString:relativeToURL:, then initWithString:relativeToURL:, then _CFStringIsLegalURLString, then CFStringGetLength, then forwarding_prep_0, then forwarding, then -[NSObject doesNotRecognizeSelector].

Any ideas why my NSString (photoURL's address is 0x536fbe0) doesn't respond to length? Why does it say it doesn't respond to -[NSURL length]? Doesn't it know that param is an NSString, not a NSURL?

EDIT2

---

OK, the only problem with the code is the string to URL conversion. If I hardcode the string, everything else works fine. So something is wrong with my NSString and if I can't figure it out, I guess that should go in as a different question. With this line inserted (I pasted the path from the console log above), it works fine:

photoURL = @"file://localhost/Users/gary/Library/Application%20Support/iPhone%20Simulator/3.2/Media/DCIM/100APPLE/IMG_0004.JPG";

Answer 1

get DLImageLoader and try folowing code

   [DLImageLoader loadImageFromURL:imageURL
                          completed:^(NSError *error, NSData *imgData) {
                              imageView.image = [UIImage imageWithData:imgData];
                              [imageView setContentMode:UIViewContentModeCenter];

                          }];

---

Another typical real-world example of using DLImageLoader, which may help someone...

PFObject *aFacebookUser = [self.fbFriends objectAtIndex:thisRow];
NSString *facebookImageURL = [NSString stringWithFormat:
    @"http://graph.facebook.com/%@/picture?type=large",
    [aFacebookUser objectForKey:@"id"] ];

__weak UIImageView *loadMe = self.userSmallAvatarImage;
// ~~note~~ you my, but usually DO NOT, want a weak ref
[DLImageLoader loadImageFromURL:facebookImageURL
   completed:^(NSError *error, NSData *imgData)
    {
    if ( loadMe == nil ) return;

    if (error == nil)
        {
        UIImage *image = [UIImage imageWithData:imgData];
        image = [image ourImageScaler];
        loadMe.image = image;
        }
    else
        {
        // an error when loading the image from the net
        }
    }];

As I mention above another great library to consider these days is Haneke (unfortunately it's not as lightweight).

Answer 2

You can try SDWebImage, it provides:

1. Asynchronous loading
2. Caching for offline use
3. Place holder image to appear while loading
4. Works well with UITableView

Quick example:

    [cell.imageView setImageWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"http://www.domain.com/path/to/image.jpg"] placeholderImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"placeholder.png"]];

Answer 3

Check out the AsyncImageView provided over here. Some good example code, and might even be usable right "out of the box" for you.

Answer 4

The way using a Swift Extension to UIImageView (source code here):

Creating Computed Property for Associated UIActivityIndicatorView

import Foundation
import UIKit
import ObjectiveC

private var activityIndicatorAssociationKey: UInt8 = 0

extension UIImageView {
    //Associated Object as Computed Property
    var activityIndicator: UIActivityIndicatorView! {
        get {
            return objc_getAssociatedObject(self, &activityIndicatorAssociationKey) as? UIActivityIndicatorView
        }
        set(newValue) {
            objc_setAssociatedObject(self, &activityIndicatorAssociationKey, newValue, UInt(OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN))
        }
    }

    private func ensureActivityIndicatorIsAnimating() {
        if (self.activityIndicator == nil) {
            self.activityIndicator = UIActivityIndicatorView(activityIndicatorStyle: UIActivityIndicatorViewStyle.Gray)
            self.activityIndicator.hidesWhenStopped = true
            let size = self.frame.size;
            self.activityIndicator.center = CGPoint(x: size.width/2, y: size.height/2);
            NSOperationQueue.mainQueue().addOperationWithBlock({ () -> Void in
                self.addSubview(self.activityIndicator)
                self.activityIndicator.startAnimating()
            })
        }
    }

Custom Initializer and Setter

    convenience init(URL: NSURL, errorImage: UIImage? = nil) {
        self.init()
        self.setImageFromURL(URL)
    }

    func setImageFromURL(URL: NSURL, errorImage: UIImage? = nil) {
        self.ensureActivityIndicatorIsAnimating()
        let downloadTask = NSURLSession.sharedSession().dataTaskWithURL(URL) {(data, response, error) in
            if (error == nil) {
                NSOperationQueue.mainQueue().addOperationWithBlock({ () -> Void in
                    self.activityIndicator.stopAnimating()
                    self.image = UIImage(data: data)
                })
            }
            else {
                self.image = errorImage
            }
        }
        downloadTask.resume()
    }
}