Can I use a UIRefreshControl in a UIScrollView?

Question

I have about 5 UIScrollView's already in my app which all load multiple .xib files. We now want to use a UIRefreshControl. They are built to be used with UITableViewControllers (per UIRefreshControl class reference). I do not want to re-do how all 5 UIScrollView work. I have already tried to use the UIRefreshControl in my UIScrollView's, and it works as expected except for a few things.

1. Just after the refresh image turns into the loader, the UIScrollView jumps down about 10 pixels, which only does not happen when I am very careful to drag the UIScrollview down very slowly.

2. When I scroll down and initiate the reload, then let go of the UIScrollView, the UIScrollView stays where I let it go. After it is finished reloading, the UIScrollView jumps up to the top with no animation.

Here is my code:

-(void)viewDidLoad
{
      UIRefreshControl *refreshControl = [[UIRefreshControl alloc] init];
      [refreshControl addTarget:self action:@selector(handleRefresh:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventValueChanged];
      [myScrollView addSubview:refreshControl];
}

-(void)handleRefresh:(UIRefreshControl *)refresh {
      // Reload my data
      [refresh endRefreshing];
}

Is there any way I can save a bunch of time and use a UIRefreshControl in a UIScrollView?

Thank You!!!

Answer 1

Here is how you do this in C# / Monotouch. I cant find any samples for C# anywhere, so here it is.. Thanks Log139!

public override void ViewDidLoad ()
{
    //Create a scrollview object
    UIScrollView MainScrollView = new UIScrollView(new RectangleF (0, 0, 500, 600)); 

    //set the content size bigger so that it will bounce
    MainScrollView.ContentSize = new SizeF(500,650);

    // initialise and set the refresh class variable 
    refresh = new UIRefreshControl();
    refresh.AddTarget(RefreshEventHandler,UIControlEvent.ValueChanged);
    MainScrollView.AddSubview (refresh);
}

private void RefreshEventHandler (object obj, EventArgs args)
{
    System.Threading.ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem ((callback) => {  
        InvokeOnMainThread (delegate() {
        System.Threading.Thread.Sleep (3000);             
                refresh.EndRefreshing ();
        });
    });
}

Answer 2

I got a UIRefreshControl to work with a UIScrollView:

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
    UIScrollView *scrollView = [[UIScrollView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 500, 500)];
    scrollView.userInteractionEnabled = TRUE;
    scrollView.scrollEnabled = TRUE;
    scrollView.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    scrollView.contentSize = CGSizeMake(500, 1000);

    UIRefreshControl *refreshControl = [[UIRefreshControl alloc] init];
    [refreshControl addTarget:self action:@selector(testRefresh:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventValueChanged];
    [scrollView addSubview:refreshControl];

    [self.view addSubview:scrollView];
}

- (void)testRefresh:(UIRefreshControl *)refreshControl
{    
    refreshControl.attributedTitle = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:@"Refreshing data..."];

        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0), ^{

        [NSThread sleepForTimeInterval:3];//for 3 seconds, prevent scrollview from bouncing back down (which would cover up the refresh view immediately and stop the user from even seeing the refresh text / animation)

        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
            NSDateFormatter *formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
            [formatter setDateFormat:@"MMM d, h:mm a"];
            NSString *lastUpdate = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Last updated on %@", [formatter stringFromDate:[NSDate date]]];

            refreshControl.attributedTitle = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:lastUpdate];

            [refreshControl endRefreshing];

            NSLog(@"refresh end");
        });
    });
}

Need to do the data update on a separate thread or it will lock up the main thread (which the UI uses to update the UI). So while the main thread is busy updating the data, the UI is also locked up or frozen and you never see the smooth animations or spinner.

EDIT: ok, I'm doing the same thing as OP and i've now added some text to it (ie, "Pull to Refresh") and it does need to get back onto the main thread to update that text.

Updated answer.

Answer 3

You can simply create an instance of the refresh control and add it at the top of the scroll view. then, in the delegate methods you adjust its behavior to your requirements.

Answer 4

How to do it in Swift 3:

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    let scroll = UIScrollView()
    scroll.isScrollEnabled = true
    view.addSubview(scroll)

    let refreshControl = UIRefreshControl()
    refreshControl.addTarget(self, action: #selector(pullToRefresh(_:)), for: .valueChanged)
    scroll.addSubview(refreshControl)
}

func pullToRefresh(_ refreshControl: UIRefreshControl) {
    // Update your conntent here

    refreshControl.endRefreshing()
}

Answer 5

For the Jumping issue, Tim Norman's answer solves it.

Here is the swift version if you are using swift2:

import UIKit

class NoJumpRefreshScrollView: UIScrollView {

/*
// Only override drawRect: if you perform custom drawing.
// An empty implementation adversely affects performance during animation.
override func drawRect(rect: CGRect) {
    // Drawing code
}
*/
override var contentInset:UIEdgeInsets {
    willSet {
        if self.tracking {
            let diff = newValue.top - self.contentInset.top;
            var translation = self.panGestureRecognizer.translationInView(self)
            translation.y -= diff * 3.0 / 2.0
            self.panGestureRecognizer.setTranslation(translation, inView: self)
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 6

I made UIRefreshControl work properly inside UIScrollView. I inherited UIScrollView, blocked changing of contentInset and overrided contentOffset setter:

class ScrollViewForRefreshControl : UIScrollView {
    override var contentOffset : CGPoint {
        get {return super.contentOffset }
        set {
            if newValue.y < -_contentInset.top || _contentInset.top == 0 {
                super.contentOffset = newValue
            }
        }
    }
    private var _contentInset = UIEdgeInsetsZero
    override var contentInset : UIEdgeInsets {
        get { return _contentInset}
        set {
            _contentInset = newValue
            if newValue.top == 0 && contentOffset.y < 0 {
                self.setContentOffset(CGPointZero, animated: true)
            }
        }
    }
}