Programmatically set the initial view controller u

Question

How do I programmatically set the InitialViewController for a Storyboard? I want to open my storyboard to a different view depending on some condition which may vary from launch to launch.

Answer 1

You can set initial view controller using Interface Builder as well as programmatically.

Below is approach used for programmatically.

Objective-C :

        self.window = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:UIScreen.mainScreen.bounds];
        UIStoryboard *storyboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:@"MainStoryboard" bundle:nil];

        UIViewController *viewController = [storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:@"HomeViewController"]; // <storyboard id>

        self.window.rootViewController = viewController;
        [self.window makeKeyAndVisible];

        return YES;

Swift :

        self.window = UIWindow(frame: UIScreen.mainScreen().bounds)
        let mainStoryboard: UIStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)

        var objMainViewController: MainViewController = mainStoryboard.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("MainController") as! MainViewController

        self.window?.rootViewController = objMainViewController

        self.window?.makeKeyAndVisible()

        return true

Answer 2

I created a routing class to handle dynamic navigation and keep clean AppDelegate class, I hope it will help other too.

//
//  Routing.swift
// 
//
//  Created by Varun Naharia on 02/02/17.
//  Copyright © 2017 TechNaharia. All rights reserved.
//

import Foundation
import UIKit
import CoreLocation

class Routing {

    class func decideInitialViewController(window:UIWindow){
        let userDefaults = UserDefaults.standard
        if((Routing.getUserDefault("isFirstRun")) == nil)
        {
            Routing.setAnimatedAsInitialViewContoller(window: window)
        }
        else if((userDefaults.object(forKey: "User")) != nil)
        {
            Routing.setHomeAsInitialViewContoller(window: window)
        }
        else
        {
            Routing.setLoginAsInitialViewContoller(window: window)
        }

    }

    class func setAnimatedAsInitialViewContoller(window:UIWindow) {
        Routing.setUserDefault("Yes", KeyToSave: "isFirstRun")
        let mainStoryboard: UIStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)
        let animatedViewController: AnimatedViewController = mainStoryboard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "AnimatedViewController") as! AnimatedViewController

        window.rootViewController = animatedViewController
        window.makeKeyAndVisible()
    }

    class func setHomeAsInitialViewContoller(window:UIWindow) {
        let userDefaults = UserDefaults.standard
        let decoded  = userDefaults.object(forKey: "User") as! Data
        User.currentUser = NSKeyedUnarchiver.unarchiveObject(with: decoded) as! User

        if(User.currentUser.userId != nil && User.currentUser.userId != "")
        {
            let mainStoryboard: UIStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)
            let homeViewController: HomeViewController = mainStoryboard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "HomeViewController") as! HomeViewController
            let loginViewController: UINavigationController = mainStoryboard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "LoginNavigationViewController") as! UINavigationController
            loginViewController.viewControllers.append(homeViewController)
            window.rootViewController = loginViewController
        }
        window.makeKeyAndVisible()
    }

    class func setLoginAsInitialViewContoller(window:UIWindow) {
        let mainStoryboard: UIStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)
        let loginViewController: UINavigationController = mainStoryboard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "LoginNavigationViewController") as! UINavigationController

        window.rootViewController = loginViewController
        window.makeKeyAndVisible()
    }

  class func setUserDefault(_ ObjectToSave : Any?  , KeyToSave : String)
    {
        let defaults = UserDefaults.standard

        if (ObjectToSave != nil)
        {

            defaults.set(ObjectToSave, forKey: KeyToSave)
        }

        UserDefaults.standard.synchronize()
    }

    class func getUserDefault(_ KeyToReturnValye : String) -> Any?
    {
        let defaults = UserDefaults.standard

        if let name = defaults.value(forKey: KeyToReturnValye)
        {
            return name as Any
        }
        return nil
    }

    class func removetUserDefault(_ KeyToRemove : String)
    {
        let defaults = UserDefaults.standard
        defaults.removeObject(forKey: KeyToRemove)
        UserDefaults.standard.synchronize()
    }

}

And in your AppDelegate call this

 self.window = UIWindow(frame: UIScreen.main.bounds)
 Routing.decideInitialViewController(window: self.window!)

Answer 3

I don't think it's possible. Instead you can have one initial controller which will have segues to different view controllers. On startup, you can decide which segue to perform programmatically.

Answer 4

Swift 4, Xcode 9

in file AppDelegate.swift

func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplicationLaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
    let storyboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)
    let firstVC = storyboard.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "firstViewController") as! firstViewController
    self.window?.rootViewController = firstVC
}

Answer 5

You can programmatically set the key window's rootViewController in (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application willFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions

for example:

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application willFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    if (shouldShowAnotherViewControllerAsRoot) {
        UIStoryboard *storyboard = self.window.rootViewController.storyboard;
        UIViewController *rootViewController = [storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:@"rootNavigationController"];
        self.window.rootViewController = rootViewController;
        [self.window makeKeyAndVisible];
    }

    return YES;
}

Answer 6

In AppDelegate.swift you can add the following code:

let sb = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)
let vc = sb.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "YourViewController_StorboardID")
self.window?.rootViewController = vc
self.window?.makeKeyAndVisible()

Of course, you need to implement your logic, based on which criteria you'll choose an appropriate view controller.

Also, don't forget to add an identity (select storyboard -> Controller Scene -> Show the identity inspector -> assign StorboardID).