Replace the volume popup with a more subtle way to display the volume when the user changes it with the volume rocker.

Why and how

The iOS default popover showing the volume status that appears when the user clicks the volume rocker is a big obtrusive glossy view that covers the content shown. This library offers a way to show a more subtle indicator.
To make sure that the popover is not shown there are two conditions that need to be satisfied:

• An AVAudioSession needs to be active
• An MPVolumeView needs to be in the current view’s hierarchy, and its alpha needs to be greater than 0

Once a SubtleVolume is added to your view, an audio session is automatically started, and the view’s alpha is set to 0.0001 in the hidden state.

Getting Started

Create an instance of SubtleVolume with one of its convenience initializers, and set its position (you can either set the frame or let autolayout handle it):

let volume = SubtleVolume(style: .plain)
volume.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 10, width: UIScreen.main.bounds.width, height: 4) // or wherever you like

Set the barTintColor property:

volume.barTintColor = .red

Set the animation type if needed (no animation will result in the indicator being always visible):

volume.animation = .slideDown

Add the view to your hierarchy:

view.addSubview(volume)

To change the volume programmatically:

try? volume.setVolumeLevel(0.5)

Or use the convenience methods:

try? volume.decreaseVolume(by: 0.2, animated: true)
try? volume.increaseVolume(by: 0.2, animated: true)

Accessory image

You can provide an accessory image that will be shown to the bar’s left. See the delegate method:

func subtleVolume(_ subtleVolume: SubtleVolume, accessoryFor value: Double) -> UIImage? {
  return value > 0 ? #imageLiteral(resourceName: "volume-on.pdf") : #imageLiteral(resourceName: "volume-off.pdf")
}

iPhone X(S/R) support

Want to be fancy and show the volume bar in the notch area? Check out the demo project. The main gist is this:

class ViewController: UIViewController {
  let volume = SubtleVolume(style: .rounded)
  var statusBarVisible = true

  // ...

  override func viewDidLayoutSubviews() {
    super.viewDidLayoutSubviews()

    if view.safeAreaInsets.top > 0 {
      volume.padding = CGSize(width: 2, height: 8)
      volume.frame = CGRect(x: 16, y: 8, width: 60, height: 20)
    } else {
      // older phones here
    }
  }

  override var preferredStatusBarStyle: UIStatusBarStyle {
    return .lightContent
  }

  override var preferredStatusBarUpdateAnimation: UIStatusBarAnimation {
    return .slide
  }

  override var prefersStatusBarHidden: Bool {
    return !statusBarVisible
  }
}

extension ViewController: SubtleVolumeDelegate {
  func subtleVolume(_ subtleVolume: SubtleVolume, didChange value: Double) {
    if !subtleVolume.isAnimating && view.safeAreaInsets.top > 0 {
      statusBarVisible = true
      UIView.animate(withDuration: 0.1) {
        self.setNeedsStatusBarAppearanceUpdate()
      }
    }
  }

  func subtleVolume(_ subtleVolume: SubtleVolume, willChange value: Double) {
    if !subtleVolume.isAnimating && view.safeAreaInsets.top > 0 {
      statusBarVisible = false
      UIView.animate(withDuration: 0.1) {
        self.setNeedsStatusBarAppearanceUpdate()
      }
    }
  }
}

Handle the background state

Once your app goes in background, you’ll need to resume the session when it becomes active:

NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(volume, selector: #selector(SubtleVolume.resume), name: NSNotification.Name.UIApplicationDidBecomeActive, object: nil)

SubtleVolume automatically removes the observer on deinit.

Hire us

Written by Andrea Mazzini. We’re available for freelance work, feel free to contact us here.

Want to support the development of these free libraries? Buy me a coffee ☕️ via Paypal.

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2017-2018 Andrea Mazzini. All rights reserved.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
to deal in the Software without restriction, including
without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

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OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
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