What is Geometry Reader in SwiftUI?

Question

I am learning SwiftUI. And I come across to \"GeometryReader\". And I want to know why and when to use it?

Answer 1

UPDATE

Since I posted the answer, I have also written an article on how GeometryReader works. Check it out for a more detailed explanation: https://swiftui-lab.com/geometryreader-to-the-rescue/

---

GeometryReader is a view that gives you access to the size and position of it's parent. For example:

struct MyView: View {
    var body: some View {
        GeometryReader { geometry in
           // Here goes your view content,
           // and you can use the geometry variable
           // which contains geometry.size of the parent
           // You also have function to get the bounds
           // of the parent: geometry.frame(in: .global)
        }
    }
}

I usually combine it with .background() to obtain some other view's bounds. For example, The Text view is hard to predict how large it would be in advance. When I need that information, I use this trick:

First I have defined a view called GeometryGetter:

struct GeometryGetter: View {
    @Binding var rect: CGRect
    
    var body: some View {
        return GeometryReader { geometry in
            self.makeView(geometry: geometry)
        }
    }
    
    func makeView(geometry: GeometryProxy) -> some View {
        DispatchQueue.main.async {
            self.rect = geometry.frame(in: .global)
        }

        return Rectangle().fill(Color.clear)
    }
}

Then, to get the bounds of a Text view (or any other view):

struct MyView: View {
    @State private var rect: CGRect = CGRect()

    var body: some View {
        Text("some text").background(GeometryGetter($rect))

        // You can then use rect in other places of your view:
        Rectangle().frame(width: 100, height: rect.height)
    }
}

For some use cases, I posted some answers to other questions that use GeometryReader. Check them out:

Move textfields to avoid being hidden by the keyboard: https://stackoverflow.com/a/56721268/7786555

How to make view the size of another view in SwiftUI: https://stackoverflow.com/a/56661706/7786555

Note

In GeometryGetter, I added a DispatchQueue.main.async {} to set the rect. In some cases it could lead to runtime warning otherwise: Modifying state during view update.