How to convert NSDate in to relative format as “Today”,“Yesterday”,“a week ago”,“a month ago”,“a year ago”?

Question

I want to convert nsdate in to relative format like \"Today\",\"Yesterday\",\"a week ago\",\"a month ago\",\"a year ago\",\"date as it is\".

I have writ

Answer 1

Here is code I created for my use:

+ (NSString*) getTimestampForDate:(NSDate*)date {

    NSDate* sourceDate = date;

    // Timezone Offset compensation (optional, if your target users are limited to a single time zone.)

    NSTimeZone* sourceTimeZone = [NSTimeZone timeZoneWithName:@"America/New_York"];
    NSTimeZone* destinationTimeZone = [NSTimeZone systemTimeZone];

    NSInteger sourceGMTOffset = [sourceTimeZone secondsFromGMTForDate:sourceDate];
    NSInteger destinationGMTOffset = [destinationTimeZone secondsFromGMTForDate:sourceDate];

    NSTimeInterval interval = destinationGMTOffset - sourceGMTOffset;

    NSDate* destinationDate = [[NSDate alloc] initWithTimeInterval:interval sinceDate:sourceDate];

    // Timestamp calculation (based on compensation)

    NSCalendar* currentCalendar = [NSCalendar currentCalendar];
    NSCalendarUnit unitFlags = NSYearCalendarUnit | NSMonthCalendarUnit |  NSDayCalendarUnit | NSHourCalendarUnit | NSMinuteCalendarUnit;

    NSDateComponents *differenceComponents = [currentCalendar components:unitFlags fromDate:destinationDate toDate:[NSDate date] options:0];//Use `date` instead of `destinationDate` if you are not using Timezone offset correction

    NSInteger yearDifference = [differenceComponents year];
    NSInteger monthDifference = [differenceComponents month];
    NSInteger dayDifference = [differenceComponents day];
    NSInteger hourDifference = [differenceComponents hour];
    NSInteger minuteDifference = [differenceComponents minute];

    NSString* timestamp;

    if (yearDifference == 0
        && monthDifference == 0
        && dayDifference == 0
        && hourDifference == 0
        && minuteDifference <= 2) {

        //"Just Now"

        timestamp = @"Just Now";

    } else if (yearDifference == 0
               && monthDifference == 0
               && dayDifference == 0
               && hourDifference == 0
               && minuteDifference < 60) {

        //"13 minutes ago"

        timestamp = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%ld minutes ago", (long)minuteDifference];

    } else if (yearDifference == 0
               && monthDifference == 0
               && dayDifference == 0
               && hourDifference == 1) {

        //"1 hour ago" EXACT

        timestamp = @"1 hour ago";

    } else if (yearDifference == 0
               && monthDifference == 0
               && dayDifference == 0
               && hourDifference < 24) {

        timestamp = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%ld hours ago", (long)hourDifference];

    } else {

        NSDateFormatter *formatter = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
        [formatter setLocale:[NSLocale currentLocale]];

        NSString* strDate, *strDate2 = @"";

        if (yearDifference == 0
            && monthDifference == 0
            && dayDifference == 1) {

            //"Yesterday at 10:23 AM", "Yesterday at 5:08 PM"

            [formatter setDateFormat:@"hh:mm a"];
            strDate = [formatter stringFromDate:date];

            timestamp = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Yesterday at %@", strDate];

        } else if (yearDifference == 0
                   && monthDifference == 0
                   && dayDifference < 7) {

            //"Tuesday at 7:13 PM"

            [formatter setDateFormat:@"EEEE"];
            strDate = [formatter stringFromDate:date];
            [formatter setDateFormat:@"hh:mm a"];
            strDate2 = [formatter stringFromDate:date];

            timestamp = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@ at %@", strDate, strDate2];

        } else if (yearDifference == 0) {

            //"July 4 at 7:36 AM"

            [formatter setDateFormat:@"MMMM d"];
            strDate = [formatter stringFromDate:date];
            [formatter setDateFormat:@"hh:mm a"];
            strDate2 = [formatter stringFromDate:date];

            timestamp = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@ at %@", strDate, strDate2];

        } else {

            //"March 24 2010 at 4:50 AM"

            [formatter setDateFormat:@"d MMMM yyyy"];
            strDate = [formatter stringFromDate:date];
            [formatter setDateFormat:@"hh:mm a"];
            strDate2 = [formatter stringFromDate:date];

            timestamp = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@ at %@", strDate, strDate2];
        }
    }

    return timestamp;
}