Get the current first responder without using a private API

Question

I submitted my app a little over a week ago and got the dreaded rejection email today. It tells me that my app cannot be accepted because I\'m using a non-public API; specif

Answer 1

Here is a Extension implemented in Swift based on Jakob Egger's most excellent answer:

import UIKit

extension UIResponder {
    // Swift 1.2 finally supports static vars!. If you use 1.1 see: 
    // http://stackoverflow.com/a/24924535/385979
    private weak static var _currentFirstResponder: UIResponder? = nil
    
    public class func currentFirstResponder() -> UIResponder? {
        UIResponder._currentFirstResponder = nil
        UIApplication.sharedApplication().sendAction("findFirstResponder:", to: nil, from: nil, forEvent: nil)
        return UIResponder._currentFirstResponder
    }
    
    internal func findFirstResponder(sender: AnyObject) {
        UIResponder._currentFirstResponder = self
    }
}

---

Swift 4

import UIKit    

extension UIResponder {
    private weak static var _currentFirstResponder: UIResponder? = nil
    
    public static var current: UIResponder? {
        UIResponder._currentFirstResponder = nil
        UIApplication.shared.sendAction(#selector(findFirstResponder(sender:)), to: nil, from: nil, for: nil)
        return UIResponder._currentFirstResponder
    }
    
    @objc internal func findFirstResponder(sender: AnyObject) {
        UIResponder._currentFirstResponder = self
    }
}