Swift - how to get last taken 3 photos from photo library?

Question

I need to get and show last taken 3 photos from photo library on viewDidload event without any clicks.

After this step, I should get other photos 3 by 3

Answer 1

You can extract the 3 latest photos using functions in the AssetsLibrary framework. First you have to add the framework to the project. The following function retrieves the 3 latest photos and calls the completion block.

import AssetsLibrary

func getLatestPhotos(completion completionBlock : ([UIImage] -> ()))   {
    let library = ALAssetsLibrary()
    var count = 0
    var images : [UIImage] = []
    var stopped = false

    library.enumerateGroupsWithTypes(ALAssetsGroupSavedPhotos, usingBlock: { (group,var stop) -> Void in

        group?.setAssetsFilter(ALAssetsFilter.allPhotos())

        group?.enumerateAssetsWithOptions(NSEnumerationOptions.Reverse, usingBlock: {
            (asset : ALAsset!, index, var stopEnumeration) -> Void in

            if (!stopped)
            {
                if count >= 3
                {

                    stopEnumeration.memory = ObjCBool(true)
                    stop.memory = ObjCBool(true)
                    completionBlock(images)
                    stopped = true
                }
                else
                {
                    // For just the thumbnails use the following line.
                    let cgImage = asset.thumbnail().takeUnretainedValue()

                    // Use the following line for the full image.
                    let cgImage = asset.defaultRepresentation().fullScreenImage().takeUnretainedValue()

                    if let image = UIImage(CGImage: cgImage) {
                        images.append(image)
                        count += 1
                    }
                }
            }

        })

        },failureBlock : { error in
            println(error)
    })
}

The above function can be called like this

getLatestPhotos(completion: { images in
     println(images)
     //Set Images in this block.
})