How can I create a button with a background color for tvOS while still showing focus?

Question

All I want to do is add a background color to a button for all states. But I want to maintain the automatic focus shadow that you get \"for free\" when using a system button

Answer 1

You can use the UIButton method setBackgroundImage(image: UIImage?, forState state: UIControlState) and pass through an image that is a flat color and the state .Normal.

This image can easily be created programatically from a UIColor and a size of 1x1:

func getImageWithColor(color: UIColor, size: CGSize) -> UIImage {
    let rect = CGRectMake(0, 0, size.width, size.height)
    UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(size, false, 0)
    color.setFill()
    UIRectFill(rect)
    let image: UIImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
    UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
    return image
}