Jerky Scrolling After Updating UITableViewCell in place with UITableViewAutomaticDimension

Question

I am building an app that has a feed view for user-submitted posts. This view has a UITableView with a custom UITableViewCell implementation. Insid

Answer 1

Here is the best solution I found to solve this kind of problem (scrolling problem + reloadRows + iOS 8 UITableViewAutomaticDimension);

It consists by keeping every heights in a dictionary and updating them (in the dictionary) as the tableView will display the cell.

You will then return the saved height in - (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView estimatedHeightForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath method.

You should implement something like this :

Objective-C

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];

    self.heightAtIndexPath = [NSMutableDictionary new];
    self.tableView.rowHeight = UITableViewAutomaticDimension;
}

- (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView estimatedHeightForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
    NSNumber *height = [self.heightAtIndexPath objectForKey:indexPath];
    if(height) {
        return height.floatValue;
    } else {
        return UITableViewAutomaticDimension;
    }
}

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayCell:(UITableViewCell *)cell forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
    NSNumber *height = @(cell.frame.size.height);
    [self.heightAtIndexPath setObject:height forKey:indexPath];
}

Swift 3

@IBOutlet var tableView : UITableView?
var heightAtIndexPath = NSMutableDictionary()

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    tableView?.rowHeight = UITableViewAutomaticDimension
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, estimatedHeightForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> CGFloat {
    if let height = heightAtIndexPath.object(forKey: indexPath) as? NSNumber {
        return CGFloat(height.floatValue)
    } else {
        return UITableViewAutomaticDimension
    }
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplay cell: UITableViewCell, forRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
    let height = NSNumber(value: Float(cell.frame.size.height))
    heightAtIndexPath.setObject(height, forKey: indexPath as NSCopying)
}

Answer 2

dosdos answer worked for me in Swift 2

Declare the ivar

var heightAtIndexPath = NSMutableDictionary()

in func viewDidLoad()

func viewDidLoad() {
  .... your code
  self.tableView.rowHeight = UITableViewAutomaticDimension
}

Then add the following 2 methods:

override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, estimatedHeightForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> CGFloat {
   let height = self.heightAtIndexPath.objectForKey(indexPath)
   if ((height) != nil) {
     return CGFloat(height!.floatValue)
   } else {
    return UITableViewAutomaticDimension
   }
 }

override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, willDisplayCell cell: UITableViewCell, forRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) {
  let height = cell.frame.size.height
  self.heightAtIndexPath.setObject(height, forKey: indexPath)
}

SWIFT 3:

var heightAtIndexPath = [IndexPath: CGFloat]()

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, estimatedHeightForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> CGFloat {
    return self.heightAtIndexPath[indexPath] ?? UITableViewAutomaticDimension
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplay cell: UITableViewCell, forRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
    self.heightAtIndexPath[indexPath] = cell.frame.size.height
}

Answer 3

Following @dosdos answer.

I also found interesting to implement: tableView(tableView: didEndDisplayingCell: forRowAtIndexPath:

Specially for my code, where the cell is changing Constraints dynamically while the cell is already displayed on screen. Updating the Dictionary like this helps the second time the cell is displayed.

var heightAtIndexPath = [NSIndexPath : NSNumber]()

....

tableView.rowHeight = UITableViewAutomaticDimension
tableView.estimatedRowHeight = UITableViewAutomaticDimension

....

extension TableViewViewController: UITableViewDelegate {

    //MARK: - UITableViewDelegate

    func tableView(tableView: UITableView,
                   estimatedHeightForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> CGFloat {

        let height = heightAtIndexPath[indexPath]

        if let height = height {

            return CGFloat(height)
        }
        else {

            return UITableViewAutomaticDimension
        }
    }

    func tableView(tableView: UITableView,
                   willDisplayCell cell: UITableViewCell,
                                   forRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) {

        let height: NSNumber = CGRectGetHeight(cell.frame)
        heightAtIndexPath[indexPath] = height
    }

    func tableView(tableView: UITableView,
                   didEndDisplayingCell cell: UITableViewCell,
                                        forRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) {

        let height: NSNumber = CGRectGetHeight(cell.frame)
        heightAtIndexPath[indexPath] = height
    }
}

Answer 4

We had the same problem. It comes from a bad estimation of the cell height that causes the SDK to force a bad height which will cause the jumping of cells when scrolling back up. Depending on how you built your cell, the best way to fix this is to implement the UITableViewDelegate method - (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView estimatedHeightForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath

As long as your estimation is pretty close to the real value of the cell height, this will almost cancel the jumping and jerkiness. Here's how we implemented it, you'll get the logic:

- (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView estimatedHeightForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
    // This method will get your cell identifier based on your data
    NSString *cellType = [self reuseIdentifierForIndexPath:indexPath];

    if ([cellType isEqualToString:kFirstCellIdentifier])
        return kFirstCellHeight;
    else if ([cellType isEqualToString:kSecondCellIdentifier])
        return kSecondCellHeight;
    else if ([cellType isEqualToString:kThirdCellIdentifier])
        return kThirdCellHeight;
    else {
        return UITableViewAutomaticDimension;
    }
}

Added Swift 2 support

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, estimatedHeightForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> CGFloat {
    // This method will get your cell identifier based on your data
    let cellType = reuseIdentifierForIndexPath(indexPath)

    if cellType == kFirstCellIdentifier 
        return kFirstCellHeight
    else if cellType == kSecondCellIdentifier
        return kSecondCellHeight
    else if cellType == kThirdCellIdentifier
        return kThirdCellHeight
    else
        return UITableViewAutomaticDimension  
}

Answer 5

@dosdos solution is working fine

but there is something you should added

following @dosdos answer

Swift 3/4

@IBOutlet var tableView : UITableView!
var heightAtIndexPath = NSMutableDictionary()

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    tableView?.rowHeight = UITableViewAutomaticDimension
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, estimatedHeightForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> CGFloat {
    if let height = heightAtIndexPath.object(forKey: indexPath) as? NSNumber {
        return CGFloat(height.floatValue)
    } else {
        return UITableViewAutomaticDimension
    }
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplay cell: UITableViewCell, forRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
    let height = NSNumber(value: Float(cell.frame.size.height))
    heightAtIndexPath.setObject(height, forKey: indexPath as NSCopying)
}

then use this lines when ever you want , for me I use it inside textDidChange

1. first reload Tableview
2. update constraint

3. finally move to top Tableview

   tableView.reloadData()
   self.tableView.layoutIfNeeded()
   self.tableView.setContentOffset(CGPoint.zero, animated: true)
   

Answer 6

I was facing the same problem too. I did find a workaround, but it doesn't completely fix the jerk. But it seems to be a lot better compared to the previous choppy scrolling.

In your UITableView delegate method :cellForRowAtIndexPath:, try using the following two methods to update the constraints before returning the cell. (Swift language)

cell.setNeedsUpdateConstraints()
cell.updateConstraintsIfNeeded()

EDIT: You may also have to play around with the tableView.estimatedRowHeight value to get a smoother scrolling.