ivan-magda/swiftui-interface-orientation

Table of Contents

• Background
• Features
• Installation
• Usage
• Project Structure
• Contributing
• License

Background

SwiftUI has no built-in way to control orientation per view. Your options are to lock the whole app through Info.plist, or to manage application(_:supportedInterfaceOrientationsFor:) by hand and track which screen is visible across the UIKit lifecycle.

This package replaces that bookkeeping with a single view modifier. Each view registers its allowed orientations when it appears and removes them when it disappears. A shared InterfaceOrientationManager holds the registry, computes the intersection of every active constraint, and asks the system to re-evaluate the supported orientations. When two visible views ask for orientations that don't overlap, the manager falls back to your app defaults instead of returning an empty mask.

Features

• One modifier, .supportedInterfaceOrientations(_:), applied directly to any view.
• Constraints register on onAppear and clear on onDisappear, so navigating away restores the previous orientation.
• Multiple visible views resolve to the intersection of their masks; an empty intersection falls back to your defaults.
• Defaults read from UISupportedInterfaceOrientations in Info.plist, or set them explicitly through Configuration.
• Updates supported orientations through setNeedsUpdateOfSupportedInterfaceOrientations() on iOS 16+, falling back to attemptRotationToDeviceOrientation() on earlier versions.
• @MainActor-isolated manager built for the Swift 6 language mode.

Installation

Xcode

1. Open File → Add Package Dependencies…
2. Enter the URL: https://github.com/ivan-magda/swiftui-interface-orientation.git
3. Choose the SwiftUIInterfaceOrientation library and add it to your target.

Package.swift

Add the package to your dependencies:

dependencies: [
    .package(
        url: "https://github.com/ivan-magda/swiftui-interface-orientation.git",
        from: "1.2.0"
    )
]

Then add the product to your target:

.target(
    name: "YourTarget",
    dependencies: [
        .product(
            name: "SwiftUIInterfaceOrientation",
            package: "swiftui-interface-orientation"
        )
    ]
)

App-level setup

The manager resolves orientations, but iOS only asks for them through your app delegate. Implement application(_:supportedInterfaceOrientationsFor:) and return InterfaceOrientationManager.shared.supportedInterfaceOrientations. Without this hook the modifier has no effect.

import SwiftUI
import SwiftUIInterfaceOrientation

class AppDelegate: NSObject, UIApplicationDelegate {
    func application(
        _ application: UIApplication,
        supportedInterfaceOrientationsFor window: UIWindow?
    ) -> UIInterfaceOrientationMask {
        InterfaceOrientationManager.shared.supportedInterfaceOrientations
    }
}

@main
struct MyApp: App {
    @UIApplicationDelegateAdaptor(AppDelegate.self) var appDelegate

    var body: some Scene {
        WindowGroup {
            ContentView()
        }
    }
}

The manager reads its defaults from the UISupportedInterfaceOrientations key in your app's Info.plist. To set defaults in code instead, see Custom defaults.

Usage

Lock a single view

Apply the modifier to any view. The constraint applies while the view is visible and clears when it leaves the screen.

import SwiftUI
import SwiftUIInterfaceOrientation

struct PortraitOnlyView: View {
    var body: some View {
        Text("Locked to portrait")
            .supportedInterfaceOrientations(.portrait)
    }
}

Navigation

Each destination declares its own orientations. The constraint registers when the destination appears and clears when you navigate back.

struct ContentView: View {
    var body: some View {
        NavigationStack { // NavigationView on iOS 14-15
            List {
                NavigationLink("Portrait screen") {
                    Text("Portrait only")
                        .supportedInterfaceOrientations(.portrait)
                }

                NavigationLink("Landscape screen") {
                    Text("Landscape only")
                        .supportedInterfaceOrientations(.landscape)
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Allow all but upside down

A common choice for iPhone apps:

ContentView()
    .supportedInterfaceOrientations(.allButUpsideDown)

Clear a constraint

Pass nil or an empty mask to remove this view's constraint and let the defaults apply.

SomeView()
    .supportedInterfaceOrientations(isLocked ? .portrait : nil)

Custom defaults

By default the manager reads UISupportedInterfaceOrientations from Info.plist. To supply defaults in code, call configure(configuration:) before anything accesses InterfaceOrientationManager.shared. The call asserts if the manager has already initialized, so place it at the start of your launch sequence, such as in application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:).

class AppDelegate: NSObject, UIApplicationDelegate {
    func application(
        _ application: UIApplication,
        didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?
    ) -> Bool {
        InterfaceOrientationManager.configure(
            configuration: .init(defaultOrientations: .portrait)
        )
        return true
    }

    func application(
        _ application: UIApplication,
        supportedInterfaceOrientationsFor window: UIWindow?
    ) -> UIInterfaceOrientationMask {
        InterfaceOrientationManager.shared.supportedInterfaceOrientations
    }
}

Configuration.fromInfoPlist() is the default and reproduces the automatic behavior.

Project Structure

Sources/SwiftUIInterfaceOrientation/
├── InterfaceOrientationManager.swift   // Registry, resolution, and Configuration
├── View+InterfaceOrientation.swift     // The .supportedInterfaceOrientations(_:) modifier
└── MainBundleInfo.swift                // Reads UISupportedInterfaceOrientations from Info.plist

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. The package builds with swift build, and the test suite runs against an iOS simulator:

xcodebuild test \
  -scheme SwiftUIInterfaceOrientation \
  -destination "platform=iOS Simulator,OS=18.4,name=iPhone 16" \
  -configuration Debug

Lint with swiftlint --strict before opening a pull request.

License

Released under the MIT License. See LICENSE for the full text.

Package Metadata

Repository: ivan-magda/swiftui-interface-orientation

Default branch: main

README: README.md