UITextView that expands to text using auto layout

I have a view that is laid out completely using auto layout programmatically. I have a UITextView in the middle of the view with items above and below it. Everything works fine, but I want to be able to expand UITextView as text is added. This should push everything below it down as it expands.

I know how to do this the "springs and struts" way, but is there an auto layout way of doing this? The only way I can think of is by removing and re-adding the constraint every time it needs to grow.

Summary: Disable scrolling of your text view, and don't constraint its height.

To do this programmatically, put the following code in viewDidLoad:

let textView = UITextView(frame: .zero, textContainer: nil)
textView.backgroundColor = .yellow // visual debugging
textView.isScrollEnabled = false   // causes expanding height
view.addSubview(textView)

// Auto Layout
textView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
let safeArea = view.safeAreaLayoutGuide
NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
    textView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: safeArea.topAnchor),
    textView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: safeArea.leadingAnchor),
    textView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: safeArea.trailingAnchor)
])

To do this in Interface Builder, select the text view, uncheck Scrolling Enabled in the Attributes Inspector, and add the constraints manually.

Note: If you have other view/s above/below your text view, consider using a UIStackView to arrange them all.

Here's a solution for people who prefer to do it all by auto layout:

In Size Inspector:

1. Set content compression resistance priority vertical to 1000.

2. Lower the priority of constraint height by click "Edit" in Constraints. Just make it less than 1000.

In Attributes Inspector:

1. Uncheck "Scrolling Enabled"

UITextView doesn't provide an intrinsicContentSize, so you need to subclass it and provide one. To make it grow automatically, invalidate the intrinsicContentSize in layoutSubviews. If you use anything other than the default contentInset (which I do not recommend), you may need to adjust the intrinsicContentSize calculation.

@interface AutoTextView : UITextView

@end

#import "AutoTextView.h"

@implementation AutoTextView

- (void) layoutSubviews
{
    [super layoutSubviews];

    if (!CGSizeEqualToSize(self.bounds.size, [self intrinsicContentSize])) {
        [self invalidateIntrinsicContentSize];
    }
}

- (CGSize)intrinsicContentSize
{
    CGSize intrinsicContentSize = self.contentSize;

    // iOS 7.0+
    if ([[[UIDevice currentDevice] systemVersion] floatValue] >= 7.0f) {
        intrinsicContentSize.width += (self.textContainerInset.left + self.textContainerInset.right ) / 2.0f;
        intrinsicContentSize.height += (self.textContainerInset.top + self.textContainerInset.bottom) / 2.0f;
    }

    return intrinsicContentSize;
}

@end