Snap to center of a cell when scrolling UICollectionView horizontally

Solution 1:

While originally I was using Objective-C, I since switched so Swift and the original accepted answer did not suffice.

I ended up creating a UICollectionViewLayout subclass which provides the best (imo) experience as opposed to the other functions which alter content offset or something similar when the user has stopped scrolling.

class SnappingCollectionViewLayout: UICollectionViewFlowLayout {

    override func targetContentOffset(forProposedContentOffset proposedContentOffset: CGPoint, withScrollingVelocity velocity: CGPoint) -> CGPoint {
        guard let collectionView = collectionView else { return super.targetContentOffset(forProposedContentOffset: proposedContentOffset, withScrollingVelocity: velocity) }

        var offsetAdjustment = CGFloat.greatestFiniteMagnitude
        let horizontalOffset = proposedContentOffset.x + collectionView.contentInset.left

        let targetRect = CGRect(x: proposedContentOffset.x, y: 0, width: collectionView.bounds.size.width, height: collectionView.bounds.size.height)

        let layoutAttributesArray = super.layoutAttributesForElements(in: targetRect)

        layoutAttributesArray?.forEach({ (layoutAttributes) in
            let itemOffset = layoutAttributes.frame.origin.x
            if fabsf(Float(itemOffset - horizontalOffset)) < fabsf(Float(offsetAdjustment)) {
                offsetAdjustment = itemOffset - horizontalOffset
            }
        })

        return CGPoint(x: proposedContentOffset.x + offsetAdjustment, y: proposedContentOffset.y)
    }
}

For the most native feeling deceleration with the current layout subclass, make sure to set the following:

collectionView?.decelerationRate = UIScrollViewDecelerationRateFast

Solution 2:

Based on answer from Mete and comment from Chris Chute,

Here's a Swift 4 extension that will do just what OP wants. It's tested on single row and double row nested collection views and it works just fine.

extension UICollectionView {
    func scrollToNearestVisibleCollectionViewCell() {
        self.decelerationRate = UIScrollViewDecelerationRateFast
        let visibleCenterPositionOfScrollView = Float(self.contentOffset.x + (self.bounds.size.width / 2))
        var closestCellIndex = -1
        var closestDistance: Float = .greatestFiniteMagnitude
        for i in 0..<self.visibleCells.count {
            let cell = self.visibleCells[i]
            let cellWidth = cell.bounds.size.width
            let cellCenter = Float(cell.frame.origin.x + cellWidth / 2)

            // Now calculate closest cell
            let distance: Float = fabsf(visibleCenterPositionOfScrollView - cellCenter)
            if distance < closestDistance {
                closestDistance = distance
                closestCellIndex = self.indexPath(for: cell)!.row
            }
        }
        if closestCellIndex != -1 {
            self.scrollToItem(at: IndexPath(row: closestCellIndex, section: 0), at: .centeredHorizontally, animated: true)
        }
    }
}

You need to implement UIScrollViewDelegate protocol for your collection view and then add these two methods:

func scrollViewDidEndDecelerating(_ scrollView: UIScrollView) {
    self.collectionView.scrollToNearestVisibleCollectionViewCell()
}

func scrollViewDidEndDragging(_ scrollView: UIScrollView, willDecelerate decelerate: Bool) {
    if !decelerate {
        self.collectionView.scrollToNearestVisibleCollectionViewCell()
    }
}

Solution 3:

Snap to the nearest cell, respecting scroll velocity.

Works without any glitches.

import UIKit

class SnapCenterLayout: UICollectionViewFlowLayout {
  override func targetContentOffset(forProposedContentOffset proposedContentOffset: CGPoint, withScrollingVelocity velocity: CGPoint) -> CGPoint {
    guard let collectionView = collectionView else { return super.targetContentOffset(forProposedContentOffset: proposedContentOffset, withScrollingVelocity: velocity) }
    let parent = super.targetContentOffset(forProposedContentOffset: proposedContentOffset, withScrollingVelocity: velocity)

    let itemSpace = itemSize.width + minimumInteritemSpacing
    var currentItemIdx = round(collectionView.contentOffset.x / itemSpace)

    // Skip to the next cell, if there is residual scrolling velocity left.
    // This helps to prevent glitches
    let vX = velocity.x
    if vX > 0 {
      currentItemIdx += 1
    } else if vX < 0 {
      currentItemIdx -= 1
    }

    let nearestPageOffset = currentItemIdx * itemSpace
    return CGPoint(x: nearestPageOffset,
                   y: parent.y)
  }
}