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UISegmentedControl
iOS Development
Swift
User Interface
Mobile App Development

get string value from UISegmentedControl

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Introduction

UISegmentedControl provides the selected segment's index via its selectedSegmentIndex property, not the title string directly. To get the string value, call titleForSegment(at:) with the selected index. This returns an Optional<String> because the segment might use an image instead of a title, or the index could be UISegmentedControl.noSegment (-1) when nothing is selected.

Getting the Selected Segment Title

swift
1let segmentedControl = UISegmentedControl(items: ["Daily", "Weekly", "Monthly"])
2segmentedControl.selectedSegmentIndex = 0
3
4// Get the selected title
5let selectedIndex = segmentedControl.selectedSegmentIndex
6let selectedTitle = segmentedControl.titleForSegment(at: selectedIndex)
7
8print(selectedTitle)  // Optional("Daily")

Always unwrap safely since the result is optional:

swift
1if let title = segmentedControl.titleForSegment(at: segmentedControl.selectedSegmentIndex) {
2    print("Selected: \(title)")
3} else {
4    print("No segment selected or segment has no title")
5}

Responding to Selection Changes

Use a target-action or @IBAction to respond when the user taps a segment:

swift
1// Programmatic setup
2segmentedControl.addTarget(self, action: #selector(segmentChanged(_:)), for: .valueChanged)
3
4@objc func segmentChanged(_ sender: UISegmentedControl) {
5    let index = sender.selectedSegmentIndex
6    if let title = sender.titleForSegment(at: index) {
7        print("Selected: \(title)")
8        updateUI(for: title)
9    }
10}

With Interface Builder:

swift
1@IBAction func segmentChanged(_ sender: UISegmentedControl) {
2    guard let title = sender.titleForSegment(at: sender.selectedSegmentIndex) else { return }
3    filterLabel.text = "Filter: \(title)"
4}

Mapping Segments to Enum Values

For type-safe handling, map segment indices to an enum:

swift
1enum TimePeriod: Int, CaseIterable {
2    case daily = 0
3    case weekly = 1
4    case monthly = 2
5
6    var displayName: String {
7        switch self {
8        case .daily: return "Daily"
9        case .weekly: return "Weekly"
10        case .monthly: return "Monthly"
11        }
12    }
13}
14
15// Create segmented control from enum
16let items = TimePeriod.allCases.map { $0.displayName }
17let segmentedControl = UISegmentedControl(items: items)
18
19// Get the enum value on selection
20@objc func segmentChanged(_ sender: UISegmentedControl) {
21    guard let period = TimePeriod(rawValue: sender.selectedSegmentIndex) else { return }
22
23    switch period {
24    case .daily:
25        loadDailyData()
26    case .weekly:
27        loadWeeklyData()
28    case .monthly:
29        loadMonthlyData()
30    }
31}

Getting All Segment Titles

swift
1func getAllTitles(from control: UISegmentedControl) -> [String] {
2    return (0..<control.numberOfSegments).compactMap { index in
3        control.titleForSegment(at: index)
4    }
5}
6
7let titles = getAllTitles(from: segmentedControl)
8print(titles)  // ["Daily", "Weekly", "Monthly"]

Setting and Modifying Segment Titles

swift
1let control = UISegmentedControl(items: ["One", "Two", "Three"])
2
3// Change a segment title
4control.setTitle("First", forSegmentAt: 0)
5
6// Insert a new segment
7control.insertSegment(withTitle: "Four", at: 3, animated: true)
8
9// Remove a segment
10control.removeSegment(at: 1, animated: true)
11
12// Replace all segments
13control.removeAllSegments()
14for (index, title) in ["A", "B", "C"].enumerated() {
15    control.insertSegment(withTitle: title, at: index, animated: false)
16}

Handling No Selection

swift
1let control = UISegmentedControl(items: ["Option A", "Option B"])
2// No segment selected initially if isMomentary = true or selectedSegmentIndex not set
3
4if control.selectedSegmentIndex == UISegmentedControl.noSegment {
5    print("Nothing selected")
6} else if let title = control.titleForSegment(at: control.selectedSegmentIndex) {
7    print("Selected: \(title)")
8}

UISegmentedControl.noSegment equals -1. Passing -1 to titleForSegment(at:) returns nil.

SwiftUI Equivalent

In SwiftUI, use Picker with SegmentedPickerStyle:

swift
1struct ContentView: View {
2    @State private var selection = "Daily"
3    let options = ["Daily", "Weekly", "Monthly"]
4
5    var body: some View {
6        Picker("Period", selection: $selection) {
7            ForEach(options, id: \.self) { option in
8                Text(option).tag(option)
9            }
10        }
11        .pickerStyle(.segmented)
12
13        Text("Selected: \(selection)")  // Directly a String, no unwrapping needed
14    }
15}

SwiftUI binds the selected value directly to a String variable — no index-to-title conversion needed.

Common Pitfalls

  • Not handling noSegment (-1): If no segment is selected, selectedSegmentIndex returns -1. Passing this to titleForSegment(at:) returns nil. Always check for UISegmentedControl.noSegment before accessing the title.
  • Force-unwrapping the optional title: titleForSegment(at:) returns String?. Segments can use images instead of titles, so nil is a valid return. Force-unwrapping (title!) crashes if the segment has an image instead of a title.
  • Using hard-coded index-to-string mapping: if index == 0 { return "Daily" } breaks when segments are reordered or titles change. Use titleForSegment(at:) or an enum mapped to indices for maintainable code.
  • Forgetting to set an initial selection: If selectedSegmentIndex is not set, it defaults to -1 (no selection) unless set in Interface Builder. Users see no highlighted segment, and reading the title returns nil.
  • Not connecting the valueChanged event: UISegmentedControl fires .valueChanged when the user taps a different segment. If you connect to .touchUpInside instead, the action never fires.

Summary

  • Use titleForSegment(at: selectedSegmentIndex) to get the selected segment's string value
  • The return type is String? — always unwrap safely with if let or guard let
  • Connect to the .valueChanged control event to respond to segment changes
  • Map indices to an enum for type-safe segment handling
  • selectedSegmentIndex returns -1 (noSegment) when nothing is selected
  • In SwiftUI, use Picker with .segmented style for direct string binding
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