How to use images and other views as a backgrounds

Paul Hudson @twostraws September 3rd 2021

Updated for Xcode 13.0

SwiftUI doesn’t have a dedicated modifier for displaying background colors or images, but instead lets us specify any kind of background view using its background() modifier.

For example, this creates a text view with a large font, then places a 100x100 image behind it:

Text("Hacking with Swift")
    .font(.system(size: 48))
    .padding(50)
    .background(
        Image("singapore")
            .resizable()
    )

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The words “Hacking with Swift” over an image of the indoor waterfall at Singapore's “Jewel” airport terminal.

However, it doesn’t need to be an image. For example, this creates the same text view then places a 50x50 red circle behind it:

Text("Hacking with Swift")
    .font(.largeTitle)
    .padding()
    .background(Circle()
        .fill(Color.red)
        .frame(width: 50, height: 50))

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The words “Hacking with Swift” over a small red circle.

By default background views automatically take up as much space as they need to be fully visible, but if you want you can have them be clipped to the size of their parent view using the clipped() modifier:

Text("Hacking with Swift")
    .font(.largeTitle)
    .padding()
    .background(
        Circle()
            .fill(Color.red)
            .frame(width: 100, height: 100)
    )
    .clipped()

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The words “Hacking with Swift” over a red circle which has been clipped at the top and bottom.