Easily Creating Blur Effect for UITableViewCells Using iOS 8 VisualEffectView

gistfile1.txt

//
//  FlowersTableViewController.swift
//  Flowers++
//
//  Created by Mohammad Azam on 6/6/14.
//  Copyright (c) 2014 AzamSharp Consulting LLC. All rights reserved.

//  www.azamsharp.com
// www.youtube.com/azamsharp 

import UIKit

class FlowersTableViewController: UITableViewController {

    var flowers :NSMutableArray = NSMutableArray()
    
    init(style: UITableViewStyle) {
        super.init(style: style)
        // Custom initialization
    }
    
    init(coder aDecoder: NSCoder!)
    {
        super.init(coder: aDecoder)
    }

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        
        var rose :Flower = Flower()
        rose.name = "Roses"
        rose.backgroundImage = "A-rose-is-a-rose-roses-20581060-2256-1496.jpg"
        
        var shrub :Flower = Flower()
        shrub.name = "Shrubs"
        shrub.backgroundImage = "shrub-garden-green-mulch.jpg"
        
        flowers.addObject(rose)
        flowers.addObject(shrub)
        
        self.tableView.reloadData()
        
    }

    override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
        super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
        // Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
    }

    // #pragma mark - Table view data source

    override func numberOfSectionsInTableView(tableView: UITableView?) -> Int {
        return 1
    }

    override func tableView(tableView: UITableView?, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return flowers.count
    }

    
    override func tableView(tableView: UITableView?, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath?) -> UITableViewCell?
    {
        println("The indexPath code is \(indexPath!.row)")
        
        let cell = tableView!.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier("FlowerTableViewCell", forIndexPath: indexPath) as FlowerTableViewCell
        
        let flower = flowers[indexPath!.row] as Flower
        
        let backgroundImageView = UIImageView(image: UIImage(named: flower.backgroundImage))
        
        cell.backgroundView = backgroundImageView
        
        var visualEffectView = UIVisualEffectView(effect: UIBlurEffect(style: .Light)) as UIVisualEffectView
        
        visualEffectView.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, cell.bounds.width, cell.bounds.height)
        backgroundImageView.addSubview(visualEffectView)
        
        cell.textLabel.text = flower.name
        cell.textLabel.textColor = UIColor.whiteColor()
        cell.textLabel.backgroundColor = UIColor.clearColor()
        
        return cell
    }
    

    /*
    // Override to support conditional editing of the table view.
    override func tableView(tableView: UITableView?, canEditRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath?) -> Bool {
        // Return NO if you do not want the specified item to be editable.
        return true
    }
    */

    /*
    // Override to support editing the table view.
    override func tableView(tableView: UITableView?, commitEditingStyle editingStyle: UITableViewCellEditingStyle, forRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath?) {
        if editingStyle == .Delete {
            // Delete the row from the data source
            tableView.deleteRowsAtIndexPaths([indexPath], withRowAnimation: .Fade)
        } else if editingStyle == .Insert {
            // Create a new instance of the appropriate class, insert it into the array, and add a new row to the table view
        }    
    }
    */

    /*
    // Override to support rearranging the table view.
    override func tableView(tableView: UITableView?, moveRowAtIndexPath fromIndexPath: NSIndexPath?, toIndexPath: NSIndexPath?) {

    }
    */

    /*
    // Override to support conditional rearranging of the table view.
    override func tableView(tableView: UITableView?, canMoveRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath?) -> Bool {
        // Return NO if you do not want the item to be re-orderable.
        return true
    }
    */

    /*
    // #pragma mark - Navigation

    // In a storyboard-based application, you will often want to do a little preparation before navigation
    override func prepareForSegue(segue: UIStoryboardSegue?, sender: AnyObject?) {
        // Get the new view controller using [segue destinationViewController].
        // Pass the selected object to the new view controller.
    }
    */

}