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How to Format Dates and Times with SystemFormatStyle in SwiftUI

Learn to Build Accurate Counting-Up Timers in SwiftUI with Real-Time Updates

Apple has revolutionized time formatting in SwiftUI by introducing SystemFormatStyle, a flexible and powerful API for handling date, time, and interval-related formatting. It simplifies tasks like displaying relative time differences, precise offsets, or timers, enabling developers to focus on building rich user experiences.

This guide provides a deep dive into DateReference, DateOffset, Stopwatch, Timer, and TimeDataSource.

What is SystemFormatStyle?

SystemFormatStyle is a declarative way to render time-related data in SwiftUI. Its modularity allows for precise formatting while integrating with modern SwiftUI views, ensuring seamless localization and user-friendly displays.

Let’s explore each component with multiple practical examples.

1. DateReference: Natural Relative Time Formatting

The DateReference style is designed to express relative differences between dates in the most natural way, like "3 days ago" or "Next year."

Example 1: Simple Relative Time Difference

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AppMakers.DEV — iOS App Development in SwiftUI and Swift
AppMakers.DEV — iOS App Development in SwiftUI and Swift

Published in AppMakers.DEV — iOS App Development in SwiftUI and Swift

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Alexander Adelmaer
Alexander Adelmaer

Written by Alexander Adelmaer

I write about iOS App Development at ✍️ https://medium.com/app-makers About Growth and Self-Development at ✍️ https://medium.com/take-action Join Me & My Blogs

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