# init(_:format:) Creates a text view that displays the current system time as defined by the given format style, keeping the text up to date as time progresses. ``` init(_ source: TimeDataSource, format: F) where V == F.FormatInput, F : DiscreteFormatStyle, F.FormatOutput == String ``` ## Discussion Use this initializer to create a text view that updates as time progresses, just like `init(_:style:)`, but with the flexibility of Foundation’s `FormatStyle` protocol. In the following example, the first `Text` view presents the current date and time, whereas the second view displays a soccer clock counting from `startDate`. Both views are kept up to date as time progresses. ``` Text(.currentDate, format: .dateTime) Text(.durationOffset(to: startDate), format: .time(pattern: .minuteSecond)) ``` ## Redaction for Reduced Luminance When the text is displayed with reduced luminance and frame rate, it automatically modifies the `format` or its output so it never shows outdated information. If the `format` is known to SwiftUI and allows removing units or fields, SwiftUI removes parts that change more frequently than the frame rate allows. E.g. a string like *13 minutes, 22 seconds* would change to just `13 minutes`. Otherwise, all digits in the formatted output are redacted using dashes. > Note: In a widget, this `Text` becomes horizontally flexible and > expands to fill the available width, because its displayed content > keeps updating over time. Widgets can’t perform layout again after > the system archives them, so the text can’t measure itself against > its eventual content without risking clipping. If you want to > constrain the width, apply a > ``View/frame(width:height:alignment:)`` modifier, and use > ``View/multilineTextAlignment(_:)`` to align the text within > that frame. --- Copyright © 2026 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. | [Terms of Use](https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/terms/site.html) | [Privacy Policy](https://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-policy)