# Customizing an image picker controller Manage user interactions and present custom information when taking pictures by adding an overlay view to your image picker. ## Overview This sample applies an overlay view to display a custom view hierarchy on top of the default image picker interface. The sample app uses an overlay view to: - Create an interface to respond to user input. - Display custom information (such as images to enhance the interface). - Implement a number of unique camera functions such as single picture capture, timed picture capture, and repeated pictures like a camera with a fast shutter speed. ### Configure the sample code project Because the camera isn’t available in Simulator, you’ll need to build and run this sample on a device with iOS 10 or later installed. When you first launch the sample app on device, you’ll need to grant the app permission to use the camera. ### Set up the overlay view The sample app uses the [`cameraOverlayView`](/documentation/UIKit/UIImagePickerController/cameraOverlayView) property to provide an overlay view that contains the custom view hierarchy. The image picker places the custom overlay view on top of the other image picker views. ```swift /* Apply the overlay view. This view contains a toolbar with custom controls for capturing still images in various ways. */ overlayView?.frame = (imagePickerController.cameraOverlayView?.frame)! imagePickerController.cameraOverlayView = overlayView ``` An app can access the [`cameraOverlayView`](/documentation/UIKit/UIImagePickerController/cameraOverlayView) property only when the source type of the image picker is set to `UIImagePickerController.SourceType.camera`. When the user interacts with interface elements in the custom view, the app calls an image picker method such as [`takePicture()`](/documentation/UIKit/UIImagePickerController/takePicture()) to capture a photo, and implement other features. This sample’s custom image picker controller interface provides the following features: - Take a Picture - Take a Delayed Picture - Take Repeated Pictures - Browse Media in the Photo Library The [`showsCameraControls`](/documentation/UIKit/UIImagePickerController/showsCameraControls) property indicates whether the image picker displays the default camera controls. The [`showsCameraControls`](/documentation/UIKit/UIImagePickerController/showsCameraControls) property is only accessible when the source type of the image picker is `UIImagePickerController.SourceType.camera`. This sample sets [`showsCameraControls`](/documentation/UIKit/UIImagePickerController/showsCameraControls) to `false` to hide the default controls and provide a custom overlay view. ```swift if sourceType == UIImagePickerController.SourceType.camera { /* The user tapped the camera button in the app's interface which specifies the device’s built-in camera as the source for the image picker controller. */ /* Hide the default controls. This sample provides its own custom controls for still image capture in an overlay view. */ imagePickerController.showsCameraControls = false /* Apply the overlay view. This view contains a toolbar with custom controls for capturing still images in various ways. */ overlayView?.frame = (imagePickerController.cameraOverlayView?.frame)! imagePickerController.cameraOverlayView = overlayView } ``` ### Take a picture Take a picture with the Snap button. Its action method calls the [`takePicture()`](/documentation/UIKit/UIImagePickerController/takePicture()) method to actually take a picture. ```swift @IBAction func takePhoto(_ sender: UIBarButtonItem) { imagePickerController.takePicture() } ``` ### Take a delayed picture Take a picture after a short delay with the Delayed button. Its action method calls the [`takePicture()`](/documentation/UIKit/UIImagePickerController/takePicture()) method to take a picture when the timer expires. ```swift @IBAction func delayedTakePhoto(_ sender: UIBarButtonItem) { /* Disable the photo controls during the delay time period. The code in the timer completion block below captures a still image when the delay period expires and re-enables the controls. */ doneButton?.isEnabled = false takePictureButton?.isEnabled = false delayedPhotoButton?.isEnabled = false startStopButton?.isEnabled = false let fireDate = Date(timeIntervalSinceNow: 5) cameraTimer = Timer(fire: fireDate, interval: 1.0, repeats: false, block: { timer in // The time interval expired. Capture a still image. self.imagePickerController.takePicture() // Enable the delayed photos controls. self.doneButton?.isEnabled = true self.takePictureButton?.isEnabled = true self.delayedPhotoButton?.isEnabled = true self.startStopButton?.isEnabled = true }) RunLoop.main.add(cameraTimer, forMode: RunLoop.Mode.default) } ``` ### Take repeated pictures Take repeated pictures at a certain interval with the Start button; for example, one photo every five seconds. Its action method creates a timer to take pictures at certain intervals using the [`takePicture()`](/documentation/UIKit/UIImagePickerController/takePicture()) method. This sample takes pictures indefinitely, causing it to run out of memory quickly. You must decide upon a proper threshold of the number of captured photos for your own app (for simplicity, this app does not enforce a limit). To avoid memory constraints, save each taken photo to disk rather than keeping all of the pictures in memory. The system may invoke your app’s [`didReceiveMemoryWarning()`](/documentation/UIKit/UIViewController/didReceiveMemoryWarning()) method in low memory situations so the app can recover some memory and continue taking photos. ```swift @IBAction func startTakingPicturesAtIntervals(_ sender: UIBarButtonItem) { // Start the timer to take a photo every 5 seconds. startStopButton?.title = NSLocalizedString("Stop", comment: "Title for overlay view controller start/stop button") startStopButton?.action = #selector(stopTakingPicturesAtIntervals) // Enable these buttons while capturing photos. doneButton?.isEnabled = false delayedPhotoButton?.isEnabled = false takePictureButton?.isEnabled = false // Start taking pictures. cameraTimer = Timer.scheduledTimer(withTimeInterval: 5, repeats: true) { timer in self.imagePickerController.takePicture() } } ``` The camera starts taking pictures as soon as the user taps the Start button (which changes to a Stop button). The camera continues to capture photos until the user taps Stop. Captured images appear in the order taken within the app’s image view. ```swift @IBAction func stopTakingPicturesAtIntervals(_ sender: UIBarButtonItem) { // Stop and reset the timer. cameraTimer.invalidate() finishAndUpdate() // Make these buttons available again. self.doneButton?.isEnabled = true self.takePictureButton?.isEnabled = true self.delayedPhotoButton?.isEnabled = true // Reset the button to start taking pictures again. startStopButton?.title = NSLocalizedString("Start", comment: "Title for overlay view controller start/stop button") startStopButton?.action = #selector(startTakingPicturesAtIntervals) } ``` ### Browse media in the Photo Library To browse images saved in the photo albums on the device, add a button that the user can press to go to their Photo Library. The button’s action method configures the picker for browsing saved media by setting its [`sourceType`](/documentation/UIKit/UIImagePickerController/sourceType-swift.property) property to `UIImagePickerController.SourceType.photoLibrary`, before presenting the picker’s media browser user interface. ```swift @IBAction func showImagePickerForPhotoPicker(_ sender: UIBarButtonItem) { showImagePicker(sourceType: UIImagePickerController.SourceType.photoLibrary, button: sender) } ``` Selecting a photo invokes the app’s [`imagePickerController(_:didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIImagePickerControllerDelegate/imagePickerController(_:didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:)) delegate method which saves the selected image to an array and displays it in the app’s image view. Tapping the Cancel button invokes the app’s [`imagePickerControllerDidCancel(_:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIImagePickerControllerDelegate/imagePickerControllerDidCancel(_:)) delegate method which calls [`dismiss(animated:completion:)`](/documentation/UIKit/UIViewController/dismiss(animated:completion:)) to dismiss the picker. --- 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)