A Swift Approach
This answer builds on the answers above and provides implementation for dealing with the problem of the gradient not being properly applied during rotation. It satisfies this problem by changing the gradient layer to a square so that rotation in all directions results in a correct gradient. The function signature includes a Swift variadic argument that allows one to pass in as many CGColorRef's (CGColor) as needed (see sample usage). Also provided is an example as a Swift extension so that one can apply a gradient to any UIView.
func configureGradientBackground(colors:CGColorRef...){
let gradient: CAGradientLayer = CAGradientLayer()
let maxWidth = max(self.view.bounds.size.height,self.view.bounds.size.width)
let squareFrame = CGRect(origin: self.view.bounds.origin, size: CGSizeMake(maxWidth, maxWidth))
gradient.frame = squareFrame
gradient.colors = colors
view.layer.insertSublayer(gradient, atIndex: 0)
}
To use:
in viewDidLoad...
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
configureGradientBackground(UIColor.redColor().CGColor, UIColor.whiteColor().CGColor)
}
Extension implementation
extension CALayer {
func configureGradientBackground(colors:CGColorRef...){
let gradient = CAGradientLayer()
let maxWidth = max(self.bounds.size.height,self.bounds.size.width)
let squareFrame = CGRect(origin: self.bounds.origin, size: CGSizeMake(maxWidth, maxWidth))
gradient.frame = squareFrame
gradient.colors = colors
self.insertSublayer(gradient, atIndex: 0)
}
}
Extension use-case example:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.view.layer.configureGradientBackground(UIColor.purpleColor().CGColor, UIColor.blueColor().CGColor, UIColor.whiteColor().CGColor)
}
Which means the gradient background can now be applied to any UIControl since all controls are UIViews (or a subclass) and all UIViews have CALayers.
Swift 4
Extension implementation
extension CALayer {
public func configureGradientBackground(_ colors:CGColor...){
let gradient = CAGradientLayer()
let maxWidth = max(self.bounds.size.height,self.bounds.size.width)
let squareFrame = CGRect(origin: self.bounds.origin, size: CGSize(width: maxWidth, height: maxWidth))
gradient.frame = squareFrame
gradient.colors = colors
self.insertSublayer(gradient, at: 0)
}
}
Extension use-case example:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.view.layer.configureGradientBackground(UIColor.purple.cgColor, UIColor.blue.cgColor, UIColor.white.cgColor)
}