Adjust the intensity of colors in SwiftUI views

In SwiftUI, we can use the convenient brightness(_:) modifier to adjust the brightness of colors in our views. It accepts a Double value, where passing 0 keeps the original color, and a value of 1 makes the color fully white.

Here’s an example of how we can use it to lighten a color:

ForEach(0..<8) { num in
    Color.purple
        .brightness(Double(num) * 0.1)
}

This creates a gradient effect, transitioning the purple color from its original shade to almost white.

iPhone screen displaying a gradient of color purple from original to almost white

We can also use negative values with the brightness(_:) modifier to darken a color as it approaches -1:

ForEach(0..<8) { num in
    Color.purple
        .brightness(Double(num) * -0.1)
}

This results in a gradient effect where the purple transitions from its original shade to almost black.

iPhone screen displaying a gradient of color purple from original to almost black

If you have older iOS apps and want to enhance them with modern SwiftUI features, check out my book Integrating SwiftUI into UIKit Apps. It provides detailed guidance on gradually adopting SwiftUI in your UIKit projects. Additionally, if you're eager to enhance your Swift programming skills, my latest book Swift Gems offers over a hundred advanced tips and techniques, including optimizing collections, handling strings, mastering asynchronous programming, and debugging, to take your Swift code to the next level.

If you are enjoying our blog and would like to support us, you can sponsor us on GitHub.