UIStackView - layout constraint issues when hiding stack views

I had the same problem and I fixed it by giving the height constraints of my initially hidden views a priority of 999.

The problem is that your stackview applies a height constraint of 0 on your hidden view which conflicts with your other height constraint. This was the error message:

Probably at least one of the constraints in the following list is one you don't want. Try this: (1) look at each constraint and try to figure out which you don't expect; (2) find the code that added the unwanted constraint or constraints and fix it. (Note: If you're seeing NSAutoresizingMaskLayoutConstraints that you don't understand, refer to the documentation for the UIView property translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints) (    "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x7fa3a5004310 V:[App.DummyView:0x7fa3a5003fd0(40)]>",    "<NSLayoutConstraint:0x7fa3a3e44190 'UISV-hiding' V:[App.DummyView:0x7fa3a5003fd0(0)]>")

Giving your height constraint a lower priority solves this problem.

This is a known problem with hiding nested stack views.

There are essentially 3 solutions to this problem:

1. Change the spacing to 0, but then you'll need to remember the previous spacing value.
2. Call innerStackView.removeFromSuperview(), but then you'll need to remember where to insert the stack view.
3. Wrap the stack view in a UIView with at least one 999 constraint. E.g. Top, Leading, Trailing @ 1000, Bottom@999.

The 3rd option is the best in my opinion. For more information about this problem, why it happens, the different solutions, and how to implement solution 3, see my answer to a similar question.

You can use the removeArrangedSubview and removeFromSuperview property of UIStackView.

In Objective-C :

 [self.topStackView removeArrangedSubview:self.summaryStackView]; [self.summaryStackView removeFromSuperview]; [self.topStackView removeArrangedSubview:self.combinedStackView]; [self.combinedStackView removeFromSuperview];

From Apple UIStackView Documentation:(https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/UIKit/Reference/UIStackView_Class_Reference/#//apple_ref/occ/instm/UIStackView/removeArrangedSubview:)

The stack view automatically updates its layout whenever views are added, removed or inserted into the arrangedSubviews array.

• removeArrangedSubview: This method removes the provided view from the stack’s arrangedSubviews array. The view’s position and size will no longer be managed by the stack view. However, this method does not remove the provided view from the stack’s subviews array; therefore, the view is still displayed as part of the view hierarchy.

To prevent the view from appearing on screen after calling the stack’s removeArrangedSubview: method, explicitly remove the view from the subviews array by calling the view’s removeFromSuperview method, or set the view’s hidden property to YES.