When it comes to programmatically creating custom UITableViewCells, there's a common stumbling block that developers often encounter. It's the scenario where you add a button to the cell, but the target action doesn't get triggered when the button is pressed. While there could be several factors contributing to this issue, I'll delve into one of the fundamental design flaws that can lead to such behavior.

The crux of the problem often lies in the way we add subviews to our custom cell programmatically. A common practice is to add the subviews directly to the cell itself. However, this approach can cause unexpected behavior, including the failure of target action calls when a button is pressed.

override init(style: UITableViewCell.CellStyle, reuseIdentifier: String?) {
        super.init(style: style, reuseIdentifier: reuseIdentifier)
        
        addSubview(button)
        button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(didTapButton), for: .touchUpInside)
}

So, what’s the solution? Let’s dive into it.

Rather than adding subviews directly to the cell, the key is to add them to the contentView of the UITableViewCell. By doing so, you ensure that the subviews are properly managed and aligned within the cell’s content area. This includes adding buttons as well.

override init(style: UITableViewCell.CellStyle, reuseIdentifier: String?) {
        super.init(style: style, reuseIdentifier: reuseIdentifier)
        
        contentView.addSubview(button)        
}

Adding a button directly to the cell can result in target action calls not being triggered as expected. This is because the cell’s frame might not accurately reflect the content area available for interaction. When you add the button to the contentView, UIKit takes care of ensuring that the button’s frame is correctly calculated within the content area, leading to consistent and reliable target action calls.