I have a textfield where a user can manually enter a location string. This is bound to my observed object AppState which i’ve re-labelled (app) which has a @Published var called destination. This works fine and I am able to bind the manually typed text in the text field like so:

TextField("Destination", text: $app.destination)

I have started trying to implement a favourites system where the user can save and change up to 4 destinations to quickly enter without re-typing (Only 1 is entered into the textfield at a time).

When the user presses on one of their favourites, the favourite appears in the textfield, there they can change it by typing a new one an saving it, or pressing a new favourite which replaces the one in the textField. The user must also have the option of not entering a favourite at all and be able to enter a random one too.

I have got this part working all reasonably well so far and am happy with the functionality.

My issue here is that I can’t figure out how to bind whatever is in the textfield to my ObservedObject app.destination. After some trouble shooting I have found that only the manually entered text will store in app.destination. Having a favourite appear in the textfield does not bind.

I have tried variations on .onChange() and .onTapGesture() and .focused() to run an if/else block which would simply assign the text in the textfield to app.destination but it is still buggy and you can’t then save a new favourite…

I’m going around in circles trying to figure this out and would greatly appreciate some help.

I have a minimum reproducible example for you to copy and paste. Thank you

Main View

struct ContentView: View {
    @StateObject private var favoritesViewModel = FavoritesViewModel()
    @ObservedObject var app = AppState()
    @State private var newLocation = ""
    @State private var selectedLocationIndex = 0
    @State private var userSelectedFavourite: String = ""
    @State private var favouritePressed: Bool = false
    @FocusState private var isFocused: Bool
    
    var body: some View {
        VStack {
            HStack {
                //.........THIS IS THE ISSUE TEXTFIELD
                TextField("Destination", text: (favouritePressed && !isFocused) ? $favoritesViewModel.favoriteLocations[selectedLocationIndex] : $newLocation)
                //.....................................
                .focused($isFocused)
                .contentShape(.rect)
                .textInputAutocapitalization(.characters)
                .disableAutocorrection(true)
                .padding()
                .frame(width: 280, height: 60)
                .overlay(
                    RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 10)
                        .stroke(Color.gray, lineWidth: 2)
                )
                
                Button("Save") {
                    saveLocation(locationIndex: selectedLocationIndex)
                }
            }
            
            Picker("Favorite Locations", selection: $selectedLocationIndex) {
                ForEach(favoritesViewModel.favoriteLocations.indices, id: .self) { index in
                    Text(favoritesViewModel.favoriteLocations[index])
                        .tag(index)
                }
            }
            .onChange(of: selectedLocationIndex) {
                favouritePressed = true
                isFocused = false
                        }
            .pickerStyle(.palette)

            Spacer()
        }
        
        .navigationTitle("Favorite Locations")
    }
    
    
    func saveLocation(locationIndex: Int) {
        print("Saving...")
        if !newLocation.isEmpty {
            favoritesViewModel.addFavoriteLocation(newLocation, locationIndex: locationIndex)
            newLocation = ""
        }
    }
}

This one just stores favourites:

class FavoritesViewModel: ObservableObject {
    // Key for UserDefaults
    let favoritesKey = "favoriteLocations"

    // UserDefaults instance
    var defaults: UserDefaults {
        UserDefaults.standard
    }

    // Published property to manage favorite locations
    @Published var favoriteLocations: [String] = []

    // Initialize with default values
    init() {
        self.favoriteLocations = loadFavorites()
    }

    // Load favorite locations from UserDefaults
    func loadFavorites() -> [String] {
        return defaults.stringArray(forKey: favoritesKey) ?? []
    }

    // Save favorite locations to UserDefaults
    func saveFavorites() {
        defaults.set(favoriteLocations, forKey: favoritesKey)
    }

    // Add a new favorite location
    func addFavoriteLocation(_ location: String, locationIndex: Int) {
        // Check if location is already in favorites and limit to 4 locations
        if !favoriteLocations.contains(location) {
            if favoriteLocations.count < 4 {
                favoriteLocations.insert(location, at: locationIndex)
            } else {
                favoriteLocations.remove(at: locationIndex)
                favoriteLocations.insert(location, at: locationIndex)
            }
            saveFavorites() // Save after adding or updating favorites
        }
    }
}

And just the Observed class:

class AppState: ObservableObject {
    
    // THIS IS THE VARIABLE IM TRYING TO SAVE TEXT TO
    @Published var destination: String = ""
    
}