Get the current first responder without using a private API

Rather than iterate through the collection of views looking for the one that has isFirstResponder set, I too send a message to nil, but I store the receiver of the message so I can return it and do whatever I wish with it.

Additionally, I zero out the optional that holds the found responder in a defer statement from within the call itself. This ensures no references remain--even weak ones--at the end of the call.

import UIKit

private var _foundFirstResponder: UIResponder? = nil

extension UIResponder {

    static var first:UIResponder? {

        // Sending an action to 'nil' implicitly sends it to the first responder
        // where we simply capture it and place it in the _foundFirstResponder variable.
        // As such, the variable will contain the current first responder (if any) immediately after this line executes
        UIApplication.shared.sendAction(#selector(UIResponder.storeFirstResponder(_:)), to: nil, from: nil, for: nil)

        // The following 'defer' statement runs *after* this getter returns,
        // thus releasing any strong reference held by the variable immediately thereafter
        defer {
            _foundFirstResponder = nil
        }

        // Return the found first-responder (if any) back to the caller
        return _foundFirstResponder
    }

    // Make sure to mark this with '@objc' since it has to be reachable as a selector for `sendAction`
    @objc func storeFirstResponder(_ sender: AnyObject) {

        // Capture the recipient of this message (self), which is the first responder
        _foundFirstResponder = self
    }
}

With the above, I can resign the first responder by simply doing this...

UIResponder.first?.resignFirstResponder()

But since my API actually hands back whatever the first responder is, I can do whatever I want with it.

Here's an example that checks if the current first responder is a UITextField with a helpMessage property set, and if so, shows it in a help bubble right next to the control. We call this from a 'Quick Help' button on our screen.

func showQuickHelp(){

    if let textField = UIResponder?.first as? UITextField,
       let helpMessage = textField.helpMessage {
    
        textField.showHelpBubble(with:helpMessage)
    }
}

The support for the above is defined in an extension on UITextField like so...

extension UITextField {
    var helpMessage:String? { ... }
    func showHelpBubble(with message:String) { ... }
}

Now to support this feature, all we have to do is decide which text fields have help messages and the UI takes care of the rest for us.

You can choose the following UIView extension to get it (credit by Daniel):

extension UIView {
    var firstResponder: UIView? {
        guard !isFirstResponder else { return self }
        return subviews.first(where: {$0.firstResponder != nil })
    }
}

Update: I was wrong. You can indeed use UIApplication.shared.sendAction(_:to:from:for:) to call the first responder demonstrated in this link: http://stackoverflow.com/a/14135456/746890.

Most of the answers here can't really find the current first responder if it is not in the view hierarchy. For example, AppDelegate or UIViewController subclasses.

There is a way to guarantee you to find it even if the first responder object is not a UIView.

First lets implement a reversed version of it, using the next property of UIResponder:

extension UIResponder {
    var nextFirstResponder: UIResponder? {
        return isFirstResponder ? self : next?.nextFirstResponder
    }
}

With this computed property, we can find the current first responder from bottom to top even if it's not UIView. For example, from a view to the UIViewController who's managing it, if the view controller is the first responder.

However, we still need a top-down resolution, a single var to get the current first responder.

First with the view hierarchy:

extension UIView {
    var previousFirstResponder: UIResponder? {
        return nextFirstResponder ?? subviews.compactMap { $0.previousFirstResponder }.first
    }
}

This will search for the first responder backwards, and if it couldn't find it, it would tell its subviews to do the same thing (because its subview's next is not necessarily itself). With this we can find it from any view, including UIWindow.

And finally, we can build this:

extension UIResponder {
    static var first: UIResponder? {
        return UIApplication.shared.windows.compactMap({ $0.previousFirstResponder }).first
    }
}

So when you want to retrieve the first responder, you can call:

let firstResponder = UIResponder.first

Simplest way to find first responder:

func sendAction(_ action: Selector, to target: Any?, from sender: Any?, for event: UIEvent?) -> Bool

The default implementation dispatches the action method to the given target object or, if no target is specified, to the first responder.

Next step:

extension UIResponder
{
    private weak static var first: UIResponder? = nil

    @objc
    private func firstResponderWhereYouAre(sender: AnyObject)
    {
        UIResponder.first = self
    }

    static var actualFirst: UIResponder?
    {
        UIApplication.shared.sendAction(#selector(findFirstResponder(sender:)), to: nil, from: nil, for: nil)
        return UIResponder.first
    }
}

Usage: Just get UIResponder.actualFirst for your own purposes.