When you need to know if a string is right-to-left (rtl) or left-to-right (ltr) – don’t check individual characters. Instead, use the Natural Language framework, available since iOS 12 and macOS 10.14:
import NaturalLanguage
extension String {
var isRightToLeft: Bool {
guard let language = NLLanguageRecognizer.dominantLanguage(for: self) else { return false }
switch language {
case .arabic, .hebrew, .persian, .urdu:
return true
default:
return false
}
}
}
Then just use it like this:
if "שלום and سلام".isRightToLeft {
// do what needs to be done
}
