在Swift 2.2中

    /// Returns the amount of years from another date
func years(fromdate: NSDate) -> Int {
    return NSCalendar.currentCalendar().components([.Year], fromDate: fromdate, toDate: NSDate(), options: []).year ?? 0
}
/// Returns the amount of months from another date
func months(fromdate: NSDate) -> Int {
    return NSCalendar.currentCalendar().components([.Month], fromDate: fromdate, toDate: NSDate(), options: []).month ?? 0
}
/// Returns the amount of weeks from another date
func weeks(fromdate: NSDate) -> Int {
    return NSCalendar.currentCalendar().components([.WeekOfYear], fromDate: fromdate, toDate: NSDate(), options: []).weekOfYear ?? 0
}
/// Returns the amount of days from another date
func days(fromdate: NSDate) -> Int {
    return NSCalendar.currentCalendar().components([.Day], fromDate: fromdate, toDate: NSDate(), options: []).day ?? 0
}
/// Returns the amount of hours from another date
func hours(fromdate: NSDate) -> Int {
    return NSCalendar.currentCalendar().components([.Hour], fromDate: fromdate, toDate: NSDate(), options: []).hour ?? 0
}
/// Returns the amount of minutes from another date
func minutes(fromdate: NSDate) -> Int {
    return NSCalendar.currentCalendar().components([.Minute], fromDate: fromdate, toDate: NSDate(), options: []).minute ?? 0
}
/// Returns the amount of seconds from another date
func seconds(fromdate: NSDate) -> Int {
    return NSCalendar.currentCalendar().components(.Second, fromDate: fromdate, toDate: NSDate(), options: []).second ?? 0
}

我在Leo Dabus的asnwer中添加了一个“长”版本，以防你想要一个字符串，说“2周前”而不是“2w”……

extension Date {
    func offsetLong(from date: Date) -> String {
        if years(from: date) > 0 {
            return years(from: date) > 1 ? "\(years(from: date)) years ago" : "\(years(from: date)) year ago"
        }
        if months(from: date) > 0 {
            return months(from: date) > 1 ? "\(months(from: date)) months ago" : "\(months(from: date)) month ago" 
        }
        if weeks(from: date) > 0 {
            return weeks(from: date) > 1 ? "\(weeks(from: date)) weeks ago" : "\(weeks(from: date)) week ago"
        }
        if days(from: date) > 0 {
            return days(from: date) > 1 ? "\(days(from: date)) days ago" : "\(days(from: date)) day ago" 
        }
        if hours(from: date) > 0 {
            return hours(from: date) > 1 ? "\(hours(from: date)) hours ago" : "\(hours(from: date)) hour ago"
        }
        if minutes(from: date) > 0 {
            return minutes(from: date) > 1 ? "\(minutes(from: date)) minutes ago" : "\(minutes(from: date)) minute ago"
        }
        if seconds(from: date) > 0 {
            return seconds(from: date) > 1 ? "\(seconds(from: date)) seconds ago" : "\(seconds(from: date)) second ago"
        }
        return ""
    }
}

Swift 5.1•iOS 13

你可以使用苹果在iOS 13中引入的RelativeDateFormatter。

let exampleDate = Date().addingTimeInterval(-15000)

let formatter = RelativeDateTimeFormatter()
formatter.unitsStyle = .full
let relativeDate = formatter.localizedString(for: exampleDate, relativeTo: Date())

print(relativeDate) // 4 hours ago

参见如何使用RelativeDateTimeFormatter显示相对日期和时间。

如果有人需要显示所有的时间单位，如“小时分秒”，而不仅仅是“小时”。假设两个日期的时差是1小时59分20秒。该功能将显示“1h 59m 20s”。

下面是我的Objective-C代码:

extension NSDate {

    func offsetFrom(date: NSDate) -> String {

        let dayHourMinuteSecond: NSCalendarUnit = [.Day, .Hour, .Minute, .Second]
        let difference = NSCalendar.currentCalendar().components(dayHourMinuteSecond, fromDate: date, toDate: self, options: [])

        let seconds = "\(difference.second)s"
        let minutes = "\(difference.minute)m" + " " + seconds
        let hours = "\(difference.hour)h" + " " + minutes
        let days = "\(difference.day)d" + " " + hours

        if difference.day    > 0 { return days }
        if difference.hour   > 0 { return hours }
        if difference.minute > 0 { return minutes }
        if difference.second > 0 { return seconds }
        return ""
    }

}

在Swift 3+中:

extension Date {

    func offsetFrom(date: Date) -> String {

        let dayHourMinuteSecond: Set<Calendar.Component> = [.day, .hour, .minute, .second]
        let difference = NSCalendar.current.dateComponents(dayHourMinuteSecond, from: date, to: self)

        let seconds = "\(difference.second ?? 0)s"
        let minutes = "\(difference.minute ?? 0)m" + " " + seconds
        let hours = "\(difference.hour ?? 0)h" + " " + minutes
        let days = "\(difference.day ?? 0)d" + " " + hours

        if let day = difference.day, day          > 0 { return days }
        if let hour = difference.hour, hour       > 0 { return hours }
        if let minute = difference.minute, minute > 0 { return minutes }
        if let second = difference.second, second > 0 { return seconds }
        return ""
    }

}

Xcode 8.3•Swift 3.1或更高版本

您可以使用日历来帮助您创建一个扩展来进行日期计算，如下所示:

extension Date {
    /// Returns the amount of years from another date
    func years(from date: Date) -> Int {
        return Calendar.current.dateComponents([.year], from: date, to: self).year ?? 0
    }
    /// Returns the amount of months from another date
    func months(from date: Date) -> Int {
        return Calendar.current.dateComponents([.month], from: date, to: self).month ?? 0
    }
    /// Returns the amount of weeks from another date
    func weeks(from date: Date) -> Int {
        return Calendar.current.dateComponents([.weekOfMonth], from: date, to: self).weekOfMonth ?? 0
    }
    /// Returns the amount of days from another date
    func days(from date: Date) -> Int {
        return Calendar.current.dateComponents([.day], from: date, to: self).day ?? 0
    }
    /// Returns the amount of hours from another date
    func hours(from date: Date) -> Int {
        return Calendar.current.dateComponents([.hour], from: date, to: self).hour ?? 0
    }
    /// Returns the amount of minutes from another date
    func minutes(from date: Date) -> Int {
        return Calendar.current.dateComponents([.minute], from: date, to: self).minute ?? 0
    }
    /// Returns the amount of seconds from another date
    func seconds(from date: Date) -> Int {
        return Calendar.current.dateComponents([.second], from: date, to: self).second ?? 0
    }
    /// Returns the a custom time interval description from another date
    func offset(from date: Date) -> String {
        if years(from: date)   > 0 { return "\(years(from: date))y"   }
        if months(from: date)  > 0 { return "\(months(from: date))M"  }
        if weeks(from: date)   > 0 { return "\(weeks(from: date))w"   }
        if days(from: date)    > 0 { return "\(days(from: date))d"    }
        if hours(from: date)   > 0 { return "\(hours(from: date))h"   }
        if minutes(from: date) > 0 { return "\(minutes(from: date))m" }
        if seconds(from: date) > 0 { return "\(seconds(from: date))s" }
        return ""
    }
}

使用日期组件格式化程序

let dateComponentsFormatter = DateComponentsFormatter()
dateComponentsFormatter.allowedUnits = [.second, .minute, .hour, .day, .weekOfMonth, .month, .year]
dateComponentsFormatter.maximumUnitCount = 1
dateComponentsFormatter.unitsStyle = .full
dateComponentsFormatter.string(from: Date(), to: Date(timeIntervalSinceNow: 4000000))  // "1 month"

let date1 = DateComponents(calendar: .current, year: 2014, month: 11, day: 28, hour: 5, minute: 9).date!
let date2 = DateComponents(calendar: .current, year: 2015, month: 8, day: 28, hour: 5, minute: 9).date!

let years = date2.years(from: date1)     // 0
let months = date2.months(from: date1)   // 9
let weeks = date2.weeks(from: date1)     // 39
let days = date2.days(from: date1)       // 273
let hours = date2.hours(from: date1)     // 6,553
let minutes = date2.minutes(from: date1) // 393,180
let seconds = date2.seconds(from: date1) // 23,590,800

let timeOffset = date2.offset(from: date1) // "9M"

let date3 = DateComponents(calendar: .current, year: 2014, month: 11, day: 28, hour: 5, minute: 9).date!
let date4 = DateComponents(calendar: .current, year: 2015, month: 11, day: 28, hour: 5, minute: 9).date!

let timeOffset2 = date4.offset(from: date3) // "1y"

let date5 = DateComponents(calendar: .current, year: 2017, month: 4, day: 28).date!
let now = Date()
let timeOffset3 = now.offset(from: date5) // "1w"

如果你的目的是获得两个日期之间的确切天数，你可以这样解决这个问题:

// Assuming that firstDate and secondDate are defined
// ...

var calendar: NSCalendar = NSCalendar.currentCalendar()

// Replace the hour (time) of both dates with 00:00
let date1 = calendar.startOfDayForDate(firstDate)
let date2 = calendar.startOfDayForDate(secondDate)

let flags = NSCalendarUnit.DayCalendarUnit
let components = calendar.components(flags, fromDate: date1, toDate: date2, options: nil)

components.day  // This will return the number of day(s) between dates