How to set the UITableView Section title programmatically (iPhone/iPad)?

Once you have connected your UITableView delegate and datasource to your controller, you could do something like this:

ObjC

- (NSString *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView titleForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section {

    NSString *sectionName;
    switch (section) {
        case 0:
            sectionName = NSLocalizedString(@"mySectionName", @"mySectionName");
            break;
        case 1:
            sectionName = NSLocalizedString(@"myOtherSectionName", @"myOtherSectionName");
            break;
        // ...
        default:
            sectionName = @"";
            break;
    }    
    return sectionName;
}

Swift

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, titleForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> String? {

    let sectionName: String
    switch section {
        case 0:
            sectionName = NSLocalizedString("mySectionName", comment: "mySectionName")
        case 1:
            sectionName = NSLocalizedString("myOtherSectionName", comment: "myOtherSectionName")
        // ...
        default:
            sectionName = ""
    }
    return sectionName
}

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If you are writing code in Swift it would look as an example like this

func tableView(tableView: UITableView, titleForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> String?
{
    switch section
    {
        case 0:
            return "Apple Devices"
        case 1:
            return "Samsung Devices"
        default:
            return "Other Devices"
    }
}

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Use the UITableViewDataSource method

- (NSString *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView titleForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section

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titleForHeaderInSection is a delegate method of UITableView so to apply header text of section write as follows,

- (NSString *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView titleForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section{
    return @"Hello World";
}

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Note that -(NSString *)tableView: titleForHeaderInSection: is not called by UITableView if - (UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section is implemented in delegate of UITableView;

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I don't know about past versions of UITableView protocols, but as of iOS 9, func tableView(tableView: UITableView, titleForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> String? is part of the UITableViewDataSource protocol.

   class ViewController: UIViewController {

      @IBOutlet weak var tableView: UITableView!

      override func viewDidLoad() {
         super.viewDidLoad()
         tableView.dataSource = self
      }
   }

   extension ViewController: UITableViewDataSource {
      func tableView(tableView: UITableView, titleForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> String? {
         return "Section name"
      }
   }

You don't need to declare the delegate to fill your table with data.

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- (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
   return 45.0f; 
//set height according to row or section , whatever you want to do!
}

section label text are set.

- (UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    UIView *sectionHeaderView;

        sectionHeaderView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:
                             CGRectMake(0, 0, tableView.frame.size.width, 120.0)];


    sectionHeaderView.backgroundColor = kColor(61, 201, 247);

    UILabel *headerLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:
                            CGRectMake(sectionHeaderView.frame.origin.x,sectionHeaderView.frame.origin.y - 44, sectionHeaderView.frame.size.width, sectionHeaderView.frame.size.height)];

    headerLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
    [headerLabel setTextColor:kColor(255, 255, 255)];
    headerLabel.textAlignment = NSTextAlignmentCenter;
    [headerLabel setFont:kFont(20)];
    [sectionHeaderView addSubview:headerLabel];

    switch (section) {
        case 0:
            headerLabel.text = @"Section 1";
            return sectionHeaderView;
            break;
        case 1:
            headerLabel.text = @"Section 2";
            return sectionHeaderView;
            break;
        case 2:
            headerLabel.text = @"Section 3";
            return sectionHeaderView;
            break;
        default:
            break;
    }

    return sectionHeaderView;
}

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Nothing wrong with the other answers but this one offers a non-programmatic solution that may be useful in situations where one has a small static table. The benefit is that one can organize the localizations using the storyboard. One may continue to export localizations from Xcode via XLIFF files. Xcode 9 also has several new tools to make localizations easier.

(original)

I had a similar requirement. I had a static table with static cells in my Main.storyboard(Base). To localize section titles using .string files e.g. Main.strings(German) just select the section in storyboard and note the Object ID

https://i.stack.imgur.com/15zvb.png

Afterwards go to your string file, in my case Main.strings(German) and insert the translation like:

"MLo-jM-tSN.headerTitle" = "Localized section title";

Additional Resources:

Apple WWDC 2017

Medium Article on Localization ~ Xcode 9 / Swift 4

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