How to bring a SKSpriteNode to front?

This extension adds a bringToFront method to SKNode. This great for times when zPosition is inappropriate, and you want to rely on sibling ordering.

extension SKNode {
    func bringToFront() {
        guard let parent = parent else { return }
        removeFromParent()
        parent.addChild(self)
    }
}

`

You can't "bring it to front" but you can change the zPosition of it.

The higher the zPosition of the node the later it gets rendered.

So if you have three nodes with zPositions of -1, 0 and 1 then the -1 will appear at the back. Then the 0. Then 1 will appear at the front.

If they all use the default zPosition of 0.0 then they are rendered in the order they appear in the children array of the parent node.

You can read it all in the docs.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/spritekit/sknode

SWIFT 4
I usually create enums to establish zPositions so that I can simply manage the different layers:

enum ZPositions: Int {
    case background
    case foreground
    case player
    case otherNodes
}

• “case background” is the lower position, it’s equal to the default position of 0;
• “case foreground” = 1
• “case player” = 2
• “case other nodes” = 3

So, when you setup a new item, you can give it the zPosition simply this way:

button.zPosition = CGFloat(ZPosition.otherNodes.rawValue)

(button now has the highest zPosition)