How to get notified of UITableViewCell move start and end?

Your UITableViewDelegate will receive the following notifications in response to reordering actions:

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willBeginReorderingRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath;
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didEndReorderingRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath;
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didCancelReorderingRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath;

Just I found a hack, since apple will reduce the alpha, we can use that i guess

@interface CustomTableViewCell () 
@property (nonatomic, assign) BOOL isDragging;
@end

-(void)draggingWillBegan
{
    //use a delegate method to inform tableview
}

-(void)draggingDidEnd
{
    //use a delegate method to inform tableview
}

- (void)layoutSubviews
{
    [super layoutSubviews];

    //Since apple wont provide en
    if(self.alpha <= 0.95 && !self.isDragging){
        self.isDragging = YES;
        [self draggingWillBegan];
    }

    if(self.alpha >= 0.95 && self.isDragging){
        self.isDragging = NO;
        [self draggingDidEnd];
    }
}

I ran into the same problem some time ago and didn't find a solution. While I started this answer with an explanation why it can't be done, I actually found out how it can be done! :-)

In short: You have to create a custom subclass of UITableViewCell. Override layoutSubviews to attach a UILongPressGestureRecognizer to UITableViewCellReorderControl. Define a protocol and use a delegate to inform whoever you want to about the dragging state.

CustomTableViewCell.h:

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@protocol CustomTableViewCellDelegate;

@interface CustomTableViewCell : UITableViewCell {
}

@property (nonatomic, assign) id <CustomTableViewCellDelegate> delegate;

@end

@protocol CustomTableViewCellDelegate
- (void)CustomTableViewCell:(CustomTableViewCell *)cell isDragging:(BOOL)value;
@end

CustomTableViewCell.m:

#import "CustomTableViewCell.h"

@implementation CustomTableViewCell

@synthesize delegate = _delegate;

- (void)handleGesture:(UIGestureRecognizer *)gestureRecognizer {
    if (gestureRecognizer.state == UIGestureRecognizerStateBegan) {
        [_delegate CustomTableViewCell:self isDragging:YES];    // Dragging started
    } else if (gestureRecognizer.state == UIGestureRecognizerStateEnded) {
        [_delegate CustomTableViewCell:self isDragging:NO];     // Dragging ended
    }
}

- (void)layoutSubviews {
    [super layoutSubviews];

    for (UIView *view in self.subviews) {
        if ([NSStringFromClass ([view class]) rangeOfString:@"ReorderControl"].location != NSNotFound) {    // UITableViewCellReorderControl
            if (view.gestureRecognizers.count == 0) {
                UILongPressGestureRecognizer *gesture = [[UILongPressGestureRecognizer alloc] initWithTarget:self action:@selector(handleGesture:)];
                gesture.cancelsTouchesInView    = NO;
                gesture.minimumPressDuration    = 0.150;
                [view addGestureRecognizer:gesture];
            }
        }
    }
}

@end

Be aware that while this code doesn't use any private APIs it still might stop working if Apple changes its internal implementation (i.e. by changing the classname of UITableViewCellReorderControl).