EDIT: Here is a version which supports non-retina and retina displays
The method can be used as a category for UIImage
+ (UIImage *)imageWithGradient:(UIImage *)img startColor:(UIColor *)color1 endColor:(UIColor *)color2 {
UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(img.size, NO, img.scale);
CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
CGContextTranslateCTM(context, 0, img.size.height);
CGContextScaleCTM(context, 1.0, -1.0);
CGContextSetBlendMode(context, kCGBlendModeNormal);
CGRect rect = CGRectMake(0, 0, img.size.width, img.size.height);
//CGContextDrawImage(context, rect, img.CGImage);
// Create gradient
NSArray *colors = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:(id)color2.CGColor, (id)color1.CGColor, nil];
CGColorSpaceRef space = CGColorSpaceCreateDeviceRGB();
CGGradientRef gradient = CGGradientCreateWithColors(space, (__bridge CFArrayRef)colors, NULL);
// Apply gradient
CGContextClipToMask(context, rect, img.CGImage);
CGContextDrawLinearGradient(context, gradient, CGPointMake(0,0), CGPointMake(0, img.size.height), 0);
UIImage *gradientImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
CGGradientRelease(gradient);
CGColorSpaceRelease(space);
return gradientImage;
}
Edit: added change by sobri