How to check if NSString begins with a certain character

You can use the -hasPrefix: method of NSString:

Objective-C:

NSString* output = nil;
if([string hasPrefix:@"*"]) {
    output = [string substringFromIndex:1];
}

Swift:

var output:String?
if string.hasPrefix("*") {
    output = string.substringFromIndex(string.startIndex.advancedBy(1))
}