How to implement an ng-change for a custom directive

If you require ngModel you can just call $setViewValue on the ngModelController, which implicitly evaluates ng-change. The fourth parameter to the linking function should be the ngModelCtrl. The following code will make ng-change work for your directive.

link : function(scope, element, attrs, ngModelCtrl){
    scope.updateModel = function(item) {
        ngModelCtrl.$setViewValue(item);
    }
}

In order for your solution to work, please remove ngChange and ngModel from isolate scope of myDirective.

Here’s a plunk: http://plnkr.co/edit/UefUzOo88MwOMkpgeX07?p=preview