A small extension for UISearchBar which shows an UIActivityIndicator while searching

UISearchBar+Ext.swift

//
//  UISearchBar+Ext.swift
//  frazeit
//
//  Created by Maysam Shahsavari on 7/30/18.
//  Updated on 9/26/19.
//  Copyright © 2018 Maysam Shahsavari. All rights reserved.
//  Updated: 10/02/2020.

import Foundation
import UIKit

extension UIImage {
    func imageWithPixelSize(size: CGSize, filledWithColor color: UIColor = UIColor.clear, opaque: Bool = false) -> UIImage? {
        return imageWithSize(size: size, filledWithColor: color, scale: 1.0, opaque: opaque)
    }

    func imageWithSize(size: CGSize, filledWithColor color: UIColor = UIColor.clear, scale: CGFloat = 0.0, opaque: Bool = false) -> UIImage? {
        let rect = CGRect.init(x: 0, y: 0, width: size.width, height: size.height)
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(size, opaque, scale)
        color.set()
        UIRectFill(rect)
        let image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
        UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
        return image
    }

}

extension UISearchBar {
private var textField: UITextField? {
    let subViews = self.subviews.flatMap { $0.subviews }
    if #available(iOS 13, *) {
        if let _subViews = subViews.last?.subviews {
            return (_subViews.filter { $0 is UITextField }).first as? UITextField
        }else{
            return nil
        }
        
    } else {
        return (subViews.filter { $0 is UITextField }).first as? UITextField
    }
    
}
    
    private var searchIcon: UIImage? {
        let subViews = subviews.flatMap { $0.subviews }
        return  ((subViews.filter { $0 is UIImageView }).first as? UIImageView)?.image
    }
    //////
    private func getViewElement<T>(type: T.Type) -> T? {
        let svs = subviews.flatMap { $0.subviews }
        guard let element = (svs.filter { $0 is T }).first as? T else { return nil }
        return element
    }
    
    func getSearchBarTextField() -> UITextField? {
        return getViewElement(type: UITextField.self)
    }
    
    func setTextColor(color: UIColor) {
        if let textField = getSearchBarTextField() {
            textField.textColor = color
        }
    }
    
    func setTextFieldColor(color: UIColor) {
        if let textField = getViewElement(type: UITextField.self) {
            switch searchBarStyle {
            case .minimal:
                textField.layer.backgroundColor = color.cgColor
                textField.layer.cornerRadius = 6
                
            case .prominent, .default:
                textField.backgroundColor = color
            @unknown default:
                break
            }
        }
    }
    
    func setPlaceholderTextColor(color: UIColor) {
        
        if let textField = getSearchBarTextField() {
            textField.attributedPlaceholder = NSAttributedString(string: self.placeholder != nil ? self.placeholder! : "", attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key.foregroundColor: color])
        }
    }
    
    
    
    ///////
    private var activityIndicator: UIActivityIndicatorView? {
        return textField?.leftView?.subviews.compactMap{ $0 as? UIActivityIndicatorView }.first
    }
    
    // Public API
    var isLoading: Bool {
        get {
            return activityIndicator != nil
        } set {
            let _searchIcon = searchIcon
            if newValue {
                if activityIndicator == nil {
                    let _activityIndicator = UIActivityIndicatorView(style: .gray)
                    _activityIndicator.startAnimating()
                    _activityIndicator.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
                    let clearImage = UIImage().imageWithPixelSize(size: CGSize.init(width: 14, height: 14)) ?? UIImage()
                    self.setImage(clearImage, for: .search, state: .normal)
                    textField?.leftViewMode = .always
                    textField?.leftView?.addSubview(_activityIndicator)
                    let leftViewSize = CGSize.init(width: 14.0, height: 14.0)
                    _activityIndicator.center = CGPoint(x: leftViewSize.width/2, y: leftViewSize.height/2)
                }
            } else {
                self.setImage(_searchIcon, for: .search, state: .normal)
                activityIndicator?.removeFromSuperview()
            }
        }
    }
}

/*
 Usage:
 
 To show the acttivity indicator
 searchController.searchBar.isLoading = true
 
 To stop the activity indicator (assuming it will be called when a network or extensive block is finished)
 DispatchQueue.main.async {
    searchController.searchBar.isLoading = false
 }
*/

Great extension, works like a charm!

Yes great extension, thank you.
Unfortunately it doesn't work on iOS 10, it shows a square. Do you have an idea to fix it ?

Hello,

My suggestion to support iOS 10 :

    var isLoading: Bool {
        get {
            
            return activityIndicator != nil
        } set {
            if newValue {
                if activityIndicator == nil {
                    
                    var style: UIActivityIndicatorView.Style = UIActivityIndicatorView.Style.gray
                    var backgroundColor: UIColor = UIColor.white
                    
                    if #available(iOS 11.0, *) {
                        style = UIActivityIndicatorView.Style.white
                        backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
                    }
                    
                    let _activityIndicator = UIActivityIndicatorView(style: style)
                    _activityIndicator.startAnimating()
                    _activityIndicator.backgroundColor = backgroundColor

                    if #available(iOS 11.0, *) {
                        self.setImage(UIImage(), for: .search, state: .normal)
                    }

                    textField?.leftView?.addSubview(_activityIndicator)
                    let leftViewSize = textField?.leftView?.frame.size ?? CGSize.zero
                    _activityIndicator.center = CGPoint(x: leftViewSize.width/2, y: leftViewSize.height/2)
                }
            } else {
                if #available(iOS 11.0, *) {
                    let _searchIcon = searchIcon
                    self.setImage(_searchIcon, for: .search, state: .normal)
                }
                activityIndicator?.removeFromSuperview()
            }
        }
    }

Yes great extension, thank you.
Unfortunately it doesn't work on iOS 10, it shows a square. Do you have an idea to fix it ?

There is a problem in the line self.setImage(_searchIcon, for: .search, state: .normal)
the image coming from it has accessibilityFrame = (0,0,0,0)
if i use a custom image from _searchIcon, for e.g = _searchIcon = UIImage(systemName: "search")
It is working.

Try the new code, It works fine on iOS11 too.

Yes great extension, thank you.
Unfortunately it doesn't work on iOS 10, it shows a square. Do you have an idea to fix it ?

There is a problem in the line self.setImage(_searchIcon, for: .search, state: .normal)
the image coming from it has accessibilityFrame = (0,0,0,0)
if i use a custom image from _searchIcon, for e.g = _searchIcon = UIImage(systemName: "search")
It is working.

tushar40 is right. @maysamsh great effort! However there is a bug after setting isLoading to false on main queue. The search bar icon is not showing again and disappears after the indicator removed from the screen.

@onursahindur Have you tried the new code?

@maysamsh yes, I tried on Swift 5 with Xcode 11.2.1, on Simulator running iOS 13.2. However after the search icon replaced with the indicator, the search icon disappears from the left side of search field's text field.