iOS26 UISearchbar and UISearchController cancellation issues

Question

Created 6d

Replies 5

Boosts 0

Participants 4

Is the Cancel button intentionally removed from UISearchBar (right side)? Even when using searchController with navigationItem also.

showsCancelButton = true

doesn’t display the cancel button.

Also: When tapping the clear ("x") button inside the search field, the search is getting canceled, and searchBarCancelButtonClicked(_:) is triggered (Generally it should only clear text, not cancel search).

If the search text is empty and I tap outside the search bar, the search is canceled.

Also when I have tableview in my controller(like recent searches) below search bar and if I try to tap when editing started, action is not triggered(verified in sample too). Just cancellation is happening.

In a split view controller, if the search is on the right side and I try to open the side panel, the search also gets canceled.

Are these behaviors intentional changes, beta issues, or are we missing something in implementation?

Boost

Answer 1

RickMaddy OP

6d

The documentation for showsCancelButton clearly states that this property is ignored on an iPad so that is expected behavior. So this means that tapping the little x icon causing the search to be cancelled is, unfortunately, also expected. A Mac Catalyst version of a UIKit app has always had this undesired behavior. It seems Apple is making the iPad version work the same. It’s a poor choice in my opinion. File a request via Feedback Assistant asking for it to be changed.

There are many bugs in iOS 26 related to UISearchBar. I’ve filed at least 3 separate bug reports and Apple doesn’t seem to care since none have been fixed. 2 of my reports were filed against beta 1. And my reports are about clearly broken functionality, not just things I would prefer to behave differently.

But you should file your own bug reports for any incorrect or undesired behavior. Apple needs to know that things don’t work and that they are affecting people’s apps.

Here’s a post I made summarizing the issues I’m still facing:

https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/797701

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Answer 2

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

1d

Is the Cancel button intentionally removed from UISearchBar (right side)? Even when using searchController with navigationItem also. showsCancelButton = true doesn’t display the cancel button.

Which platform are you testing on? Could you provide more details on how you created the search bar? Is it implemented in a navigationItem.titleView or using a UINavigationItem.searchController?

As @RickMaddy mentioned, the value of showsCancelButton is ignored, and no cancel button is displayed, for apps running on iPad.

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Answer 3

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

1d

Also: When tapping the clear ("x") button inside the search field, the search is getting canceled, and searchBarCancelButtonClicked(_:) is triggered (Generally it should only clear text, not cancel search).

What OS version are you able to reproduce the issue on?

If you’re able to reproduce the issue using iOS 26 beta 9, please open a bug report, include a test project that reproduces the issue, and post the FB number here once you do. Bug Reporting: How and Why? has tips on creating your bug report.

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Answer 4

RickMaddy OP

1d

The “tapping the x in the search field cancels the search” issue has been in iPadOS 26 since beta 1. iPadOS 26 now emulates how Mac Catalyst apps have behaved for years. The issue doesn’t apply to iOS 26 since that shows a separate Cancel button.

You can use FB17888632 as a demonstration of the issue. That is another search related issue I filed against iOS 26 beta 1 that still isn’t fixed in iPadOS 26 beta 9. It’s impacting my app and it also easily demonstrates the issue with the search getting cancelled when tapping the x icon to clear the search.

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Answer 5

risingtide OP

4h

I just opened a bug report on this issue, FB20094470. This issue impacts my app.

I read the docs and understand that the search bar Cancel button should not appear on iPadOS. However, in my app, without explicitly setting any cancel button property on the search controller or search bar, a Cancel button has automatically appeared and functioned as expected on iPads from iOS 5 through iOS 18. Just say'n. But I can live without it.

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