Flutter - Change search hint text of SearchDelegate

Question

In current implementation of SearchDelegate, there is no option to change the hint text. When the query is empty, search screen is displaying "Search" in the query field as a hint text.

Hint text is currently defined on line 395 as follows:

final String searchFieldLabel = MaterialLocalizations.of(context).searchFieldLabel;

There is, however, an existing issue to this subject reported.

I wasn't able to come up with any solution for this. Do you know any workaround for the issue?

Answer 1

There is a workaround for this by creating your own DefaultMaterialLocalizations class and passing it into the MaterialApp widget:

void main() => runApp(SearchApp());

class SearchApp extends StatelessWidget {
  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return MaterialApp(
      localizationsDelegates: [
        CustomLocalizationDelegate(),
      ],
      home: Scaffold(
        appBar: AppBar(
          title: Text('Search demo'),
        ),
        body: Center(
          child: Builder(
            builder: (context) => MaterialButton(
              child: Text('Search'),
              onPressed: () => showSearch(
                context: context,
                delegate: DummyDelegate(),
              ),
            ),
          ),
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

class DummyDelegate extends SearchDelegate<String> {
  @override
  List<Widget> buildActions(BuildContext context) => [];

  @override
  Widget buildLeading(BuildContext context) => IconButton(
    icon: Icon(Icons.close),
    onPressed: () => Navigator.of(context).pop(),
  );

  @override
  Widget buildResults(BuildContext context) => Text('Result');

  @override
  Widget buildSuggestions(BuildContext context) => Text('Suggestion');
}

class CustomLocalizationDelegate extends LocalizationsDelegate<MaterialLocalizations> {
  const CustomLocalizationDelegate();

  @override
  bool isSupported(Locale locale) => locale.languageCode == 'en';

  @override
  Future<MaterialLocalizations> load(Locale locale) => SynchronousFuture<MaterialLocalizations>(const CustomLocalization());

  @override
  bool shouldReload(CustomLocalizationDelegate old) => false;

  @override
  String toString() => 'CustomLocalization.delegate(en_US)';
}

class CustomLocalization extends DefaultMaterialLocalizations {
  const CustomLocalization();

  @override
  String get searchFieldLabel => "My hint text";
}