UISearchController's UISearchBar does not apply customizations initially

Question

I have been in the hell of trying to customize UISearcBar. The application i am working on supports iOS 11+ and so I decided to separate the customization process for above and below iOS 13. Here is the subclass of UISearchController I am using;

class SearchController: UISearchController {
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        
        DispatchQueue.main.async {
            if #available(iOS 13.0, *) {
                print()
                self.searchBar.tintColor = .richBlueTwo
                self.searchBar.barTintColor = .white
                self.searchBar.searchTextField.backgroundColor = .richBlueTwo
                self.searchBar.searchTextField.textColor = .white
            } else {
                self.searchBar.tintColor = .white
                self.searchBar.barTintColor = .white
                let searchTextField = self.searchBar.value(forKey: "searchField") as? UITextField
                searchTextField?.textColor = .white
                self.searchBar.setImage(UIImage(named: "iconSearch"), for: .search, state: .normal)
            }
        }
    }
}

And the usage in a Controller;

private var searchController = SearchController(searchResultsController: nil)

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    
    navigationItem.searchController = searchController
    navigationItem.hidesSearchBarWhenScrolling = false
    
}

The problem I am facing is when initially the controller is loaded and appeared, these changes has been made does not have any affect in UI until UISearchBar is activated. When there is tap or click on the search bar, colors and images are instantly changing to what they had been set.

Other weird thing is , initially status bar is lightContent. Strangely, the following sequence keeps happening;

1. UISearchBar is activated the first time. Status bar stays white
2. UISearchBar resignedFirstResponder(Cancel, clear buttons or tapped into the tableview). Status bar becomes black text
3. UISearchBar is activated again. Status bar becomes white again.
4. Afterwards whenever the bar is activated status bar content is light, otherwise dark

Any guesses?

Answer 1

Try to make all this changes in the viewWillAppear function.

*** EDIT:

override func viewWillAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
        super.viewWillAppear(animated)
        view.addSubview(activityIndicator)
        searchBar.tintColor = .darkGray
        searchBar.placeholder = "Type movie title... "
        searchBar.barTintColor = .black
        navigationController?.navigationBar.barTintColor = .black
        navigationController?.navigationBar.tintColor = .white
        
        activityIndicator.hidesWhenStopped = true
        activityIndicator.center = view.center
    }