I have a searchBar I\'m setting in a tableviewcontroller. i\'ve referenced this similar question UISearchBar cannot become first responder after UITableView did re-appear bu
Very similar to other answers, but I had to access the main queue in the ViewDidAppear.
The SearchBarController can't be acted upon until the View appears and then can only be done so in the main queue for UI:
searchController.active = true // doubtful whether this is needed
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), {
self.searchController.searchBar.becomeFirstResponder()
});