Has anyone any idea or code sample on how can I change the text color of the placeholder text of a UISearchBar?
This is an old question, but for anyone stumbling on it nowadays, you can change the search icon on iOS 8.x - 10.3 using the following:
[_searchBar setImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"your-image-name"] forSearchBarIcon:UISearchBarIconSearch state:UIControlStateNormal];
Regarding the placeholder text color, you may check my other answer, which uses a Category, here: UISearchBar change placeholder color