UISearchController searchBar disappears on first click

This happened to me when the UISearchController was hiding the navigation bar. Setting this property fixed it:

UISearchController.hidesNavigationBarDuringPresentation = NO;

Try to check the navigationBar.translucent property - it should be YES when UISearchController will present the searchBar or else will be UI bugs.

Update from @SiavA

The better solution is use the extendedLayoutIncludesOpaqueBars property of the UIViewController. If you using the opaque navigation bar just set it in the true for controller which will be show UISearchController (not for navigationController).

E.g.

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];

    self.extendedLayoutIncludesOpaqueBars = !self.navigationController.navigationBar.translucent;
}