Question

The UISearchBar seems to have the inputAccessoryView as a readOnly property. How do I set it with my own customToolbar ?

Answer 1

Edit: As is mentioned in the comments below, this is no longer an issue post iOS 6. See the UISearchBar documentation here.

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The UIResponder (of which UISearchBar is an indirect subclass of) class documentation details a way to accomplish this:

Subclasses that want to attach custom controls to either a
system-supplied input view (such as the keyboard) or a custom input
view (one you provide in the inputView property) should redeclare this
property as readwrite and use it to manage their custom accessory
view. When the receiver subsequently becomes the first responder, the
responder infrastructure attaches the view to the appropriate input
view before displaying it.

e.x.

@interface CustomSearchBar : UISearchBar
@property (readwrite, retain) UIView *inputAccessoryView;
@end