There are 2 problems with the UISearchBar in Places so far:

• The placeholder text can't be left-aligned https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T163570
• The placeholder text does not overflow correctly https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T164076

Also related to

• Clearing a search should not trigger the search popover https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T163841

Solutions:

• Hack the UISearchBar to get at it's internal UILabel
• Reimplement with a custom control