By default the SearchView is 'iconified', which is displayed as a magnifying glass icon and only if the user clicks on the icon, then the edit field expands.
To enable the user to click anywhere on the SearchView and expand the input field. We just need to add a click listener and call setIconified(false) when the user clicks.
searchView = (SearchView)findViewById(R.id.searchView);
searchView.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
searchView.setIconified(false);
}
});