Just to make sure I am not doing anything wrong in my project, I have taken {N} sample Tap Achievement app and added a text field. I am trying to use returnPress event with the TextField and I cannot make it work.

<TextField text="This is a test" returnKeyType="next" returnPress="{{ search }}" autocorrect="false"/>

If I attache the same function to a tap event of a button, it works:
<Button text="TAP" tap="{{ search }}" />

HelloWorldModel.prototype.search = function(){
        console.log("In search");
    }

I am on NativeScript 1.6 and I don't have a Mac to test this for iOS.