If you are unfamiliar with how to search your iPhone using Spotlight, this article will walk you through the steps you need to know. Spotlight is a unique feature on iPhone but only a few users know how to use the Spotlight feature.
Your iPhone may have several hidden features on its Home Screen which you usually don’t use often, however, the Spotlight Search is quite essential and saves you a lot of time and taps.
This article will walk you through what Spotlight for iPhone is, the link between Siri and Spotlight, and how you can search your iPhone using Spotlight.
What is Spotlight for iPhone?
Spotlight is iPhone intelligent search feature imbibed on your iPhone from factory. The Spotlight feature is designed to search your iPhone for apps, files, and the web to assist you in finding what you are searching for.
Apple enhances Spotlight Search with every replication of iOS, and iOS 16 with no exceptions.
What is Apple iPhone Spotlight?
The Spotlight Search is designed to protect your information and allow you to select what you share. Siri helps to analyze how you use your devices and apps to offer personalized suggestions and better search results using Local, On-Device Processing, and Syncs Across your Devices with End-to-End Encryption using iCloud.
How to Use Spotlight on iOS 16?
You can download and install Spotlight Cloud Mobile for your iPhone and iPad App or Android App.
To use Spotlight on iOS 16, all you need to do is click on the icon, and where you will be directed to a search panel.
You will see a list of “Siri Suggestions” at the top with some of your most-used apps depending on the time of the day or your location.
Functions of Spotlight Search
Once you open Spotlight search, there are three main sections you will see on its screen. They are:
- The first is a search bar, which allows you to type or use the microphone icon to type via voice.
- The second one is the Siri Suggestions section, here you will see suggestions for apps that you use often, especially at this particular time or at your present location.
- Therefore if you open Podcasts regularly even before bed or got to launch Dropbox once you get to work, then you should see those in Suggestions.
The more you make your iPhone functional and working, the better these suggestions will get. Click on the small arrow icon to the right of these suggestions to show 4 or 8 at once.
Spotlight also searches the web in case there are applicable results for your search, you will also get suggestions of answers from Siri, the web, Wikipedia, and more. You can go below the list of search results to locate one-tap shortcuts to search the web, the App Store, and Apple Maps.
In addition, there’s a list of shortcuts for actions you usually take in several apps. You might get prompts to open a particular note, send a message to a group chat on WhatsApp, or something similar. These will also depend on what your iPhone can learn about how you use it.
How to Access Spotlight on iPhone
Follow the steps below to learn how to access the Spotlight feature on your iPhone.
- Go to your iPhone or iPad’s home screen and swipe to the right from the middle of the screen.
- You will find the Spotlight search interface to the left of the main home screen.
- You can as well touch somewhere in the grid of apps on any home screen and swipe your finger downwards.
- Here, you will see fewer suggestions once you pull down to search just app suggestions.
- The Spotlight search bar will be displayed at the top of the screen.
- Enter what you are searching for to display the results on the screen.
Make sure that you do not swipe from the top of the screen; since this will direct you to Notification Center or, on iPhone X and newer, Control Center.
Also note that Spotlight doesn’t work if you are in an app, only from the Home screen.
How to Search your iPhone using Spotlight
Spotlight search will as well display apps on your phone that matches the search, which comes in handy once it seems like an iPhone app has disappeared.
You can also drag an app from Spotlight results onto a Home screen.
Follow the steps below to search your iPhone using Spotlight:
- Go to the Home screen to access Spotlight, and swipe down from the middle of the screen.
- You can enter your search term >> search.
- Now, choose the result you want, or click on Search in App for more results in a particular app.
- Results will then be sorted by the app holding the data.
- Spotlight also searches the web for results.
In iOS 12, Spotlight is controlled by Siri. To make an app invisible to Spotlight, ensure to disable it from the Siri & Suggestions settings in the app list. To access it:
- Click on Settings >> Siri & Search.
- At the bottom of the screen, each app usually lists its on/off configuration.
Spotlight and Siri also come as a pair. In iOS 12, you can’t make an app visible to Spotlight but invisible to Siri, and vice versa.
This is all about how to search your iPhone using Spotlight. Feel free to drop your questions and comments in the section below.