Apple's official tech support page on Spotlight Search states:
You can use Spotlight to search for content on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. To get started, swipe down on the Home screen to open the search box.
The tool, in our opinion, is very useful, especially if there is a lot of information on your iDevice and it is rather difficult to find something quickly and efficiently using standard means.
Spotlight search is intended, as you already understood, to search for information on content stored on the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, if we are talking about the mobile operating system iOS. The information displayed in the search results is very different, from contact information from the phone book to search results in search results in Safari.
Spotlight on iOS - how it all began
For the first time in the operating system iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Spotlight search was integrated in 2011, in the 5.0 edition. It was developed much earlier as a system search tool in Mac OS X in build 10.4 Tiger. Allows you to find all objects that meet user-specified criteria.
In iOS 5.x.x. and 6.x.x, a separate page stood out under Spotlight, which could be accessed from the Home screen with a simple swipe to the right. The page consisted of one field, in which the search query fit in, and an empty space, in which the search results for the entered query were displayed.
Since the first release, Spotlight "was able" to search through content from applications preinstalled on iOS: Contacts, Notes, Calendar, made it possible to quickly find information on the Internet using Safari, and found applications installed on the iPhone and iPad.
What's new in Spotlight in iOS 7
In iOS 7, the internal search facility has been significantly redesigned. There is no longer a separate "screen" for the search query and the results, Spotight is available from the "Home" screen, it is enough to make a swipe down the screen of the device.
Spotlight searches for Contacts, Mail, Calendar and Reminders, Messages, Music, Videos, and Podcasts.
To access the Spotlight Search settings, you need to go to Settings> General> Spotlight Search.
What you need to know about Spotlight?
- The search is not case sensitive, i.e. you can enter text in the squeak field with both a small and a capital letter, the search results will be identical;
- The search is not carried out by characters located in the middle of a word, i.e. in order to find the information you need, you must start the request correctly;
- Mail searches the To, From, and Subject fields of email messages for all accounts added in iOS preferences. To search for text in the body of a message, you must use the internal search in Mail;
- In Mail, Spotlight Search recognizes the dates and status of messages. One query can find messages received or sent within a certain period of time. So, in response to the query "Unread messages for the last week", Spotlight will display a list of unread messages for the last 7 days;
- In Contacts, the search is carried out by name, address, phone number and notes in subscriber cards;
- In Calendar and Reminders, an internal search is performed by the title in the Event Viewer for two years - for the past and the next year.
- You can turn off Spotlight search for content types defined in your preferences. You can block searches in contacts, messages, apps, etc., for a complete list, see Settings - General - Spotlight Search. To disable search in certain content, you must uncheck the box next to the line with the name of the content;
- You can change the order in which search results are displayed by changing the alternation of the corresponding lines with the content in Spotlight preferences.
With the advent of internal search technology ported from Mac OS X to iOS, the usability of the mobile platform has improved significantly. The usual and simple movements are enough to quickly find the necessary information among a huge amount of different content. Apple continues to improve not only the stuffing of its devices, but also their software component, a unique eco-system is being created in which everything is interconnected - software and hardware.
Are you using Spotlight and are you comfortable with it?
Two years ago, Apple introduced the first smartphone equipped with a fingerprint scanner. iPhone 5S + Touch ID: an explosive mixture both in terms of functionality and in terms of anonymity. On the one hand, there is no need to endlessly enter a complex password when making purchases / downloading in the App Store, you can forget about entering a numeric password when blocking. On the other hand, every user probably asked himself the question: "Why does Apple need my fingerprint?" The next step from Apple was the release of OS X Yosemite with an updated search assistant. Spotlight... In addition to convenience and instant search, Spotlight has its own "cockroaches": tracking all requests (including local ones) and transmitting them to Apple servers. 
Apple always assures users that the company is not interested in fingerprints, location data, or any search queries. "Everything is clean and transparent: all data is sent in encrypted form and it is impossible for security services to use it." Of course, you can believe it, but for many, safety comes first.
What is Spotlight to blame?
Those who have the ability to "dig a little deeper" may find that all requests and geo-location data are sent to Apple's servers.
The words of the programmer Ashkan Soltani should be interpreted as follows: the OS X Yosemite operating system installed on a "clean" operating system by default transmits search queries and geolocation. The company itself does not hide anything and clearly describes how Spotlight works:
You can refuse such a "disservice" by making several independent settings.
Settings "just in case"
I’m not paranoid, I don’t have a persecution mania, but I am saddened by the fact that I’m under constant surveillance. Give up Apple? Sorry no! Theoretically, "who is looking and who needs it - he can always find", but the situation can be prevented by disabling some of the search functions of the vaunted Spotlight.
Go to System Preferences - Spotlight... Open the tab "Searching results" and without a drop of pity, we remove three ticks: Spotlight Suggestions, Messages & Mail, and Bing Search the Web.
The settings do not end there. For the full effect, you will also need to make adjustments in the Safari browser. Go to Safari preferences, open the Search tab and uncheck the Enable Spotlight Suggestions box.
We prohibit the determination of the geolocation by system services by disabling Spotlight Suggestions.
Let's not forget about the iPhone
Spotlight likes to "poke his nose into other things" not only in the "adult" OS X Yosemite, but also on the iOS platform (although Apple has warned there). Go to Settings - General - Spotlight Search:
Disable search in:
- - in Spotlight offers;
- in contacts;
- in messages;
- in e-mail messages;
- in Bing web results.
Perhaps that's all. Whatever it was, if you really value your privacy, and Spotlight search has not become the "# 1 tool" in your daily work, feel free to disable its use. Time will tell whether it is effective or not. You can't blame Apple for infringing on a user's personal data either, because OS X Yosemite and iOS have privacy statements, we just don't like reading them so much.
Articles and Life Hacks
This term is associated with the appearance of the third version of the iOS platform, since it was then that it first became known. However, even though this happened five years ago, many Apple users still do not know what is spotlight search... Let's try to define this concept, and also figure out how you can include it. And we'll talk about that next time.
What is Spotlight Search?
Anything related to search is usually associated by desktop owners with the string Yandex or Google. However, the iOS smartphone is different in that it has its own search engine.
So what is Spotlight search? This is a search service developed by Apple and integrated into its devices. It operates within the Mac OS X operating system and is its most important technology.
In fact, Spotlight looks like a screen for searching all kinds of content on our tablet or smartphone. With the help of it, we can easily find applications, games, music and much more we are interested in, as well as get an answer to our question. In addition, Spotlight is also a system search tool, as it allows us to find all the files we need (similar to searching on a desktop PC).
Over time, it has improved and developed, and therefore today has a number of additional functional features. For example, if desired, we can search for other computers within the local network, or save the search results. Also available are the so-called "smart folders", which are distinguished by an intelligent self-updating system.
The Spotlight search engine records the creation, modification, opening, deletion and other manipulations with files, making the search as efficient and effective as possible. The service indexes audio and video files, contacts, MS Office documents and the most common text equally well.
Enabling Spotlight Search
As a rule, this search engine is activated on our mobile device by default. Therefore, there is absolutely no need. If we swipe the screen to the left, we will find it on the very first desktop. You can enter the query we are interested in using a regular qwerty keyboard.
It happens that Spotlight is turned off. You can fix this by going to the main settings and finding the appropriate item. The Spotlight Search menu will list all the places on our device where the search is performed. We have the right to activate or deactivate the required areas at our sole discretion.
The word "Search" is immediately associated with the Google search engine. However, Apple iPhone with its wonderful operating system will be able to boast of its own search - Spotlight.
Spotlight appeared back in 2009, when the iOS 3.0 operating system was just introduced.
What is Spotlight?
Spotlight Search is a content search screen on your phone, tablet. With Spotlight, you can quickly and easily find the contacts, music, games and programs you need. And what is more interesting is to immediately get an answer to your question on Google.
How do I enable Spotlight?
Search on every Apple iPhone works by default. It is located on the first desktop of the smartphone, if you scroll the screen to the left.
Here is a search bar and a standard iPhone qwerty keyboard. Start typing the word you want and enjoy the result.
There are times when Spotlight is turned off. You can enable it in the following way.
Settings - General - Spotlight Search
A list of places will open where the search will be performed on your device. Turn off / on the items you want and enjoy faster information retrieval.
