iOS 7.0.3 brings back web and Wikipedia search from Spotlight

web wikipedia spotlight search

A feature that could have easily gone unnoticed with yesterday’s release of iOS 7.0.3 is the return of web and Wikipedia search directly from Spotlight. The feature had been missing since the first beta release of Apple’s latest mobile operating system.

To access it, simply pull your Home screen down to reveal Spotlight Search. Then start typing whatever you’re looking for. If necessary, scroll all the way down. In my experience, I’ve found that some common searches usually return tons of emails first, making the feature a little less convenient to use than I would want to…

In Spotlight Search settings, there is no way of moving the Search options to the top either, so unless you’re searching for something very specific (see screenshot above), searching for vague keywords such as “iPhone” will likely return many unwanted items first (ie, emails containing the word “iPhone”).

It’s still nice to see this feature back in iOS 7.0.3. Now I’ll just have to remember to use it.

[Thank James]