Spotlight

This tweak removes the background mask effect from Spotlight search results

We recently showed you a tweak that can remove Spotlight search from your device entirely. On the other hand, if you do use Spotlight, but just wish there was more you could do with it to make the interface look better, then try this on for size…

A new free jailbreak tweak called No Spotlight BG Mask by Justin Petkovic is a minor aesthetic mod that simplifies the way your Spotlight search results look. It removes the background masks that normally appear out of the box, resulting in a new look.

NoSpot10 removes Spotlight search from your iPhone

If you never really use Spotlight, and it always ends up in your face when you don’t want it to be, then you might want to take a look a new free jailbreak tweak called NoSpot10 by CydiaGeek.

Installing this tweak lets you disable Spotlight in a system-wide manner, leaving you with simpler widget pages on the Home screen, Lock screen, and Notification Center.

How to hide the Spotlight Search icon from the menu bar

If you never use the Spotlight feature on your Mac, or if you only use it from the Finder rather than from the menu bar, you may have wondered how to get rid of its icon. In this guide, we’ll show you how to hide the Spotlight icon from your Mac menu bar, while still being able to use the feature.

NoTodayView disables the Spotlight widget page on the Home and Lock screens

NoTodayView is a new free jailbreak tweak for iOS 10 devices that can disable the Spotlight widget page on both the Home screen and Lock screen, which depending on how you use your device, can be very useful.

While most people like to use the Spotlight and widget page system that comes stock, it gets in the way when you try to use some other Home screen-modifying jailbreak tweaks like Mobius, which allow you to scroll infinitely through all of your Home screen pages and folders without coming to any dead-ends.

How to reveal a file’s path in Spotlight for Mac with a simple keystroke

In macOS versions up until Lion, hovering over an item in Spotlight’s search results on your Mac would reveal its full file system path. As of macOS Lion, that’s no longer the default behavior—the Spotlight overlay gives you some information about the selected file, but not its location. But don’t you worry, Apple hasn’t ditched this feature entirely as you can reveal a file’s path in your Spotlight search results at any time via this practical keyboard shortcut.

iOS 10 tidbit: Spotlight Suggestions in Messages

On iOS 10, Spotlight Suggestions appear in more places than before. We recently told you about Spotlight Suggestions in the Look Up interface (formerly known as the Define feature). We also discussed iOS 10’s expressive Messages app in depth and mentioned its super useful inline previews of URLs.

As it turns out, not only does Messages support inline previews of media URLs, but underlines specific terms in your chats—such as movie and app names—that Spotlight Suggestions can give you more info about.

SearchDefine: search for word definitions right from Spotlight

There come times when you need to define words quickly, and because iOS has no dedicated Dictionary app, there is really no convenient way to define a word when you’re stuck.

Rather than downloading a third-party dictionary app from the App Store to clutter your Home screen even further, a new jailbreak tweak called SearchDefine lets you define words via the iOS dictionary right from Spotlight.

iOS 10 tidbit: getting to Spotlight from any app, in an instant

Since installing iOS 10 Preview on my iPhone 6s I’ve been discovering these little gems that, in my personal opinion, will make this particular revision to Apple’s mobile OS the most worthwhile upgrade yet.

Aside from major new headlining features, it’s the little things that make our hearts sing. One of such subtle refinements is the ability to quickly get to Spotlight Search from any app.