Spotlight

Make iOS’ Spotlight search feature more powerful with LuxSit

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 30, 2019

iOS’ Spotlight search function is severely underpowered, and with just a bit more oomph, it could be a significantly more powerful tool for both casual and power users alike.

It remains to be seen whether Apple will ever expand upon Spotlight’s seemingly limited search functionalities in upcoming iterations of iOS or not, but in any case, jailbreakers won’t need to wait around for that to happen. With a newly-released and free jailbreak tweak called LuxSit by iOS developer LacertosusDeus, you can enjoy an upgraded Spotlight search experience today.

This tweak lets you reassign the native Spotlight/Today page gesture to something more useful

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 13, 2019

The Spotlight/Today page can be a wonderful thing, but not everybody uses it. With that in mind, iOS developer Oliver Crespo has created a new free jailbreak tweak called XB-SpotlightScroll that aims to increase the number of things you can do when invoking the gesture that’s typically used to access the Spotlight/Today page.

As it would seem, XB-SpotlightScroll can replace the native Spotlight/Today interface with any one of the following options:

LeadMeHome makes it easy to find apps on cluttered Home screens

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 27, 2018

Home screen setups vary from one person to the next, but if yours is more cluttered than most, then perhaps you could benefit from a new free jailbreak tweak release called LeadMeHome by iOS developer LonestarX.

LeadMeHome aims to help you find app icons on your Home screen more efficiently. Whether you want to launch, move, or delete the app in question, LeadMeHome saves you the time and hassle of searching several pages’ worth of app icons with a fine-toothed comb.

This tweak prevents Spotlight from remembering recent search queries

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 7, 2018

If you use Spotlight regularly, then you may be familiar with how the tool remembers your previous search query. Consequently, Spotlight users are then forced to clear the search bar before they can perform a new query.

Albeit a small inconvenience, a new free jailbreak tweak dubbed SpotClearOnClose by iOS developer Kiran Patil can put an end to these shenanigans and save you time the next time you go to use Spotlight search.

How and why to rebuild Spotlight index on your Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 11, 2024

In this tutorial, we will show you how to rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac if Spotlight isn't working properly or searching doesn't return the expected results.

Apple swaps Bing for Google in Siri, iOS Search & macOS Spotlight

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 25, 2017

Apple officially announced today that it's replacing Microsoft's Bing with the Google search engine for Siri web searches and within Spotlight for iOS (now called Search) and Spotlight on Mac. Safari on iPhone, iPad and Mac already uses Google search as the default provider.

Hide specific apps from the Siri Suggestions widget with HideSiriSuggestions

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 11, 2017

Siri Suggestions is an iOS widget that keeps track of your app usage and recommends the apps you use the most. While the concept is useful for some, the implementation is a hassle for others because it shows a history of your most frequently-launched apps.

Jailbreakers now have a decent solution to the quarrel without losing out on somewhat useful functionality. A new free jailbreak tweak called HideSiriSuggestions by iOS developer Andreas Henriksson lets you hide individual apps of your choosing from the widget.

100+ new features in macOS High Sierra

Andrew O'Hara ∙ Updated May 23, 2018

Say hello to macOS High Sierra, Apple's newest operating system update for Macs. Whether you're on an iMac or one of the Touch Bar-outfitted MacBook Pro models, there is a lot to love in this latest release of Apple's desktop operating system.

Get Me Home lets you summon a Lyft or Uber right from Spotlight

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 14, 2017

Sometimes you need to get home, and whether you’re too intoxicated because you had one too many drink or you’re just too tired to drive, both Lyft and Uber offer convenient transportation services to get you from point A to point B safely.

Both services have apps to make summoning transportation easy for you, but if you want to make things even easier, then you might like a new jailbreak tweak called Get Me Home by iOS developer Tom Effects.

Center the Today page’s date indicator with this tweak

Anthony Bouchard ∙ July 19, 2017

The Today page, accessible in both Notification Center and Spotlight, typically displays the date above all the widgets you've enabled. On stock devices, the date is aligned to the right.

While the right-aligned date doesn't look bad, having a centered date doesn't look too bad either, and with a new free jailbreak tweak called CenteredDate by iOS developer dahamtob, you can center Today page's date indicator for a more aesthetically-pleasing effect.

This tweak hides your web search history from Spotlight

Anthony Bouchard ∙ June 6, 2017

Whenever you search for stuff using Spotlight on your iPhone, a history of what you’ve searched for is kept just below the Siri app suggestions.

If you’re concerned about the privacy of your web search history via Spotlight, then you might want to download a new free jailbreak tweak dubbed Spotlight No Suggest by iOS developer ichitaso.

Add the Dock to the Today view with this handy tweak

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 17, 2017

The Dock is a special part of the Home screen that houses your favorite apps and appears on all pages except for the Today page, which is where your widgets appear. On the other hand, if you wanted to change that, you officially can.

A new free jailbreak tweak dubbed ViewDockOnTodayView by CydiaGeek allows the Dock appear on the Today page with all of your widgets and in addition to all of your regular Home screen pages.