IOS – Spotlight search on iOS not showing options to search web/maps/App Store unless it has results from other apps

iosspotlight

I am noticing something both on my iPad 2 and iPhone SE running iOS 9.3.2 that I don't recall seeing until today. When I do a spotlight search, it shows a list of results from different apps, and then at the bottom options to search web, App Store, and maps. But now, if the search is such that there are no results from apps, it won't show those last three search options either.

Also, if relevant, a search that brings up just one top hit of an app and nothing else, also does not show options for the web/app/map search. Also, spotlight might start showing a result, like of a note I'm typing, but as I keep typing just a little more of the title of that note, then all results disappear.

And when offline, this problem goes away. Even about the disappearing notes search result problem.

Best Answer

Upon a little testing around, I have discovered the solution. Go to Settings > General > Spotlight Search and disable Bing Web Results. There must be some problem either on Microsoft's end or in the way the iOS software gets it, and this interferes with Spotlight from doing what it needs to do.

Hopefully Apple will fix this and it can be re-enabled with iOS 10 or a future iOS 9.x update, or it will be fixed on Microsoft's end, if the issue becomes known to them.

It's unclear to me if this affects everyone or just a small number of users. If you're not sure if you have this problem, test it out as per the original question. And please comment if this does or does not fix it for you.

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IOS – How to save Google Maps in iOS for offline use

Without jailbreaking, the iPhone DOES cache the last few map tiles on the view, at all the view zoom levels. I'm not sure how extensive this is, and because it's only a temporary cache the data is always a second away from deletion.

Without jailbreaking, you can download an application, there are lots of them, but my favorite is called MotionX GPS, which is on the App Store. It allows you to cache and save certain types of map tiles from a variety of map modes, including Terrain, roads, and more. I'm not sure if they're specifically Google Maps, but you can get some types of maps for sure.

After jailbreaking, which is both legal and easy, you can find a couple of 3rd party utilities to help you download map tiles to the device, but most of them require you to view the tiles in the app itself, not in the Maps application.

Finder Search (spotlight) not finding all relevant results

The Spotlight window does not include files treated as system files by default. Try setting "System files" to "are included":

Or use mdfind:

$ mdfind -name tweetbot
/Applications/Tweetbot.app
/Users/lauri/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter/Tweetbot_4C49445B-E14E-51E5-87DC-7CE59AE6A841.plist
/Users/lauri/Library/Containers/com.tapbots.TweetbotMac/Data/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter/Tweetbot_4C49445B-E14E-51E5-87DC-7CE59AE6A841.plist
/Users/lauri/Library/Containers/com.tapbots.TweetbotMac/Data/Library/Application Support/Tweetbot
/Users/lauri/Library/Containers/com.tapbots.TweetbotMac
/Users/lauri/Library/Speech/Speakable Items/Application Speakable Items/Tweetbot
/Users/lauri/Library/SyncedPreferences/com.tapbots.TweetbotMac.plist

Best Answer

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IOS – How to save Google Maps in iOS for offline use

Finder Search (spotlight) not finding all relevant results

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