Spotlight

Automatically clear Spotlight search with ‘ClearOnOpen’

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 9, 2013

Whenever you perform a Spotlight search by typing search terms in the Spotlight search bar, and then exit the search, the Spotlight search field remains populated when you swipe back to the Spotlight search screen. This is how Spotlight search works with stock settings.

ClearOnOpen is a new jailbreak tweak that forces the Spotlight search field to clear when coming back to the Spotlight search page. If you'd like to see how it works in action, then check after the break as we guide you via our video walkthrough.

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OpenOnSearch makes Spotlight a little more useful

Cody Lee ∙ June 3, 2013

I don't use Spotlight much. The page, which sits to the left of the main Home screen in iOS, lets you do some really useful things like search for stuff on your device and the web. But honestly, most of the time I forget it's there.

But jailbreak developers are looking to change that. We've seen a number of tweaks designed to enhance the Spotlight page, like SpotEnhancer and SLEnhancerSearch, and today we've got a new one to show you. Here's OpenOnSearch...

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How to make the iPhone’s Spotlight background transparent

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Clear The Air is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to adjust the transparency of the Spotlight search in iOS. Options can be configured to adjust the transparency on a sliding scale, maintain the status bar's opacity, and a general kill switch to quickly enable or disable the effect.

If you're looking for a tweak that allows you to enjoy your background wallpaper while performing Spotlight searches, then this is the tweak for you.

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ToDoNotes 2 is out with iOS 6 support

Cody Lee ∙ March 31, 2013

In the summer of 2011, jailbreak developers participated in a cool project called tweak week. Several devs each took a week, and released one new jailbreak tweak everyday. It went on for 3+ months, and we got several great tweaks out of it.

One of those tweaks was ToDoNotes, by TwitkaFly developer moeseth, which added a notepad to the Spotlight page that talked with the Notes app, giving you quick access to your memos. And version 2 just came out with iOS 6 support...

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How to add Facebook, Twitter, and more search options to Spotlight

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

The awkwardly named SLightEnhancerSearch, is a recently released jailbreak tweak that adds a ton of new search options to the stock Spotlight search on iOS. When it was first released, I ran into many issues with the tweak, namely, the search options not showing up on the Spotlight page when enabled.

The tweak was updated today, and the developer seems to have stamped out all of the bugs that plagued the initial release. SLightEnhancerSearch, as silly as its name may be, is a quality jailbreak tweak that many will no doubt find useful...

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Concept video shows how Spotlight in iOS should work

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple added the Spotlight search tool to iOS back in 2009, with version 3.0. The page, which can be accessed by swiping to the left of the Home screen, allows you to search through the content on your device.

While it's a nice idea, the feature itself has long been criticized for its limited functionality. Compared to its counterpart in Mac OS X, Spotlight for iOS is pretty hindered. Perhaps this is how it should work...

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iOS 6 tidbits: Spotlight folder labels, iTunes and wallpaper previews

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Not a day goes by without discovering subtle touches in Apple's iOS 6 software. We covered most of the big and little things already. Perhaps unsurprisingly, cool nice-to-haves still get discovered on a daily basis, proving iOS 6 is the most well-rounded release to date.

iDB told you yesterday how the virtual keyboard is now clever enough to capitalize after quotes and emojis (iOS 6 also sports a bunch of new emojis). We even proposed how Apple could make sharing between third-party apps simpler and more akin to Android's comprehensive Action Menu.

Today, I wanna talk about some noteworthy store tweaks and cosmetic changes in Spotlight and Wallpaper settings...

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This tweak lets you lock your device by swiping to the Spotlight page

Jeff Benjamin ∙ June 3, 2012

SpotLock is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to lock your iPhone simply by swiping over to the place where Spotlight search normally resides. Granted, this tweak will totally eliminate the ability to use Spotlight search, but I believe the popular consensus is that many of you don't use Spotlight to begin with.

Of course, a quick press of the sleep button at the top of your iPhone is the quickest way to secure your iPhone from a software perspective, but SpotLock is an interesting way to break the monotony and switch things up a bit...

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SpotDict: Search iOS’ built in dictionary from Spotlight

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 5, 2012

Spotlight search is very useful when you actually need to use it, but how many times do you find yourself needing to do so?

If you're anything like me, you can probably count on one hand how many times you've used Spotlight over the past few months.

Perhaps this recently released jailbreak tweak will coerce you into using Spotlight a bit more often? It's called SpotDict, and it allows you to look up words in iOS' built in dictionary directly from the Spotlight search page...

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How to replace Spotlight search with a web interface

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 26, 2012

I'm absolutely sure that I'm in the minority on my thoughts about iOS' Spotlight feature. I actually find it useful and helpful for launching apps, finding emails, contacts, etc.

Many of you, however, loathe Apple's inclusion of Spotlight; deeming it absolutely worthless, useless, and a waste of time and energy.

For those who fall into the latter category, then maybe this jailbreak tweak will make you happy. It's called WebSpot, and it allows you to completely replace Spotlight with a customizable web interface...

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CommandSpot: Launch Apps and Respring from Spotlight

Jeff Benjamin ∙ January 15, 2012

Want to launch apps, reboot, respring, or turn off your iDevice right from your Spotlight search? If so, then all you need is a jailbroken device with CommandSpot installed.

CommandSpot is a jailbreak tweak that allows you to execute specific commands to launch apps, Twitter, Facebook, and quite a few other things. It's not the most efficient way to perform these functions, but it can be done nonetheless.

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