Confused about search?

[Armen]

Swiping down from the middle of the home screen reveals the spotlight search from iOS 8.

iOS 9 added the iOS 6 style spotlight search (swipe left from first screen)

Both of these search windows look similar initially but only the left swipe search populates with siri suggestions. The pull down search from the home screen does not.

the heck is this? a bug? Something unique to my phone or by design? Why would you access a search screen from 2 different places?

 

[Hustler1337]

I think the dropdown is meant to be a quick access, no nonsense search function whereas swiping all the way to the left is supposed to unleash the beast. Just a theory though.

 

[Armen]

I think the dropdown is meant to be a quick access, no nonsense search function whereas swiping all the way to the left is supposed to unleash the beast. Just a theory though.

If I'm confused by this imagine the average person.

 

[ChanneledDan]

It's odd that search is accessible in two different places, but the 'quick access' theory sounds right to me. If the swipe down works like in iOS 8 then it opens the keyboard automatically and so it'll be faster to use. Swiping left-to-right doesn't seem to open the keyboard automatically so it doesn't cover up all those suggestions.

 

[KALLT]

I also read that the new search function is not available on all devices (e.g. iPhone 4S). Perhaps the search function will be disabled at some point on newer devices.