I honestly don't think this will solve the issue because Notes, Calendar, Reminders, etc. do NOT show up in Spotlight.
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iOS 14 Spotlight Search not showing apps and contacts
- Thread starter harkon
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I honestly don't think this will solve the issue because Notes, Calendar, Reminders, etc. do NOT show up in Spotlight.
Good luck. I suggest backing up both, iCloud and iTunes, because not all contents inside apps are saved (VLC, for instance are not uploaded).
I got the same frustrating issue on the iphone XS with a about 1100 app and a lot of notes and contacts.
My old 6S made the update to iOS14 without such issue, same with my iPad Pro.
The productive phone, the XS is affectef and drives me crazy. Tried to reboot, change region etc and deleted now a couple of app to have less than 1000 but still no luck. Does it may be takes so long time to index all app emails notes etc?
My old 6S made the update to iOS14 without such issue, same with my iPad Pro.
The productive phone, the XS is affectef and drives me crazy. Tried to reboot, change region etc and deleted now a couple of app to have less than 1000 but still no luck. Does it may be takes so long time to index all app emails notes etc?
Hi guys, just coming back to report that doing the full erase brought back the Spotlight search!! I chose not to recover from my iCloud backup at startup, so I can't really tell you whether that would have changed anything. But I'm back baby!!! So stupid.
UPDATE: DO NOT RECOVER YOUR APPS & DATA FROM ICLOUD WHEN REQUESTED! I tried a couple things after I posted this. I likely won't be coming back to post every step of the way since I only made this account to try and solve my original issue, but passing along the good karma by saving others an extra headache.....I redid it and tried letting it download my apps, and issue occured again immediately. Best of luck to anyone else suffering from this major bug in iOS 14!
UPDATE: DO NOT RECOVER YOUR APPS & DATA FROM ICLOUD WHEN REQUESTED! I tried a couple things after I posted this. I likely won't be coming back to post every step of the way since I only made this account to try and solve my original issue, but passing along the good karma by saving others an extra headache.....I redid it and tried letting it download my apps, and issue occured again immediately. Best of luck to anyone else suffering from this major bug in iOS 14!
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Siri still works until they fix... I went to Accesibility Settings and turned on new feature Back Tap and set it to activate Siri by tapping on back of the device. I just tap twice and say “Open Best Buy” etc instead of typing app name in Spotlight search or scrolling across Home Screens to App Library.
so, you first made erase apple device and issue gone. But after you roll backup issue appear again, don’t you? Stupid apple iOS 14 !!!
We will all have to wait solution from Apple !! No way to recover ! Nobody want iPhone as a new without everything!!
I think that If we will rollback backup from PC or MAC the result will be the same. End of life until fix.
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So a question for those with more Apple experience: how do we make sure that this is an important and urgent issue for Apple?
I do not look forward to waiting six or eight weeks for iOS 14.2, and maybe then finding out that they didn't fix it.
I do not look forward to waiting six or eight weeks for iOS 14.2, and maybe then finding out that they didn't fix it.
I reported bug on Feedback Assistant app after installing iOS 14.2 Beta... if more people report it maybe will be fixed sooner
Edit: this post below should probably be it's own thread entirely, but I encourage you to continue reading if the rest of the previous pages of this thread have been relevant to you......
I did not. TBH I didn't even have enough space on my computer to do a full encrypted backup anyways (it wanted to do 110GB). I did use one of those programs to back up some bits and pieces just in case the worst case scenario had happened...
As the one person who I have seen post and escape this bug, I can say that it's good to be back but I still think there's something underlying here that needs to be investigated by Apple and addressed in the future....especially because if we assume we will continue using Apple products in the years to come, the issues will only get worse.
There is ONE commonality between all of us who have posted: the amount of apps we had. I don't think this can be understated and it is definitely not a coincidence. I am honestly very glad to have found this thread and find others facing similar issues, but there have been other instances in the past that I still think might have roots in what finally came to a head with this Spotlight issue for us.
Personally, I've just felt like the issues are just below the threshold of where I'd waste my time typing on a forum or making a blog post....but given the demographics of this situation being fitting of the thoughts, I'll just ask:
1. Did any of you guys use multiple Apple IDs in the past to install apps? (as in -- out of your entire large library, the apps were initially installed by and thus associated to one ID but you also have apps associated with another)??
- Relevance: when I erased and signed back in to my main apple ID, I was prompted to also sign in to the several other apple IDs I had used to install apps in the past. Yes, I ended up setting up Family Sharing so that I can better track which apps were from which accounts....but I had this sort of issue even before that where apple gets confused on how it associates apps with each ID....
2. When you guys go into the app store to look for updates to your apps, do you typically always have to do it manually for the updates to show up? Since the update section moved with one of the previous iOS updates, I've had to pull down and manually refresh the list and typically a huge amount end up popping up.
- Relevance: even with automatic app updates turned on, my apps wouldn't even update by themselves most of the time prior to iOS 14. It really seems like Siri's friends working inside the internals of iOS struggle to handle the amount of apps we have and complexity of it. Even though we have plenty of storage space left on our phones.
3. When you guys go into the app store, do you ever run into scenarios where you see that little cloud icon show up for an app that you DO have installed, but it takes a few seconds for it to register that you actually have it installed??
- Relevance: I had noticed this happening often times and I can't really quote a specific scenario to recreate this, but I always found it odd enough to even be happening that it stuck with me after having it happen so many times. I just ignored it and never mentioned it since I had no one to mention it to.
Well -- I have no idea if I just wasted my time posting all of that, but it was cathartic to type out and put into words...since this is not a normal situation with the Spotlight issue, but I personally feel like it was a build up to this. I had been thinking that the only way I'd escape the hole I got myself into was a full erase and reset anyways....my phone would act so strange sometimes with random "hanging" and performance that wasn't adding up. And i'm still seeing some of that right now post-reset -- but my phone is SO MUCH FASTER now. However, I believe Apple needs to ensure that something like this never happens again, and that they work with Power Users such as ourselves to continue to push the inner workings of iOS itself.
It would be total MAYHEM for Apple as a company if an issue like we experienced, and you all are still experiencing, happened to even the smallest subset of users...
GOOD LUCK GUYS! I haven't done postings like this in a couple years ever since the SP4 screen flicker issue happened and I thought I was crazy, until Microsoft had to issue an unprecendended out-of-warranty recall/replacement of devices after people like us raised enough of a stink. Happy to answer any other questions on steps I took on solving this issue for myself.
At least I’m not alone, I guess. Same issue here since updating last night. Tried changing the language/region, etc. It’s very frustrating to read that this was an issue in the betas yet still wasn’t fixed for the GM.
Aside from the spotlight issue, I’ve also had some more very annoying ones:
Very interesting questions, would be good to see if other people have the same answers.
For me:
Number of apps — 537
Q1 (other Apple IDs) — yes
Q2 (App Store updates) — yes, but some do seem to update automatically. Just went to the App Store and it said I had one pending update. Pulled to refresh and now I have 48.
Q3 (cloud icon in App Store for apps that are still installed) — yes, very annoying.
Another issue I’ve been having recently (before iOS 14 update) — Files app sometimes not showing any locations at all. Restart fixes it. Not sure if related.
Aside from the spotlight issue, I’ve also had some more very annoying ones:
- New Translate app pushed its way onto my second page, forcing the last app on every page to be pushed to the start of the next one and the last app on the last page to disappear.
- Several folders were removed and the apps inside them only showed up after clearing space on the Home Screen (by hiding apps or moving them into folders). Some of the apps I moved/hidden seemed to randomly reappear on the Home Screen later on.
- Shortcuts changed the order of my shortcuts — I had a specific layout and knew where things were.
Very interesting questions, would be good to see if other people have the same answers.
For me:
Number of apps — 537
Q1 (other Apple IDs) — yes
Q2 (App Store updates) — yes, but some do seem to update automatically. Just went to the App Store and it said I had one pending update. Pulled to refresh and now I have 48.
Q3 (cloud icon in App Store for apps that are still installed) — yes, very annoying.
Another issue I’ve been having recently (before iOS 14 update) — Files app sometimes not showing any locations at all. Restart fixes it. Not sure if related.
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My iPad has a lot of apps but does not have issue ... both of my iPhones have issue. I have not had issues updating apps on iOS 13 or iOS 14... I did see issue with widgets causing folders to unpack or delete themselves. Also saw whole pages deleted... checked to see if they were hidden but the pages were completely gone.
I'm also not able to search for apps via spotlight. Before seeing this I'd already tried all the language/region/reset settings (not full erase) tricks. In the app store update section, I'm also not seeing all the downloads until I pull down to refresh. I have 943 apps. There aren't multiple accounts tied to my ipad.
Hate that they removed this, like why??!! Always 1 step forward and 1.5 back with them.
Hi everyone. I've been reading all the comments and I'm experienced the same here. Can't search for Apps from the pull down, like we used to. I have about 900 apps...
but wanted to write that I accidently swiped past the last page and found that I can search for apps there. A nice work around until they fix the indexing issue.
but wanted to write that I accidently swiped past the last page and found that I can search for apps there. A nice work around until they fix the indexing issue.
Last page is not a spotlight it is another story. This is apps library, but we are talking about spotlight search everything
Important point to note — the number under Settings > General > About > Applications does not include offloaded apps, but offloaded apps are still indexed. Meaning, if this is a problem relating to indexing a large number of apps, this number isn’t a totally accurate way to determine how many apps it‘s actually indexing. Not sure if there’s a way to get the total number of apps overall (besides counting), but this number would allow for a much better comparison and would also let us see if there is a true cut-off point.
If I could assign App Library as the Back Tap action I’d do that, but unfortunately we can’t. Also thought about creating a shortcut which presents a list of apps to choose from, but (1) they removed the ability to search within a list of options, so we’d potentially have to scroll a long way to find the app we need; and (2) scrolling large lists is now laggy to an essentially unusable level.
Nope, no family account.
Yeah, the App Library is OK, but like you said — you have to swipe past the last page which is really inconvenient. The other thing is that it only shows Apps, and Spotlight is broken for contacts, searching within Notes, etc (mine is anyway, assuming it’s the same for everyone else).
If I could assign App Library as the Back Tap action I’d do that, but unfortunately we can’t. Also thought about creating a shortcut which presents a list of apps to choose from, but (1) they removed the ability to search within a list of options, so we’d potentially have to scroll a long way to find the app we need; and (2) scrolling large lists is now laggy to an essentially unusable level.
To answer the 4 questions:
- Nominally 137 apps on my iPhone 11, but including offloaded apps, given that I have been accumulating apps since the iPhone 4s, it has to be over 1000.
- Other Apple IDs? I am pretty sure no.
- Apps will update eventually, but I usually manually trigger the “automatic” update. I do not really know how often they will update if I never check, since I check every other day or so, or sometimes a couple times in a day.
- Yes, sometimes when I check for app updates it will show the cloud download icon instead, but that has only lasted for a few seconds, soon being replaced by either “open” or “update”. It has never been too annoying, but then, I have a fast CPU.
In new version you can temporatory hide pages and temporatory close the problem with search apps by apps library
)In new version you can temporatory hide pages and temporatory close the problem with search apps by apps library
That’s a very good point, though it also strikes me as really pathetic on Apple’s part. ?
It seems to me a very odd feature, but I wonder if it’s candid admission that app management is a total mess.
The sad thing is, it doesn’t need to be. There are lots of ways to make it much easier, most obviously in iTunes if they would use the full screen(s), and a split screen would benefit either a computer or the iOS device itself (so that swiping pages would swipe half a homepage at a time, the source page in 1/2 of the split, the target page in the other half of the split. So you could leave the target folder sitting there while swiping quickly through pages and then dragging the desired apps or folders into the proper target folder without having agonizingly to go slowly, moronically, and unreliably back-and-forth).
Interesting, did not know it was calculated like that.
In new version you can temporatory hide pages and temporatory close the problem with search apps by apps library
This is honestly more of a bandaid than a true fix....you are correct that they intended to avoid extreme cases where adding the App Library ruins a user’s experience having to rearrange a ton of pages worth of apps, but
However - if you let’s say... go into App Library > type in an app name > hold down on that app to bring up typical X button for apps > if you move around or engage with an app icon within the Library, it automatically brings back that entire page you had hidden...and screws up the order. Idk exactly how but happened multiple times pre-reset.
To those still suffering from this issue, I saw an interesting post on Reddit worth checking out
“
I reported this many betas back and pretty sure it was linked (at least originally) to number of apps (I had like 1700 installed). Long story short, I got a feedback reply (my first ever) Monday saying code was added to fix it in beta 6. It’s not fixed for me.
I originally report it on July 8th and as of just last week it said None for recent similar reports, however today it says “more than 10”!
Deleting apps fixes it every time, originally I had to delete like 800, testing every 50 or so. But as of beta 4, I think, I now only need to delete like 2-5 apps to fix it each time. It’s a pain in the ass but having a working spotlight search is worth it. Even with this issue I’m totally loving iOS 14.”
Try it and see if maybe that helps??
Hey,
I had this exact problem and after reading your comments I realized i too had a big number off apps installed/offloaded, so I set out to delete a bunch of the ones I very rarely use and making a list of them so I know which app to install depending on its function if I ever need that, and lo and behold, spotlight now works perfectly. I don’t know exactly how many apps are the limit so just remove a bunch and reboot your device until Spotlight works again. I just hope apple fixes this eventually, I really do like the convenience of just reinstalling an app from the springboard.
I had this exact problem and after reading your comments I realized i too had a big number off apps installed/offloaded, so I set out to delete a bunch of the ones I very rarely use and making a list of them so I know which app to install depending on its function if I ever need that, and lo and behold, spotlight now works perfectly. I don’t know exactly how many apps are the limit so just remove a bunch and reboot your device until Spotlight works again. I just hope apple fixes this eventually, I really do like the convenience of just reinstalling an app from the springboard.