You can access Spotlight search anywhere on iPad even if you don’t have a keyboard connected. It’s a neat little hack.
Nifty Little Hack Lets You Access Spotlight Search Anywhere on iPad without a Keyboard Connected
I use Spotlight search a little too much on iPad. In fact, I don’t even launch apps from the Home Screen or App Library most of the time. I just bring up Spotlight, type away the app’s name and launch it from there. Even if I have to multitask, I search the app’s name and drag it from Spotlight to the side of the display. It’s convenient.
However, you can’t use Spotlight everywhere on iPad. It has a certain limitation. See, on the Home Screen you can just swipe down to do a search. If you have Magic Keyboard or a Bluetooth keyboard connected, pressing Command+Spacebar brings up Spotlight search, too. But, if you’re inside an app, the only way to access it is by bringing the entire Notification Center down, hiding the current app away, swipe down and then access Spotlight. Not exactly ideal, especially if you want to search for something while keeping the current app (or apps) in view.
There is a trick to access Spotlight right on top of your favorite app even if you don’t have a keyboard connected, and it involves a bit of monkeying around with your fingers. What you’re going to do is – slide down the Notification Center slightly and use another finger to slide down on the partial Notification Center, and voila. Confused? Don’t be, because I have a video showing you how it’s done.
Post by @uzairghaniView on Threads
This hack has been around for a long time. Given how useful Spotlight is, I’m surprised you can’t quite access it everywhere instantly if you don’t have a keyboard attached. Maybe Apple should introduce a swiping gesture in a future version of iPadOS and make things easier for everyone.
