Big Sur Spotlight Currency Conversion

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Level 1

8 points

Big Sur Spotlight Currency Conversion

A change to the behaviour in Spotlight in Big Sur is really disappointing and senseless. Previously, when I entered "100usd" it then displayed the conversion into my local currency, ZAR.

Now, entering the phrase gives me a conversion in GBP, something I do not want. Clicking on the little arrow at the end of the entry gives 4 more conversions, but none in ZAR. To obtain the wanted conversion I need to enter "100usd to zar" - for someone like me who uses this feature multiple times every day this is seriously a step backward and I can't see who the change benefits.

I don't think there is any way to change the behaviour which is disappointing.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Jan 22, 2021 2:09 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

dialabrain

Level 10

135,563 points

Jan 22, 2021 5:31 AM in response to matbishop

Change: System Preferences > Language & Region > Advanced > Currency to "South African Rand (ZAR)".

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,164 points

Jan 22, 2021 4:12 AM in response to matbishop

There would appear to be no cure for the default currency reporting, even if you went to the Calculator applications and set the conversion to the preferred setting. However, you can do what I have tested on macOS 11.1. Set a text replacement in System Preferences > Keyboard > Text as:

and when you use Spotlight, you now enter just 100 usd and tap the spacebar when you see the text replacement hover:

to get:

And alternatively, Siri will get the job done when you speak, "Convert 100 US dollars to South Afrikan Rand."

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Answer 3

matbishop Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 22, 2021 4:17 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you for the suggestion. As is I think it will prove cumbersome as I do type USD regularly in other settings, but your idea will work with a slight modification like "usdd". Unfortunately an extra space after the number is now needed as well as after my text replacement phrase, highlighting my initial gripe with the less useful/slower Spotlight in general with Big Sur and iOS 14. Another example is the built in dictionary - you now have to press enter on a word in Spotlight to read the meaning, also a step backwards. Anyhow thank you for the suggestion, I will definitely implement it.

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