Spotlight search not showing recent apps

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Spotlight search not showing recent apps

Hello,

for a while I noticed that spotlight search is not showing my recent apps (most used apps) almost all the time on my iPhone 13, latest iOS. It is very annoying when I have to search for GPS app for example, almost every time I want to open it, even though I’m using it very often.

I hopped this will go away with recent updates but it looks like is here to stay and I would like to find a way to solve it.

Here it is how my home screen is looking when I open spotlight search.

In Settings, Siri & Search, Show Suggestions and Recent options are enabled. If I disable and enable these two, apps start showing for a while till search is not showing any apps history again.

Just to be clear, I can search in Spotlight but my problem is with recent apps I use because are not showing up when I open Spotlight search.

iPhone 13 Pro Max

Posted on Nov 28, 2022 12:34 AM

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faith185

Community Specialist

Nov 29, 2022 4:54 PM in response to dragos_2p

Hi dragos_2p,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. It sounds like you've tried some great troubleshooting so far. You mentioned having checked your Siri & Search settings which is the best place to start and we'd like to check one more thing there. Did you go to the app from Settings > Siri & Search > [App name], to check the settings there? If not, try that as well and make sure the apps are enabled. The below guidance is from Use Search on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support.

"Change search settings

You can change the search settings to limit which apps and results appear while you're searching. Here's how:

Go to Settings and tap Siri & Search.
Scroll down and select an app.
Then select Show App in Search, Show Content in Search, Show on Home Screen, Suggest App, or Suggest Notifications.

To turn off Siri Suggestions for all apps, go to Settings > Siri & Search, and turn off the settings you want."

Next, although it sounds unlikely to be the issue, check to make sure there aren't any restrictions enabled from Settings > Screen Time. If there are, disable them and test again to isolate. Screen Time restrictions are detailed further in Use Screen Time on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support.

Since we noticed that Low Power Mode is enabled, we also recommend disabling that and test to see what happens there. This is because some features and tasks might not work properly when Low Power Mode is being used. Check out Use Low Power Mode to save battery life on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support for more information.

Best of luck.

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Spotlight search not showing recent apps

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