Spotlight Search / Contacts Search (partially solved)

I had been looking literally for years for a full search tool, similar to what worked on Palm PDA; Spotlight was nice but way too limited : no search on Contacts adresses, none on optional fields such as Notes, Profession, etc...
Thanks to this thread https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2051531?threadID=2051531, I finally discovered "Contact Tool" which does all I want, except only for Contacts. Too bad it is almost impossible to find on the App Store due to its too generic name...
That would be great if iOS5 brought a major Spotlight improvement, especially for what is not covered by Contact Tool (like emails content).

Forgot to mention that 2 other search applications were also named in the same thread : Fast Contacts and Contact Find.
Did not test them thou since Contact Tool perfectly solved my problem .

Similar Messages

  • Spotlight search contacts goes to FaceTime

    When I search for a contact on my iPad through spotlight search (left of first home screen not from the contacts app), and click on the resulting contact I get sent to the FaceTime app I want to go to contacts app instead how do I do that?

    Forgot to mention that 2 other search applications were also named in the same thread : Fast Contacts and Contact Find.
    Did not test them thou since Contact Tool perfectly solved my problem .

  • Spotlight search results for a contact no longer display details

    3GS software ver 3.1.3
    new problem with spotlight/search/contacts/results:
    I use spotlight to search on a contact, select the result.
    Normally it would display the details of the contact I have chosen. I like this.
    Now it is going to the All Contacts function. This is a problem for me.
    I have looked in this forum and the user guide for an answer.

    Actually there have been complaints off and on for ages that keyword search doesn't work at all, though you say that it was working for you. Certainly it isn't producing a result now, though searching on your title does. I'm afraid that all this is internal to the Store - the ranking and search methods are opaque and despite various websites claiming to explain them, nobody really knows except Apple, and as usual they aren't talking. There isn't really anything you can do about this.

  • Spotlight Search/Contact Search

    Appears that Apple is misleading what the spotlight and contact search function can do on the 3.0 software update. First, spotlight will not search the content of emails.... just the header/title. Secondly, neither spotlight nor contact search will search all the fields in a contact. Just raised this issue through a one-on-one session at a local apple store, and all the employees in the store were surprised as they too thought the 3.0 update would do this. It's abt setting expectations and delivering. At the 12:10 mark on the Apple online video, there is discussion abt the search function, and it leads one to believe that all the fields in contacts are searched. Very disappointed as I've 3,000+ contacts and will not remember all the names/company names. Are there any applications that will search all fields in a contact... including the note field? This is my first iPhone. Thanks.

    I have sent messages to Apple Feedback requesting true Spotlight search in Contacts. I have been very frustrated that the iPhone still cannot perform a search that equals what my first Palm PDA could provide. MobileMe does not provide a workaround because the search feature in MobileMe does not look in the Notes field.
    Today I discovered an iPhone App that searches the "Notes" and other fields in Contacts! Contact Tool from Alessandro Levi Montalcini. While not perfect, because it is a little slow, but it does work. A well spent $1.99 for a feature that Apple should be providing.

  • Pull down spotlight search (only) has duplicate contacts

    I have a iphone 5s with the current software update.  When I go to find a contact and use the pull down swipe from the center of the screen, some contacts on the spotlight search results are duplicate contacts.  When I go in to the contact app on my phone and my contacts on my MacBook there are no duplicates they are only showing from the spotlight search pull down only.  How do I get rid of the duplicates from the pull down search when there is no duplicates in the contacts app?

    Spotlight searches multiple areas of the phone besides Contacts. A contact name may also appear in email, calendar and Notes entries and multiple hits may display. Each displayed hit shows the source in small font below.
    In Settings > General > Home > Search Results, you can limit and order which categories you want to search with Spotlight.
    See pages 37 and 147 of the User Guide:
    http://manuals.info.apple.com/enUS/iPhone_UserGuide.pdf

  • IPhone 4S ios 6.1.2 Spotlight Search not Working!!!

    Hi Guys,
    I recently upgraded by iphone 4s to ios 6.1.2 and now i found out that the spotlight search is not working.
    when i try to search a contact and press search the keyboard slides down and the screen is empty does not show anything.
    Pls help what do i do?

    thanks for replying !!
    I checked it all the tabs are selected but still i cant see any thing i searched.
    Deafult if the one i am searching for it should display search the web even thats not being displayed !!
    Can you think of some thing that will solve my issue?

  • After Mavericks update spotlight search menu gone, not possible to use spotlight at all

    Hello,
    I updated last week to Mavericks and since the update Spotlight is completely gone.
    It's not possible any more to get to the spotlight search at all. I checked the Spotlight in the preferences the keyboard short-cuts (apple default) are still enabled but nothing happens.
    Even the spotlight magnifier icon in the menu bar is not there any more.
    Can anybody help?

    Some of your user files (not system files) have incorrect permissions or are locked. This procedure will unlock those files and reset their ownership, permissions, and access controls to the default. If you've intentionally set special values for those attributes, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it, but you do need to follow the instructions below.
    Back up all data.
    Step 1
    If you have more than one user, and the one in question is not an administrator, then go to Step 2.
    Enter the following command in the Terminal window in the same way as before (triple-click, copy, and paste):
    sudo find ~ $TMPDIR.. -exec chflags nouchg,nouappnd {} + -exec chown $UID {} + -exec chmod +rw {} + -exec chmod -N {} + -type d -exec chmod +x {} + 2>&-
    This time you'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
    The command may take several minutes to run, depending on how many files you have. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear, then quit Terminal.
    Step 2 (optional)
    Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1, if you prefer not to take it, or if it doesn't solve the problem.
    Start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
              Utilities ▹ Terminal
    from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open. In that window, type this:
    res
    Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
    resetpassword
    Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.
    Select your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.
    Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
    Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button
    Select
               ▹ Restart
    from the menu bar.

  • For everybody wondering how to completely eliminate things from Spotlight Search, read this

    This is an easy fix. Unfortunately I had the same issue at first. Why can I still see my deleted texts/e-mails in Spotlight Search when I hit the home key? Well, I hope this will solve all of your issues. It sure solved mine. I have a basic iPhone 4 running iOS 6.1.3 ..
    Here goes:
    1.) Go to Settings
    2.) Go to "General"
    3.) Go to "Spotlight Search"
    You will notice that everything has a check mark next to it. Simply click on "Mail" and "Messages" and this will eliminate all of your old deleted texts/e-mails from Spotlight Search. You can also choose to get rid of Contacts, Applications, Music, Podcasts, Videos, Audiobooks, Notes, Events, Voice Memos and Reminders.
    You're ALL set! Now text away and don't worry about your significant other being able to see all those old dirty deleted texts and e-mails. . Take it EZ
    6/1/13

    This is an easy fix. Unfortunately I had the same issue at first. Why can I still see my deleted texts/e-mails in Spotlight Search when I hit the home key? Well, I hope this will solve all of your issues. It sure solved mine. I have a basic iPhone 4 running iOS 6.1.3 ..
    Here goes:
    1.) Go to Settings
    2.) Go to "General"
    3.) Go to "Spotlight Search"
    You will notice that everything has a check mark next to it. Simply click on "Mail" and "Messages" and this will eliminate all of your old deleted texts/e-mails from Spotlight Search. You can also choose to get rid of Contacts, Applications, Music, Podcasts, Videos, Audiobooks, Notes, Events, Voice Memos and Reminders.
    You're ALL set! Now text away and don't worry about your significant other being able to see all those old dirty deleted texts and e-mails. . Take it EZ
    6/1/13

  • Disabling spotlight search

    Is there a way to disable spotlight search?

    "pvonk" is incorrect. Yes ZacPavs you can disable things from Spotlight Search and here's how..
    This is an easy fix. Unfortunately I had the same issue at first. Why can I still see my deleted texts/e-mails in Spotlight Search when I hit the home key? Well, I hope this will solve all of your issues. It sure solved mine. I have a basic iPhone 4 running iOS 6.1.3 ..
    Here goes:
    1.) Go to Settings
    2.) Go to "General"
    3.) Go to "Spotlight Search"
    You will notice that everything has a check mark next to it. Simply click on "Mail" and "Messages" and this will eliminate all of your old deleted texts/e-mails from Spotlight Search. You can also choose to get rid of Contacts, Applications, Music, Podcasts, Videos, Audiobooks, Notes, Events, Voice Memos and Reminders.
    You're ALL set! Now text away and don't worry about your significant other being able to see all those old dirty deleted texts and e-mails. . Take it EZ

  • Why is my spotlight search slow/unresponsive in IOS 7... specifically when I start the search with the letters "n" or "c".

    I have an iPhone 5 that must be just over a year old now. I don't remember exactly when this problem started, but I think it was right after updating to IOS 7. The problem is that with certain searches, such as "chrome" or "calender", the spotlight search will basically do nothing. It is somewhat random. Sometimes it will work imidiatly as I am typing it like it usually did. But other times, I will write out the whole word, press search, and still nothing will come up.
    As I was just testing it now, I came up with an interesting discovery. I tested every letter of the alphabet and while 24 of them immidiatly worked fine like usual, it was actually only searches that started with "n" or "c" that did not work. Perhaps the reason I noticed this so much is because some of the apps I use all the time are Chrome, Calender, Notes, Contacts, Calculator, Clock, Camera (wow- just realized how many apps started with "c"!).
    While in spotlight, if I type in C or N and then delete it and try to type another letter that would work normally, it does not work. So if I type in N and then delete it and type in A, A will not come up with results like it would if I just started with A. But if I close and reopend spotlight search and then type in A, it works fine.
    When spotlight search is unresponsive if I wait for about a min sometimes results will actually come up, other times it will sort of crash (it will just randomly close before any results came up).
    I could go on and on with the little details concerning this problem but I do not know what info would/would not be useful to you guys. I have tried restoring my phone from a backup and nothing changed. I am updated to the most recent version. My phone has never been jailbroken and otherwise is in perfect shape.
    Thanks for reading,
    Matt

    I've seen this happen before, and generally turning off Documents and Data in Settings > iCloud will fix it.
    If that doesn't work, try the following.
    1. Restart the phone and check it out.
    2. Reset the phone (hold the home button and the lock button until you see an Apple Logo and then let them go).
    3. Go into Settings > General > Reset > Reset all Settings and test it out again
    4. If none of the above work, try creating either an iTunes backup or an iCloud backup and restore the device as new using iTunes. Here's an article to help with that: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4137

  • Mail+Spotlight Search Not Working in Lion

    I've been dealing with this problem for over a month and have not been able to fix it.  Search works fine in Lion on several computers, but on my laptop it still won't do a complete search.  It will only pull up emails from people in my contacts list..... no subject key word searches or people outside my contacts searches..... very frustrating! The searches also don't work in Spotlight, so I can't use spotlight as a backup.
    I've tried rebuilding my mailbox.... deleting and recreating the account.... tossing out the Envelope Index folders in the Mail library... Deleting and re installing my search window, etc...... I see lot's of other people with the same issue. It's frustrating when your running your business on your computer and have to deal with a flaw in a new OS..... it was working fine in Leopard..... whats up APPLE?  Please help! 
    Other Info:
    Macbook Pro 2008 Version with 2.5 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
    Running 10.7.4

    Glenn,
    Regarding adding and deleting the System Drive from the Spotlight Privacy Tab...... I'm following your sequence, but when I come back to Spotlight Search in the menu bar it just works the same.... no mention of indexing. What's interesting is that "Mail" dosn't appear anywhere in search results when a keyword search is performed via spotlight.
    Regarding the "enevelope Index Files" ..... I followed the instructions and quit and re-opened mail as instructed.  When I re-opened Mail I selected "continue" and the program began to index the contents of mail for about 30 minutes.  I thought that would would fix the issue, but it's still not working. 
    I've tried to compare the account setup from my IMAC which works fine to see if I have something setup wrong in the account, but everything looks the same. 
    I guess I can try to re-index again?  Don't know what else to do? 
    Thanks,
    Bill

  • Password protecting mail app and permanent deletion of emails so they don't appear in spotlight search

    I realise that there is a temporary way to prevent this happening by unticking the 'mail' option in the spotlight search settings menu, but how do you permanently delete the emails? I assumed that when I hit delete then emptied the trash box, the mails were gone for good. But finding that they remain stored in some hidden place and can be easily accessed is very annoying! In fact, finding that other users can quickly change the settings back and have free access to my email is rather disturbing anyway, especially as there is no way to password protect my email account once i activate the mail app. the apple mail app is linked to my yahoo account, but within yahoo mail there seems to be no problem in regards to deleted mail being stored somewhere else, only within the apple app system.
    So i guess id like to know, is there some way to password protect my account or do I just need to keep deleting my account before lending the ipad to someone else and then reinstating it? And is there any way to properly delete emails for good?
    I would be happy just to go without the mail app and log in directly through yahoo in Safari, except that I find the notification alert when I receive a new mail very handy!!

    [edit] I dragged the email I sent through the MBP Mail app (under MAILBOXES > Sent > Yahoo!) to the highlighted Sent folder (YAHOO! > Sent), and now it shows up on all Yahoo Sent folders (iPad app, web browser, phone app). Not entirely solved the issue but will use web browser to sent future emails to keep everything in sync.

  • Spotlight search top hits problems in iphone 5 ios 6

    I upgraded from Iphone 4s ios 5.1.1 to Iphone 5 ios 6.02 yesterday.  (Att to verizon, but not relevant to this post)
    On first glance at spotlight search on new iphone 5, I thought for sure the index for my spotlight search was totally corrupt.  If I start typing 'Hol' for holly, after h or o she should come up as a top hit...instead my top hit is Chris Luxxxx (nothing to do with H or O)...I keep typing...top hit area totally disappears and Holly xxxx shows in middle of very long list of what would appear to be totally unrelated contacts.  I have to get to Holly Bo before the list is down to 4 names...and 3 of those aren't related to her (on the surface....)....and top hits still doesn't pop up??  I still had my 4s next to me...and the results were night and day different...and the iphone 5 were so totally irrelevant compared to the 4s for what I was trying to do (just look up a contact...the thing i use spotlight search for most!?!?)
    NOTE:
    1) At this point, I had already  disabled all categories but 'contacts for my spotlight search to minimize the hundreds matches I was getting in all kinds of categories that looked irrelevant......and to focus on what was going on with my contacts. 
    2) My contacts are synched with MS Exchange config connected to google apps account
    3) I have about 1500 contacts and 1700 other contacts (email addresses only), and TONS of notes in contact 'comments' fields   (foreshadowing here....'comments' fields....)
    After about 60 minutes of thinking the index for my records was corrupt...and reboots and resets and internet searches..I tried thinking differently....and I started looking at the 'comments' fields in my contacts...and whoooaaaa....arghhhhh...
    It appears spotlight is now indexing 'comments' section of contacts now as well many other fields in the contact records that I don't believe were previously indexed.........and apple is NOT not prioritizing the results by any fields (like giving first name, last name, business name top hit result priority)....and I know for a fact it did not use index notes..because i needed that function so I downloaded an app to do that....I found the fact that it did not index 'comments' section annoying, but tolerable...now they they are indexing it, but with poor implementation and no prioritization, spotlight has become a great tool for locating **** near anything on my phone...but a really crappy short cut to get to the contacts I wanted to get to....a better implementation of prioritization of 'top hits' would go a long ways...
    Back to my searches again....when I searched 'Ho'.........Chris Luxxxis showed up first as a 'top hit'....made no sense at all....but this is what I pieced together.....e he was the most recent phone call I made, and 'ho' is in the 'comments' section of his contact info 6 times........in the words home, home inspector, house masters, house password.....arghhhhh.....I did a lot more searches...and made some phone calls, and when I ran same search again....Chris Luxxxx was not longer an immediate top hit!?!?  ****...I don't need a short cut to recent calls in my top hits spotlight search!?!? It's not the magic genie!!!!  And when applied like that..it just makes a huge bowl of spaghetti!!
    I thought...okay...well, overall it's a better tool for finding EVERYTHING on my phone, just crappier for shortcutting to contacts to make calls and send emails....(i never used the contacts section of my phone on 4s for 3 years...just used spotlight, and it was awesome, easy and fast and got me to my contacts better than any other search system on any device i'd ever had).......So I thought.....ok so maybe I'll just have to used my contacts area more now to get to my contacts........and guess what...it appears the same darn alogrythim for search results there!!!
    Apple has obliterated the concept of top hits in spotlight search..and made finding the common items in the phone like contacts a heck of a lot more typing....I only have 1 Holly in my contacts....and I have to type 'Holly Bow' before she is the sole contact shown...and I have to get to 'Holly B' before the list is down to 15 results....oh....but if I recall this issue and start with her last name...only need to get three letters in to find her...unfortunately, but its individuall relevent...ie another contacts last name is a bomb for searching, but first is quick....
    Apple use to think for their users...they assumed what was most important given a spot in an application...and overall, made some decent decisions for the non technically oriented....(personally, I didn't like it...been a pc guy for 20 years..and a programmer...drove me nuts, but had a place for their customer base and nice if what you did with your computer was inline with the applications apple designed their machines to be great at....)...and I loved my iphone 4s compared to too many config options and poor implementation on windows phones ...and i'm still an iphone fan...for it's simplicity and lack of total cusomization actually (i get my creative juices flowing doing things other than customizing smart phones)........but in this case, too much info can be as bad or worse than not enough if you don't include some controls to start limiting relevance somehow....
    I'm 90 minutes into this...guess now that I seem to have concluded what's up...I can start working with it or around it...but it's a big departure for where spotlight was...and while it offers more...for me, it's offering a lot less for my hourly and daily needs.
    If my assumptions about these changes are wrong or anyones figured out how to get top hits useful again, please advise.
    thx

    Try at total shut down of Safari, double click on the home button then find the Safari app, hold you finger on the app for a few secs then tap the red minus sign to close the app. Re-launch Safari then give it a try. 

  • How to Delete Messages in Spotlight Search History without Resetting or Syncing!!

    I know there are a lot of individuals dealing with this issue and if you are like me you spend hours searching "how to delete messages in spotlight search history" and it seems like every post either says to reset your phone or sync it! I'm sorry but I did not want to go through the hassle of resetting my phone but I did try to sync it which did nothing so I decided to just mess around with my settings and I believe to have found the answer to everyone's question!!
    This worked for me so I really hope this works for you! Just follow the steps below:
    1. Go to <settings><general><spotlight search><uncheck messages>
    2. Then turn your phone off and wait a minute! Turn your phone back on and off again 2 or 3 more times while waiting a minute in between turning it off!
    3. After you are done doing that go back to step 1 and <check messages>!
    4. Now go to your spotlight search and those messages should be deleted! If they are deleted I would recommend going back to step 1 and <uncheck messages> so you do not have the same problem with messages showing up again in the spotlight search!
    It works for Mail too! Just follow the same steps listed above but uncheck mail instead of messages or do both at the same time!!
    *Here is an extra tip which will remove deleted Mail Messages, just follow the steps below:
    1. Go to <settings><mail, contacts, calendars><your mail account> scroll down and click <advanced> Now click <remove> under the title Deleted Messages and you can choose to have your mail removed After One Day, After One Week, After One Month or Never.
    I hope this post was detailed enough and easy to understand!
    I really hope it works for you like it did for me!
    Good Luck!!!

    I tried this fix and it does not work.
    I have read that this is a problem for a long time - years. Me, personally, I do have emails and texts from the past that are private and were deleted, that I do not want my husband or daughter to read. Many people have this complaint and have had it a long time. Why does Apple not fix it?!?
    Another privacy issue is the iMessage default settings on new devices. We bought a new iPhone for my college-age daughter and received all of her text messages until we noticed it and told her. We did a temporary fix. Then I got a new iPhone and the same thing happened. I had to set up iCloud accts. for each of us so that we each have privacy that cannot be tampered with. We still share our original iTunes account. Why did that have to happen?!? 
    We have been Apple consumers (laptops, iPads, iPods, iPhones) for over ten years (? longer w/just desk top) w/ the same account. These breaches in privacy are upsetting!!  My point here is that these breaches are unacceptable!  The spotlight search issue appears to be unresolved.  FIX THIS APPLE! 

  • What is the power of the Spotlight Search?

    In Settings I have everything selected for it to search but it cannot find text within apps. For instance I have Word and Excell and text files in Quickoffice but it cannot search any of those. Is there an alternate search engine app to download?
    Thank you for any insight!

    That is correct. The Spotlight search does not search within apps. It searches for:
    Spotlight searches the following:
    Contacts—All content
    Apps—Titles
    Music—Names of songs, artists, and albums, and the titles of podcasts and videos
    Podcasts—Titles
    Videos—Titles
    Audiobooks—Titles
    Notes—Text of notes
    Calendar (Events)—Event titles, invitees, locations, and notes
    Mail—To, From, and Subject fields of all accounts (the text of messages isn’t searched)
    Reminders—Titles
    Messages—Names and text of messages
    Search the web or Wikipedia from Spotlight: Scroll to the bottom of the search results, then tap Search Web or Search Wikipedia.
    Open an app from Search: Enter all or part of the app name, then tap the app.
    Choose which items are searched, and the order they’re searched: Go to Settings > General > Spotlight Search.

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