Apple today announced the biggest-ever update to Spotlight in macOS, introducing context-aware actions, app integration via App Intents, and powerful new productivity features.
In macOS Tahoe, Apple is delivering the most significant update to Spotlight to date. The new Spotlight experience surfaces information more intelligently, and streamlines productivity through contextual awareness and deeper integration with system features and apps.
Searching in Spotlight is now more relevant and personalized. Results are intelligently ranked based on what is most pertinent to the user, taking into account personal routines and the context of their current activity. Spotlight also suggests content and actions based on what the user is currently working on, and it can prepopulate commonly used items such as frequently accessed documents or routine actions.
Users can now take direct actions such as creating an event, recording audio, or playing a podcast from within Spotlight—regardless of which app is currently in use. It also enables functionality like sending an email or controlling apps directly through Spotlight, offering a unified command layer that spans across the operating system.
To improve efficiency, Spotlight introduces Quick Keys, allowing users to access controls faster by typing short commands. For example, entering "sm" can initiate the action to send a message, while "ar" can be used to add a reminder.
Spotlight now also supports in-app control search, letting users find and access controls within applications directly from the Spotlight interface. Another notable addition is clipboard history: users can view previously copied content—including both text and images—making it easy to retrieve items copied earlier.
macOS Tahoe also allows users to build shortcuts and run them directly from Spotlight. These shortcuts can also be assigned to Quick Keys, enabling rapid execution of custom workflows. Spotlight is contextually aware when launching shortcuts, so users can apply them directly to the document or content they are working on.
Apple is also allowing developers to integrate their apps with Spotlight using the App Intents API.
