Searching for apps on iPad not working on iPadOS 14

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Level 1

26 points

Searching for apps on iPad not working on iPadOS 14

Searching for apps on iPad is not working on iPadOS 14.

Specifically, if you swipe down from the middle of the screen, and enter the name of an app the system will not find the app but rather take you to the App Store, in which case you can open the app from there.

In earlier versions of iPadOS the functionality worked, where you could search for an app by swiping down from the middle of the screen, entering the name of the app, and one of the search results would bring you to an icon for the app.

The desired functionality does work on my iPhone running iOS 14.

iPad Pro 11-inch Wi-Fi

Posted on Sep 16, 2020 11:41 PM

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Answer 1

rdfuhr Author

Level 1

26 points

Sep 17, 2020 9:54 PM in response to StanleyG.

I tried doing a force restart, on my iPad that has Face ID. However, after the device restarted, I was still experiencing the problem, For instance, when I searched for the Flipboard app, I saw the following categories: Siri Suggested Websites, Siri Knowledge, and Search in Apps. Under Search in Apps I saw Search App Store and Search Maps. If I select Search App Store, it brings me to a screen where I could open the app. In previous versions of iPadOS I could launch the app much more quickly and directly when searching for the app.

I also did a force restart, on my iPad that has a Home button. Unfortunately, in that case too, I was still experiencing the problem.

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Answer 2

rdfuhr Author

Level 1

26 points

Sep 24, 2020 1:07 PM in response to rdfuhr

The problem appears to have been fixed with the release of iPadOS 14.0.1

I have downloaded and installed 14.0.1 and have tested the functionality on two iPads.

Search now seems to work as I would expect it to work.

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Answer 3

StanleyG.

Level 4

2,935 points

Sep 17, 2020 9:32 PM in response to rdfuhr

Perhaps your spotlight search did not index all the Apps correctly upon update. Give it a force restart to refresh the cache.

iPad models with Face ID: Press and quickly release the Volume Up button. Press and quickly release the Volume Down button. Then press and hold the Power button until the device restarts.
iPad with Home button,: Press and hold both the Home and the Top (or Side) buttons until you see the Apple logo.

If it doesn't work, let us know.

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Answer 4

Sep 18, 2020 9:58 AM in response to StanleyG.

I am having the exact same problem on both my iphone11 and ipad pro. At least on the ipad I have the new app organizer that I can use after scrolling through all the pages. But on the ipad, I only get the same categories mentioned by rdfuhr...I can only find an app by going to the app store through search, click on the app, then click on open...really frustrating and time consuming. I also tried some of the solutions suggested on the web like changing my phones language to UK or australian english, deselecting predictive spelling correction and dictionary, etc. My next move may be to use itunes to do a backup and restore? Help appreciated.

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Answer 5

rdfuhr Author

Level 1

26 points

Sep 18, 2020 2:58 PM in response to rdfuhr

Indeed I did contact Apple Support directly yesterday and today. Today we had a phone conversation, and the consultant was also connected to my iPad, so that I could demonstrate exactly what the problem was. He was able to duplicate the problem on his own iPad. So the next step is that he is going to take this issue to Apple engineers so that they can analyze the problem, after which the consultant will get back to me with their findings.

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Answer 6

rdfuhr Author

Level 1

26 points

Sep 18, 2020 6:39 PM in response to Johne154

When I invoke cmd + space bar on my iPad running iPadOS 14 and do a search for an app, I am experiencing the same symptoms that I do I when swiping down from the middle of the Home Screen.

According to the Apple consultant I spoke with today, this problem is now being referred to software engineers at Apple who are familiar with the details of this functionality.

It appears that this issue has not affected all iPad users who are running iPadOS 14.

I hope that we hear back regarding what the root cause is, whether this is being recognized as a bug, and (if it is a bug), when there will be a fix in iPadOS14.i.j.k for some i,j,k.

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Answer 7

Sep 19, 2020 10:04 AM in response to abouris

Yes same here. Iphone11 pro and iPad Pro 11 second gen...its as if the app search isn’t indexed or something...the “spotlight search” (pulling a page down and entering an app name in the search bar)...only searches for the web, Siri suggestions, movies, App Store and Maps. To get to an app my choices are: IPhone11 Pro go to App Store and find it then press open, or flip pages to the end and use the new app manager and IPad 11 Pro: flip pages and guess where I put it, or go to App Store, find it, and then hit open!

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Answer 8

samori01

Level 1

4 points

Sep 17, 2020 9:27 PM in response to rdfuhr

I am having the exact same problem on my iPhone 11Pro with iOS 14

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Answer 9

StanleyG.

Level 4

2,935 points

Sep 18, 2020 2:53 PM in response to zjediknight

Unfortunately I was not able to reproduce your problem. I'd recommend that you contact Apple Support directly -

Contact Support

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Answer 10

StanleyG.

Level 4

2,935 points

Sep 18, 2020 3:02 PM in response to rdfuhr

Good to hear! Hopefully they're get down to the cause of it all. Was able to reproduce the problem on a different iPad, and not my iPad Pro, strangely it seems to be random.

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