AppleInsider Staff
As the Spotlight desktop search service nears its aluminium anniversary, Apple has turned up the power on the magnifying glass to put more information at users' fingertips in OS X Yosemite.
What initially began as a function designed to delve into the furthest reaches of the desktop has evolved in Yosemite to search across Apple's vast ecosystem of services and answer almost any question that can be thrown at it.
Aside from reimagining the search interface as a translucent overlay in the middle of the screen, the most noticeable change in Spotlight is the addition of a QuickLook pane next to the search results. Any file that can be viewed using QuickLook can be previewed within Spotlight, making finding the correct file much quicker.
Some results, like those from the App Store or Wikipedia, appear in the Quick Look pane in a more structured way. Wikipedia results pull the first paragraph from the linked article, for instance, while App Store results include thing like app ratings. Oddly, choosing an App Store result currently opens the App Store's web preview rather than the App Store itself.
Spotlight's calculation functions have also been improved, adding a number of new unit conversions such as distance, temperature, and currency. The currency support appears limited, however — Spotlight readily converted U.S. Dollars, Euros, and Japanese Yen but failed to recognize less-popular currencies like Vietnamese Dong.
All calculations will use the QuickLook pane to display results, though conversions with more than one possible answer will use the extra space most effectively.
As in previous editions, users can choose which sources to include in Spotlight searches, and specific folders can still be excluded. The default result order can also be changed by dragging each category up or down.
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40 Comments
That's a lot of things I currently use Google for. Cutting out the opportunity to have my search for facts and data sidetracked by an advertisement really hits at Google's core business.
I have this romantic notion of only having the latest and greatest iPhone and an iPad as my only tech devices in my home/life.
I.e., no iMacs or laptops anymore. Probably a little optimistic on my part right now. :)
I have to say I was so impressed with Monday's Keynote, especially OSX Yosemite that I may put off the above scenario for the time being and buy a new 27" updated iMac in the Fall. I would not mind the a new iMac still being my digital hub along with the iPad, iPhone, iCloud, TimeCapsule and ATV.
Best.
I love the new Spotlight but the first thing I thought when I saw the demo during WWDC14 was "Wow, looks a lot like the Alfred App for OS X".
That's a lot of things I currently use Google for. Cutting out the opportunity to have my search for facts and data sidetracked by an advertisement really hits at Google's core business.
Good. I personally, as matter of practice, try to avoid all things Google. No offense. :)
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[quote name="Eric Swinson" url="/t/180480/os-x-yosemite-first-look-spotlight-search#post_2546168"]That's a lot of things I currently use Google for. Cutting out the opportunity to have my search for facts and data sidetracked by an advertisement really hits at Google's core business.[/quote] I find myself still using Google for quick calculations because Google will let me use the 'x' for the multiplication symbol. It's also lets you use the '÷' symbol over the '/' without skipping a beat. However, it is much improved over the previous setup and the large text is nice; I just need to get used to using ?-Space to save time.