iOS 8 first look video: Spotlight now searches iTunes, movie times, locations & more

As can be seen in the above video, Spotlight is less tethered to local content than ever before, offering quick links to services like the App Store, websites such as Wikipedia, and pulling in data like movie times. Spotlight also searches for recent news stories, iBooks titles, and can even recommend suggested websites.

The same new and improved search functions can also be found in the smart search field in Safari. But with their inclusion in Spotlight, users won't have to launch an app to access that information if they so choose.

As Apple continues to feud with its chief rival Google, many of the changes made in its iOS platform over the last two years have focused on bypassing the search giant completely. These latest changes only serve to further that effort, though Google does remain the default provider on the iPhone if users choose the "Search Web" result in Spotlight.

iOS 8 is currently in beta for developer testing. It is expected to launch on iPhone and iPad this fall. For more, see AppleInsider's other iOS 8 videos.