Apple brings iOS 9 Spotlight Suggestions to 7 more markets, adds NBC to Apple TV's universal search

Apple on Tuesday made a pair of improvements to its search services by bringing iOS 9's Spotlight Suggestions to seven more markets and adding NBC as an item in the fourth-generation Apple TV's universal search results.

Spotlight Suggestions are now available in India, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates. In all there are now 26 regions that support the feature.

The feature populates Spotlight with items like news, apps, and nearby businesses. Because this content can vary so drastically from place to place, Apple has been relatively slow to localize it beyond core markets such as Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Indeed, some European countries are still missing from the list.

The addition of NBC to Apple TV search results lets people see the network's app as a quick-launch option when searching for shows or movies. The company was the last gap among the four American broadcast giants, ABC, CBS, and Fox being the other three.

Apple has very gradually expanded the number of apps supported in universal search. Some other examples include Netflix, HBO, Disney channels, PBS, and FX and National Geographic.