Swipe down on your iPhone for a fast way to do anything

Matusciac Alexandru / Shutterstock

Tired of flipping through pages of apps to find the one you’re looking for?

Want a faster way to pull up a contact?

Try swiping down from on your iPhone screen to pull up Spotlight search (you can do it from anywhere on the screen except for the top.

Right away, you’ll see four suggested apps, recommended by Apple AI based on what you typically use at any given time of day. I find these recommendations fairly effective.

Start typing, and you’ll immediately see relevant apps and contacts, not to mention relevant stuff in the App Store, on the web, in the news, on Wikipedia, and more.

I started using Spotlight search more since adopting a minimalist home screen, with only one page of apps and the rest buried in a folder. I was inspired by comments from ex-Google design ethicist Tristan Harris, who recommends using search to open most apps since "typing filters out unconscious choices while keeping conscious ones."

Spotlight search also happens to be a favorite tool of New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo.

Spotlight search doesn’t get a lot of attention, but it’s one of the best ways to control an iPhone. Siri, by contrast, gets a lot of press but is only useful in certain instances.Matusciac Alexandru / Shutterstock

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