iOS Suggestions: Spotlight and Springboard

Rather than an in-depth editorial, here is a list of suggested improvements to the usability of Spotlight (search) and Springboard (home screen) in iOS 7:

  • Allow Spotlight to be toggled from within a folder.
  • Allow Spotlight to be toggled from within an app; either a new in-app, system-wide gesture or tuck it into Notification Center or Control Center. Or …
  • Allow Spotlight to be toggled from within the multitasking window.
  • Make a push of the home button drop you back to the last page of apps you were on (or page one if already on a different page of apps). Being dropped into a folder or some other sub-view (Newsstand) is the wrong action. Page one (home) should never be more than two taps of the home button away.
  • Decide what is Newsstand is (an app? A folder?) and make it show up in Spotlight.
  • Make app and iCloud data searchable in Spotlight. PDFs, metadata, tags, file types, text … just like on the desktop, these things should be found when searching in Spotlight, no matter which app they live in.
  • Give folders a static indicator of place within the home screen. The iOS 6 style of a split screen with a notch was more intuitive and obvious than the zooming alone in iOS 7.
  • Correct the accuracy and/or velocity of apps when scrolling from side-to-side in multitasking view. Or maybe just slow it down!
  • Make it more obvious how to quit apps from the multitasking view.