iOS 16: How to disable the Spotlight Search shortcut on your home screen

On Jul 11, 2022

iOS 16 was announced earlier this month at WWDC’22, revealing some key customization changes that will improve on the key formula. With full lock screen customization, improvements to the core iOS experience in the face of iMessage and FaceTime, and many other changes, iOS 16 is shaping up to be yet another quite intriguing update for your iPhone.

But while it greatly enriches some features and vindicates others, the iOS 16 developer beta also pulls a sneaky on us by enabling a slightly pesky and somewhat redundant Spotlight Search button right on top of the home screen indicator.

Why is it redundant? Because despite being accessible via a tap on the new button, Spotlight Search also remains accessible via a swipe down on your home screen. And, in the field of UX, a tap and a swipe are mostly equal in terms of ergonomics, so the newfangled feature is quite unnecessary.

It seems as if Apple wants its own alternative of the Google Search bar that’s gracing the home screen of just about any Android phone out there, but let’s face it, probably few will be happy with the change. Of course, iOS 16 is still in its proverbial infancy, manifesting as an early developer beta, so there’s a high chance that Apple could get rid of it.

How to disable the new Spotlight Search in iOS 16

Luckily, there’s a way to disable the new Spotlight Search shortcut on iOS 16. By default, it’s enabled, but a quick trip to the settings menu of your iPhone lets you disable it in no time.

Here’s how to do that.

Step #1.

Look at this, a Spotlight Search shortcut straight on our home screen. We will be disabling it right now.

iOS 16: How to disable the Spotlight Search shortcut on your home screen

Step #2

Head to Settings, then go inside the Home Screen menu. Disable the Show Spotlight toggle.

Step #3

Voila, we’re done. The Spotlight Search button is no longer on your home screen. Don’t worry, you can still access Spotlight Search by swiping down on your home screen.

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