<s>
Spotlight	B-Application
is	O
a	O
system-wide	O
desktop	B-Application
search	I-Application
feature	O
of	O
Apple	O
's	O
macOS	B-Application
and	O
iOS	B-Application
operating	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spotlight	B-Application
is	O
a	O
selection-based	B-Application
search	I-Application
system	O
,	O
which	O
creates	O
an	O
index	O
of	O
all	O
items	O
and	O
files	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
designed	O
to	O
allow	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
quickly	O
locate	O
a	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
items	O
on	O
the	O
computer	O
,	O
including	O
documents	O
,	O
pictures	O
,	O
music	O
,	O
applications	O
,	O
and	O
System	B-Operating_System
Settings	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
narrow	O
down	O
searches	O
with	O
creation	O
dates	O
,	O
modification	O
dates	O
,	O
sizes	O
,	O
types	O
and	O
other	O
attributes	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spotlight	B-Application
also	O
offers	O
quick	O
access	O
to	O
definitions	O
from	O
the	O
built-in	O
New	O
Oxford	O
American	O
Dictionary	B-Operating_System
and	O
to	O
calculator	B-Operating_System
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
also	O
command-line	B-Application
tools	I-Application
to	O
perform	O
functions	O
such	O
as	O
Spotlight	B-Application
searches	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spotlight	B-Application
was	O
first	O
announced	O
at	O
the	O
June	O
2004	O
Worldwide	O
Developers	O
Conference	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
released	O
with	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	I-Application
Tiger	I-Application
in	O
April	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
similar	O
feature	O
for	O
iPhone	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
3	I-Operating_System
with	O
the	O
same	O
name	O
was	O
announced	O
on	O
March	O
17	O
,	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Indices	O
of	O
filesystem	O
metadata	O
are	O
maintained	O
by	O
the	O
Metadata	O
Server	O
(	O
which	O
appears	O
in	O
the	O
system	O
as	O
the	O
mds	O
daemon	B-Operating_System
,	O
or	O
mdworker	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Metadata	O
Server	O
is	O
started	O
by	O
launchd	B-Application
when	O
macOS	B-Application
(	O
formerly	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	O
,	O
then	O
OS	O
X	O
)	O
boots	O
and	O
is	O
activated	O
by	O
client	O
requests	O
or	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
filesystems	O
that	O
it	O
monitors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
fed	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
files	O
on	O
a	O
computer	O
's	O
hard	B-Device
disks	I-Device
by	O
the	O
mdimport	B-Application
daemon	B-Operating_System
;	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
index	O
removable	O
read-only	O
media	O
such	O
as	O
CDs	O
or	O
DVDs	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
will	O
index	O
removable	O
,	O
writable	O
external	O
media	O
connected	O
via	O
USB	O
,	O
FireWire	O
,	O
or	O
Thunderbolt	O
,	O
and	O
Secure	O
Digital	O
cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aside	O
from	O
basic	O
information	O
about	O
each	O
file	O
like	O
its	O
name	O
,	O
size	O
and	O
timestamps	O
,	O
the	O
mdimport	B-Application
daemon	B-Operating_System
can	O
also	O
index	O
the	O
content	O
of	O
some	O
files	O
,	O
when	O
it	O
has	O
an	O
Importer	O
plug-in	O
that	O
tells	O
it	O
how	O
the	O
file	O
content	O
is	O
formatted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spotlight	B-Application
comes	O
with	O
importers	O
for	O
certain	O
types	O
of	O
files	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Word	I-Application
,	O
MP3	B-Application
,	O
and	O
PDF	B-Application
documents	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
publishes	O
APIs	B-Application
that	O
allow	O
developers	O
to	O
write	O
Spotlight	B-Application
Importer	O
plug-ins	O
for	O
their	O
own	O
file	O
formats	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
time	O
that	O
a	O
user	O
logs	O
onto	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
,	O
Spotlight	B-Application
builds	O
indexes	O
of	O
metadata	O
about	O
the	O
files	O
on	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
hard	B-Device
disks	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
builds	O
indexes	O
of	O
files	O
on	O
devices	O
such	O
as	O
external	O
hard	B-Device
drives	I-Device
that	O
are	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
system	O
discovers	O
that	O
files	O
on	O
an	O
external	O
drive	O
have	O
been	O
modified	O
on	O
a	O
system	O
running	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
macOS	B-Application
older	O
than	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	I-Application
Tiger	I-Application
,	O
it	O
will	O
re-index	O
the	O
volume	O
from	O
scratch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
Tiger	O
,	O
Spotlight	B-Application
can	O
be	O
accessed	O
from	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
places	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finder	B-Application
windows	O
also	O
have	O
a	O
text	O
field	O
in	O
the	O
top-right	O
corner	O
where	O
a	O
query	O
can	O
be	O
entered	O
,	O
as	O
do	O
the	O
standard	O
load	O
and	O
save	O
dialogue	O
boxes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
search	O
results	O
can	O
be	O
further	O
refined	O
by	O
adding	O
criteria	O
in	O
a	O
Finder	B-Application
window	O
such	O
as	O
"	O
Created	O
Today	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
Size	O
Greater	O
than	O
1	O
KB	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	I-Application
Tiger	I-Application
and	O
later	O
also	O
include	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
utilities	O
for	O
querying	O
or	O
manipulating	O
Spotlight	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
mdimport	B-Application
command	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
being	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
system	O
itself	O
to	O
index	O
information	O
,	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
import	O
certain	O
files	O
that	O
would	O
otherwise	O
be	O
ignored	O
or	O
force	O
files	O
to	O
be	O
reimported	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
mdfind	B-Application
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
perform	O
Spotlight	B-Application
queries	O
from	O
the	O
command	B-Application
line	I-Application
,	O
also	O
allowing	O
Spotlight	B-Application
queries	O
to	O
be	O
included	B-Operating_System
in	O
things	O
like	O
shell	B-Language
scripts	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
mdls	B-Application
lists	O
the	O
indexed	O
attributes	B-Application
for	O
specific	O
files	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
specify	O
which	O
files	O
and/or	O
which	O
attributes	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
indexes	O
that	O
Spotlight	B-Application
creates	O
can	O
be	O
managed	O
with	O
mdutil	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
erase	O
existing	O
indexes	O
causing	O
them	O
to	O
be	O
rebuilt	O
if	O
necessary	O
or	O
turn	O
indexing	O
off	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
utilities	O
are	O
also	O
available	O
on	O
Darwin	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
not	O
widely	O
advertised	O
,	O
Spotlight	B-Application
can	O
perform	O
boolean	O
searches	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
default	O
if	O
one	O
includes	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
word	O
,	O
Spotlight	B-Application
performs	O
the	O
search	O
as	O
if	O
an	O
"	O
AND	O
"	O
was	O
included	B-Operating_System
in	O
between	O
words	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
one	O
places	O
a	O
'	O
|	O
 '	O
between	O
words	O
,	O
Spotlight	B-Application
performs	O
an	O
OR	O
query	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Placing	O
a	O
'	O
-	O
'	O
before	O
a	O
word	O
tells	O
Spotlight	B-Application
to	O
search	O
for	O
results	O
that	O
do	O
not	O
include	O
that	O
word	O
(	O
a	O
NOT	O
query	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
Spotlight	B-Application
is	O
unable	O
to	O
index	O
and	O
search	O
NTFS	B-Application
volumes	O
shared	O
via	O
SMB	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	I-Application
Leopard	I-Application
,	O
Apple	O
introduced	O
some	O
additional	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
Spotlight	B-Application
in	O
Tiger	O
,	O
users	O
can	O
only	O
search	O
devices	O
that	O
are	O
attached	O
to	O
their	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
Leopard	B-Application
,	O
Spotlight	B-Application
is	O
able	O
to	O
search	O
networked	O
Macs	O
running	O
Leopard	B-Application
(	O
both	O
client	O
and	O
server	O
versions	O
)	O
that	O
have	O
file	O
sharing	O
enabled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
feature	O
called	O
Quick	B-Operating_System
Look	I-Operating_System
has	O
been	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
GUI	B-Application
that	O
will	O
display	O
live	O
previews	O
of	O
files	O
within	O
the	O
search	O
results	O
,	O
so	O
applications	O
do	O
not	O
have	O
to	O
be	O
opened	O
just	O
to	O
confirm	O
that	O
the	O
user	O
has	O
found	O
the	O
right	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
while	O
Spotlight	B-Application
is	O
not	O
enabled	O
on	O
the	O
server	O
version	O
of	O
Tiger	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
on	O
the	O
server	O
release	O
of	O
Leopard	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
where	O
Spotlight	B-Application
in	O
Tiger	O
had	O
a	O
unique	O
and	O
separate	O
window	O
design	O
,	O
Spotlight	B-Application
in	O
Leopard	B-Application
now	O
shares	O
windows	O
with	O
the	O
Finder	B-Application
,	O
allowing	O
for	O
a	O
more	O
unified	O
GUI	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
unique	O
Spotlight	B-Application
window	O
in	O
Tiger	O
allowed	O
sorting	O
and	O
viewing	O
of	O
search	O
results	O
by	O
any	O
metadata	O
handled	O
by	O
the	O
Finder	B-Application
;	O
whereas	O
Spotlight	B-Application
Finder	B-Application
windows	O
in	O
Leopard	B-Application
are	O
fixed	O
to	O
view	O
and	O
sort	O
items	O
by	O
last	O
opened	O
date	O
,	O
filename	O
and	O
kind	O
only	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Under	O
Leopard	B-Application
there	O
is	O
currently	O
no	O
way	O
to	O
save	O
window	O
preferences	O
for	O
the	O
Finder	B-Application
window	O
that	O
is	O
opened	O
via	O
Spotlight	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
Leopard	B-Application
the	O
Spotlight	B-Application
menu	O
has	O
doubled	O
as	O
a	O
calculator	B-Operating_System
,	O
with	O
functionality	O
very	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
Google	O
search	O
feature	O
(	O
but	O
without	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
be	O
online	O
)	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
dictionary	B-Operating_System
that	O
allows	O
one	O
to	O
look	O
up	O
the	O
definition	O
of	O
an	O
English	O
word	O
using	O
the	O
Oxford	O
Dictionary	B-Operating_System
included	B-Operating_System
in	O
macOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
OS	B-Device
X	I-Device
Yosemite	I-Device
,	O
the	O
Spotlight	B-Application
search	O
UI	O
was	O
completely	O
redesigned	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
doing	O
everything	O
that	O
the	O
previous	O
versions	O
of	O
Spotlight	B-Application
could	O
do	O
,	O
the	O
Yosemite	O
revamp	O
of	O
Spotlight	B-Application
adds	O
a	O
preview	O
or	O
info	O
pane	O
on	O
the	O
right	O
side	O
(	O
with	O
results	O
on	O
the	O
left	O
side	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
also	O
adds	O
support	O
for	O
searching	O
through	O
Wikipedia	O
,	O
Maps	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
sources	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
search	O
tool	O
also	O
named	O
Spotlight	B-Application
has	O
been	O
included	B-Operating_System
on	O
iOS	B-Application
(	O
formerly	O
iPhone	O
OS	O
)	O
products	O
since	O
iPhone	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
3	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compared	O
to	O
Spotlight	B-Application
on	O
macOS	B-Application
,	O
the	O
iOS	B-Application
search	O
ability	O
is	O
limited	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Spotlight	B-Application
screen	O
is	O
opened	O
with	O
a	O
finger-flick	O
to	O
the	O
right	O
from	O
the	O
primary	O
home	O
screen	O
,	O
or	O
,	O
as	O
of	O
iOS	B-Application
7	O
,	O
by	O
pulling	O
down	O
on	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
home	O
screens	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
feature	O
was	O
announced	O
in	O
March	O
2009	O
and	O
released	O
with	O
iOS	B-Operating_System
3.0	I-Operating_System
in	O
June	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
release	O
of	O
iOS	B-Application
4.0	O
included	B-Operating_System
the	O
ability	O
to	O
search	O
text	O
messages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
iOS	B-Operating_System
6	I-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
folder	O
that	O
an	O
application	O
is	O
inside	O
of	O
is	O
now	O
shown	O
(	O
if	O
applicable	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
Introduction	O
of	O
iOS	B-Application
7	O
,	O
Spotlight	B-Application
no	O
longer	O
has	O
its	O
own	O
dedicated	O
page	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
accessible	O
by	O
pulling	O
down	O
on	O
the	O
middle	O
of	O
any	O
Homescreen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
September	O
17	O
,	O
2014	O
,	O
Spotlight	B-Application
Search	O
was	O
updated	O
with	O
iOS	B-Operating_System
8	I-Operating_System
to	O
include	O
more	O
intuitive	O
web	O
results	O
via	O
Bing	B-Application
and	O
Wikipedia	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
quicker	O
access	O
to	O
other	O
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
iOS	B-Operating_System
9	I-Operating_System
,	O
Spotlight	B-Application
Search	O
has	O
been	O
updated	O
to	O
include	O
results	O
of	O
content	O
in	O
apps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Yosemite	O
,	O
Spotlight	B-Application
sends	O
all	O
entered	O
queries	O
and	O
location	O
information	O
to	O
Apple	O
by	O
default	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
privacy	O
concerns	O
,	O
Apple	O
has	O
stated	O
that	O
they	O
do	O
not	O
use	O
the	O
data	O
to	O
create	O
profiles	O
of	O
their	O
users	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
query	O
and	O
location	O
information	O
is	O
only	O
shared	O
with	O
their	O
partner	O
,	O
Bing	B-Application
,	O
under	O
a	O
strict	O
contract	O
which	O
prohibits	O
the	O
information	O
from	O
being	O
used	O
for	O
advertising	O
purposes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2017	O
,	O
Bing	B-Application
was	O
replaced	O
by	O
Google	O
as	O
the	O
search	O
engine	O
for	O
Spotlight	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
Apple	O
has	O
stated	O
that	O
while	O
Spotlight	B-Application
seeks	O
to	O
obscure	O
exact	O
locations	O
,	O
the	O
information	O
is	O
typically	O
more	O
precise	O
in	O
densely	O
populated	O
areas	O
and	O
less	O
so	O
in	O
sparse	O
ones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spotlight	B-Application
data	O
sharing	O
may	O
be	O
disabled	O
from	O
Spotlight	B-Application
System	B-Operating_System
Preferences	I-Operating_System
by	O
deselecting	O
the	O
Spotlight	B-Application
Suggestions	O
checkbox	O
.	O
</s>
