How To Search A Document On iPhone | Screen Rant
iOS and iPadOS devices have the ability to search webpages and documents, making searches for specific keywords on iPhone and iPad effortless.
Apple's iOS and iPadOS software has become more robust over the years to match the company's silicon advancements, and offers the ability to search for specific keywords in documents and on the web. It's similar to the control and command options to find text that are found on both Windows and macOS computers, respectively. The company's mobile software has improved text navigation in recent years, and since iPhones and iPads have more processing power than some computers, it only makes sense that Apple's mobile devices have unique ways for searching text.
Both iOS and iPadOS have an adaptation of Spotlight, the on-device search engine popularized by macOS that has the power to compile both local and online data in one list. On iPhones, the search function is accessed on the Home Screen, where a simple swipe down immediately reveals a search bar and a short list of Siri-suggested apps. In that search bar, the phone will provide results from the web, applications, contacts, messages, shared links, photos, files, and more. On iPadOS, Spotlight search is much closer to the macOS variant. With a keyboard connected, the command-space keystroke triggers Spotlight, and the same search functionality can be accessed while performing any task. In fact, with a keyboard connected, simply holding the command key will show the user any available commands in a given application.
The iPhone has a specific 'Find On Page' function that searches for keywords on Safari webpages. This can be accessed in a few different ways. First, entering a desired term into the Safari search bar on iOS will prompt the user with two options: they can search, providing results from all over the web or they can view the results on the page. Choosing the latter will show the user each time the text appears on the webpage they had previously loaded. The other method is accessed through the Safari menu buttons. Clicking on the share button — the small box with an arrow pointing upward — will offer a menu with the option to 'Find On Page.' On iPads, the process is even more familiar when a keyboard is connected: the same command F function on macOS works on iPadOS.
The process for searching a document or web page isn't the same across all apps. In the Apple Notes app, which has received a ton of significant improvements in the last few releases of iOS and iPadOS, searching for keywords is under a different menu. The button to trigger the menu is a circle with three dots inside, and opening the menu will prompt the user with a slew of selections, including 'Find in Note.' Selecting this options will provide the ability to search for specific keywords, just like on Safari. However, the Notes app does support searching handwritten text, a huge plus for avid Apple Pencil users.
For other documents, including PDFs and word-processing documents, the process is consistent. Any file, whether it be accessed in the Files app or in a secondary app, like Messages, can be searched in the same manner. Tapping on the document will reveal a few toggles, one being a magnifying glass icon. Selecting this icon will open up a search bar, allowing the user to search for keywords in any document, both text and handwritten entries. While the methods used to search for text does vary across iPhone and iPad, and across apps, iOS definitely has a robust 'control and command F' option commonly found on Windows and Macs.
Source: Apple