Hi all,
A quick question about the search box that has appeared on my iPhone home screen?
For some reason, a search box has appeared on my home screen and I don't know where it has come from. The box is just under the wi fi indicator on the left of the screen and just above the first row of app icons on the home screen. When I double tap the box I get the normal sound to write in the space provided but no keypad appears. Also, I'm not sure if this search box appears anywhere else i.e. once I've entered into an app.
Does anyone know what this search box is, where it comes from and how to get rid of it. It doesn't cause any problems but it is quite annoying when you hear 'search' everytime you open or close an app. I have never had this before and I'm just interested about where it came from and how I can get rid of it.
I have an iPhone 6, 64Gb memory and running the latest IOS.
Steve.
Comments
Very strange
That is a very strange thing. I have not encountered said search box. When did you first notice it? Running an iPhone 6S.
I guess last night.
I thought it was rather strange too. I believe I do remember the search box coming up just before I last updated my IOS a few weeks ago but it went away once I updated. I've asked my sighted son if he can see the search box with VO off and he cannot and it only works if VO is on. I've tried all the normal tricks like switching off and on again and closing all the apps in the app switcher but no luck.
My phone is almost 3 years old now although the battery is fine and the phone is like new. Do you think it could be a problem with age? I'm just waiting for the 8 tocome out before I get a new one so it doesn't matter too much if I cannot get rid of it.
Steve.
I haven't been able to duplicate that
Hmm, sorry I'm not much help, but I haven't been able to duplicate that problem. Perhaps if you changed the language on your phone and changed it back it would get rid of it. Sorry, I wish I could be of more help. I also googled the issue and nothing seems to come up, so it sounds like a localized issue.
Probably a VO glitch
I haven't quite experience what you're describing, but back when my phone was on iOS 10 I have been able to flick off of either the home or lock screen into the various notification center widgets and the spotlight search field, even though they weren't actually on-screen. So I wouldn't worry about it too much, try to restart your phone which might very well fix the issue. Otherwise it'll probably go away after a software update.
Try a restore?
Sounds like the spotlight search is coming up but not going away for whatever reason. Maybe try restoring the phone to factory defaults and see if it's still there? I would say try an iCloud backup when you restore, but an app might be what's causing the issue so i'm not really sure. That might do the trick.
RE: What is the search box that has appeared on my iPhone
Have you thought to power off your phone? Sometimes this takes care of what ails the phone. Also, are you aware that there is the Today screen now available? Is is the screen that is seen on page 1, which is before the first screen with your icons on it. The Today screen does have a search capability, which is found in the upper lefthand corner of the screen. There are also many other things available, as well, depending on what other apps you may have installed. This search box is activated by double tapping on the spot that says Search Text Field. Then the normal keyboard will appear.
HTH
thanks all
Thanks all, I'll give that a try. I'll just wait to see if anyoneelse has seen this problem first.
Steve.
I had the same thing last week
Hi, I have an iPhone 7 on the latest IOS, and I also had that strange search field. I reset my network settings and that helped. Hope you get it sorted. Drove me crazy.
I'm glad that I am notgoing crazy!
Hi Greg,
I'm glad that someone else had the problem (I'm not glad you had the problem but was able to confirm it actually exists). Did you just do a reset on your network settings and did it go away or do you still experience the problem?
Given that Greg might have found the problem, does anyone know why network settings would display a search box or at least VO seeming to think a search box is on the home screen?
Steve.
Had this happen months ago
Several months ago I had something similar happen. It actually happened several times over the span of two or three months, sometimes affecting the Home screen, sometimes affecting the Lock screen.
I believe the issue was related to either the Spotlight screen or the Today widgets screen, where the search box or dictate button on those screens would leak out to the home or lock screen. I believe I was able to fix the issue by bringing up the Spotlight or Today screen, whichever it was that caused the problem, then dismissing the screen again. My memory is hazy, so I don't remember exactly how the bug behaved, but it wasn't the same every time.
In March I sent an email to Apple Accessibility about the issue, and I got a reply asking me to send them a stack shot, which I was to take while my iPad was in the state of the bug. Since I got that reply, the bug never occurred again, so I never got an opportunity to send the stack shot they requested.
Just my luck. When I want a bug to occur, it refuses to cooperate.
Gone now
Hi all,
An update, which continues to bug me. The problem of a search box on my home screen was still causing an annoying problem last night. I was listening to an audio book on Audible before going to sleep and heard VO announce 'search' as I closed the Audible app and pressed the home button before closing my phone.
This morning, I opened my phone to the home screen again in order to check the news app and hay-presto, the search box had gone! I tried touching the screen just below the wi fi bar and above the first row of apps but it wasn't there. Very strange indeed. I'm not sure what I did (if anything) to get rid of it. I didn't even carry-out Gregg's suggestion of resetting my network settings, turning off my phone or doing a reset. So, I'm baffled.
I'll keep you posted as I'm sure it will raise its ugly head again soon. Anyway, thanks for all your help with this one.
Steve.
Had the same problem
I too had this problem with my 6S plus after the most recent update (not the beta,mods don't worry. For me as well the problem just seemd to disappear after a while. It was rather strange.
Glad to read your problem is gone
Glad to hear your problem's gone. Maybe that search box just got tired and left? LOL. Just kidding. Glad it sold by itself.
Cheers
I'm not sure its gone for good
Hi AppleFan,
Thank you for your good wishes. However, I'm sure Mr Search has not gone for good. As I suggested before, it has happened previously and I just assumed that it was something that was supposed to be a part of VO that had not been mentioned on this forum.
As I said, I will keep you posted.
Steve.