Apple updates Spotlight to take actions on your Mac

Apple has unveiled significant enhancements to Spotlight, its on-device search functionality for Mac, during the WWDC 2025 event on Monday. With the upcoming macOS Tahoe, Spotlight will enable users to execute shortcuts and perform a wide array of tasks, including composing emails, setting reminders, and streaming podcasts. This update comes at a time when chat applications like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini are gaining traction globally. As users increasingly turn to command line interfaces for efficiency, Apple is positioning Spotlight to align with this trend. The company asserts that Spotlight is now the quickest method to navigate all the content available on a Mac. The redesigned Spotlight interface will facilitate a smoother browsing experience through apps, files, clipboard history, and more. Results will be displayed collectively and ranked intelligently based on their relevance to the user. Additionally, Apple introduced a feature known as quick keys, which are short character strings that allow users to access specific apps or actions rapidly. For instance, typing "SM" will send a message, while "AR" will add a new reminder. Users will also have the option to assign quick keys to customized functions within Spotlight. Developers can enhance the discoverability of their apps in Spotlight using the App Intents API. In a demonstration, an Apple executive illustrated how users could send a complete email directly from Spotlight, specifying the recipient, subject, and message, and even hitting "send" without switching to another application. Whether users will embrace this functionality for sending emails through the revamped Spotlight remains to be seen. Apple claims that Spotlight is now integrated with Apple Intelligence, making it contextually aware. The upgraded search feature will recommend common actions based on user activity. The Spotlight enhancements are part of a broader range of updates to macOS, which also include a new live-tracking feature that connects with iPhones and a sleek "liquid glass" software redesign.