This hidden One UI search feature completely changed how I use my Samsung phone

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Spotlight has been integral to iOS for years, making it much easier to search for apps, contacts, and files, as well as to execute certain system tasks on the iPhone. It’s also one of those features that Android, despite outshining iOS in various aspects, can’t match. As such, I always long for a similar search experience every time I use an Android phone .

Sure, Android has offered its own version of universal search for years, but it’s nowhere near as good. Even Samsung, with its more advanced take on universal search — S Finder — hasn’t managed to make it anywhere as functional as Spotlight. And it’s one of the reasons I never bothered using it, despite being a Galaxy phone user for years.

However, that finally changed when Samsung updated S Finder in One UI 8.5 . Alongside renaming it to Finder, Samsung has transformed it into a more powerful search, capable of handling more tasks and returning better results than ever. I decided to try out Finder on my Galaxy S26 Ultra , and it has made my life so much easier.

For the uninitiated, Finder is essentially a search feature that lets you perform a range of tasks on your Galaxy phone. And with One UI 8.5, Samsung has completely revamped Finder to make it more accessible and functional than before.

The biggest change? You can access Finder right on the home screen, eliminating the need to open the app drawer every time you want to look something up or perform an action. Sure, it seems like a minor change, but I find it a valuable addition since having the Finder icon on the home screen constantly reminds me to use it, which is helpful when you’re planning to use a new feature more often.

Then, there are improvements to existing functionality and the addition of new capabilities. For instance, unlike before, Finder no longer relies on literal text matching to break down queries. Instead, it uses semantic search, which analyzes the intent behind your search rather than the exact keywords, to better understand search queries and return more relevant results. This is possible thanks to on-device Galaxy AI , which allows you to perform natural-language searches. For example, you could type ”car side profile,” and Finder would return relevant images.

Samsung also offers deeper integration with various system services and apps, including third-party ones, on the Finder. Thanks to this, you can easily look up contacts, calendar events, files, images/videos, and various system settings. With contacts, you also get the call and text options.