This universal search app turned my phone into a Spotlight-like experience

I've always been a little jealous of Mac users. Not for the hardware, the price tags, or the devotion to minimalist desk setups — but for Spotlight. Once you get the hang of searching properly on macOS, that single keystroke opens a clean, floating bar that can dig up a buried file, launch an app, run a quick calculation, or pull up a calendar event without you opening anything. It's the kind of feature Android should have but never quite delivered natively. Google Search comes close, but it leans heavily into Google's own priorities and leaves little room to shape it to how you actually work.

So when I stumbled upon Quick Search while aimlessly browsing the Play Store one day, I almost kept scrolling. I'm glad I didn't, because a few days in, I found myself reaching for it more often than my home screen.

Getting in is the easiest part

First launch is a formality, not a chore

One of my favorite things about Quick Search is that it doesn't dump you into a blank app and expect you to figure things out. The first screen is onboarding, where you'll encounter a Permissions page, which presents four toggles: Usage Access, Contacts, Files Access, and Calendar. Every single one is optional, and the app states plainly that your data stays on your device. You grant what you're comfortable with and leave the rest alone. If you're migrating from a previous installation, the next screen asks whether you'd like to import a backup file of your settings, which is a considerate touch for an app of this size. If you're starting fresh, you just hit Skip.

The final onboarding step is a Search Engines screen that lets you enable and reorder the services you want available, and the list covers more ground than you'd expect. Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, YouTube, Google Play, and Google Maps are all ready to go right out of the box. You toggle what you want, drag to reorder, and tap "Start Searching!" Each engine can be assigned a custom shortcut so that typing "ytb" at the start of your query immediately routes your search to YouTube, while "pplx" sends it to Perplexity. You configure these shortcuts in Settings under Search Engines, and once you've set them up, switching between search destinations becomes instinctive. By the time you reach the main interface, Quick Search already feels like yours.

The main screen opens to a "Search Anything..." bar at the top with a grid of your recently used apps displayed beneath it. The app suggestions are ordered by what you open most frequently, so the things you actually reach for regularly sit right at the front. From here, you can type anything or scroll and tap. And if you enable Overlay Mode from Settings, that search bar becomes available anywhere on your phone, floating over whatever app you're currently in.

Quick Search knows where everything lives

Apps, contacts, files, math — yes, all of it

The real depth of Quick Search becomes clear once you explore its Search Results settings. Inside, you'll find individual toggles for Apps, App Shortcuts, Contacts, Files, Calendar Events, Notes, Device Settings, and App Settings. Each category can be turned on or off independently, and the ones requiring permissions display a clear "Permission required" note.

Next to each category is a "Setup Alias" shortcut that lets you assign a keyword trigger for that specific type of search. Tapping it opens a small dialog asking you to type your alias, with a helpful note explaining that typing it at the start of any query will filter results to that category alone. For example, you could set "ds" as your Device Settings alias, and typing "ds bluetooth" would take you straight to Bluetooth settings instead of surfacing a mix of results across your whole phone.

Quick Search also has a built-in calculator, which, if you type any math expression directly into the search bar, the answer appears inline. I typed 2+2*3 and immediately saw 8 displayed in large text. There is no need to open another app. And under Settings, the Tools section extends this further with a Unit Converter, a Date and Time Calculator. If you add an AI provider API key (I used a free Gemini key I generated recently), you also unlock a currency converter, a word clock, and a dictionary. There is also a "Create New Tool" button at the bottom of that page, suggesting the developer has longer-term plans for that space.

Your Spotlight moment has arrived — on Android

If you've turned on Overlay Mode, head into Quick Search's Settings and tap Launch Options. You'll find three different ways to summon it, all grouped in one place:

• Set it as your phone's default assistant: The usual gesture or long-press opens Quick Search instead of Google.
• Add a Quick Settings tile: Creates a one-tap shortcut directly from your notification shade.
• Drop a home screen widget: Place a quick-launch bar wherever your thumb naturally lands.

Each option jumps straight to the relevant setup page, so you don't have to dig through Android's settings maze to wire it up.

If the idea of a truly universal search bar on Android has ever appealed to you, this is the one to try. Your Mac-using friends don't have to know.