Searching in settings app no longer works

[Morac]

I had a problem on my iPad Air 2 (iOS 10.1.1) where searching in the settings app wouldn't find any installed apps or "Podcasts" or "iBooks". Built in settings could be searched for, but not anything else.

I did a back up, erase and backup restore of my iPad which fixed the problem for a few days, but now it's back. Stranger is that the problem is now also affecting my iPhone 7 Plus (also iOS 10.1.1), which wasn't previously having the problem. Both had the problem happen the same day.

I don't want to do another restore to fix this, since apparently that's a temporary fix. Anyone else seeing this problem?

 

[Mabus51]

Why would you search for apps in Settings instead of searching for a setting? Seems like it's working as intended to me. If you need to search for an app swipe down from the home screen and use the search function. I dunno, your question just doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe someone else can chime in.

 

[C DM]

Why would you search for apps in Settings instead of searching for a setting? Seems like it's working as intended to me. If you need to search for an app swipe down from the home screen and use the search function. I dunno, your question just doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe someone else can chime in.

Perhaps to get to settings for those apps located in the Settings app?

 

[Morac]

Well it's started working on my iPhone about 36 hours later for a short while and now it's broken again. I noticed while it was working my phone was warm.

My guess is it's only working while the search index is being rebuilt. After it finishes search stops working.

 

[Morac]

It stopped working on my iPhone an hour later and then started working again 2 hours later. I have no idea why.

My iPad still isn't working.

 

[Morac]

Why would you search for apps in Settings instead of searching for a setting? Seems like it's working as intended to me. If you need to search for an app swipe down from the home screen and use the search function. I dunno, your question just doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe someone else can chime in.

To change the settings for an app (location, notifications, etc). Note that it's not just App settings that disappear, but the ones for Podcasts and iBooks as well.

For example, here is search working:

Here's it broken:

Working:

Broken (iPad):

 

[Morac]

I think I've found a workaround. If I force kill the settings app and just run it and search I still have a problem, but if I force kill the settings app and then run it and go to the battery settings page, that seems to get searching working in settings.

I just tested that on both my iPad and iPhone and it temporarily resolved the issue. It's easier on the iPhone because 3D Touch can be used to get to the battery settings. This only resolves the problem for a short while though.