C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
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.
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C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
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.
Samsung has completely revamped Finder in One UI 8.5, making it more accessible and functional than before.
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.
Finder also suggests some settings topics based on your usage. You can tap these to quickly jump into their settings page. I’ve rarely found these suggestions relevant, though. Similarly, Samsung has improved app integration in Finder. This gives you quick access to various app shortcuts, i.e., sub-menus, directly in Finder, so you don’t have to open an app and navigate your way through different menus.
I switched to the Galaxy S26 Ultra a few weeks ago. Since then, I’ve been using Finder extensively, and I’ve discovered a few interesting use cases that save me time and effort every day.
To begin with, I now use Finder for quick web searches. Oftentimes, these include looking up definitions of new words and phrases, which earlier required me to use a browser. Unit conversion is another common use case that I find really helpful, as it eliminates the need for a dedicated app or performing a web search.
From converting units and accessing system settings to finding files, performing web searches, and more, Finder simplifies several everyday tasks for me.
I use Finder to look up files as well, and it returns what I’m looking for most of the time. However, I wish it were equally effective at finding photos. I’ve also stopped going into the Settings app and instead use Finder to quickly find and jump into a setting’s page. This way, I don’t have to navigate multiple screens to find toggles buried in the Settings app.
Another Finder feature I really like is app shortcuts, and I use it for a bunch of app actions every day. For example, whenever I want to access or move files on another device via FTP, I simply type “solid” in Finder, and it opens the FTP action shortcut in the Solid File Explorer app. I can then tap it to connect to the file-serving device.
Similarly, Finder also helps me make quick payments. I use GPay (Google Pay) for payments, and thanks to its Finder integration, I can type “gpay” and choose the Scan any QR code or Pay phone number option to quickly make a payment.
By default, Finder is accessible from the app drawer. All you need to do is swipe up from the home screen to open the app drawer, then tap the Search bar at the bottom and type your query in the What are you looking for? field.
Finder will then return matching results, if available, organized into different categories. For calculations or conversions, it will display values upfront. If there’s a matching file or folder, you can view it by tapping the appropriate result. Or, when it surfaces actions, tap an action to run it.
While using Finder this way is fine, the home screen shortcut makes it more accessible. To enable it:
In addition to enabling the Finder shortcut, you should also consider configuring which apps Finder can search to limit its scope and prevent unnecessary suggestions in results. Here’s how to do it:
Similarly, you can configure what appears in the Finder search:
Like other apps on your phone, Finder uses your personal data to suggest actions based on your usage. While this option is enabled by default, you can disable it if you don’t want Finder to analyze and use your usage data for suggestions.
Alternatively, you can configure what kind of data personal data intelligence can use for suggestions by going into Data to use menu. Or turn off personal data intelligence completely by flipping the toggle at the top of the screen off.
Yash Wate / Android Authority
As someone who uses Spotlight on their iPhone extensively, I wish Finder could perform more actions and do a few things differently. For example, I’d like Finder to support currency conversions and word definitions. I also want it to surface toggles for certain system settings, like Modes. Similarly, it would be nice to have the ability to run Routines from Finder — similar to how you can run Shortcuts from Spotlight. Support for automation apps like MacroDroid and Tasker would be even better.
Then, I’d like it to show the unit conversion results at the top instead of pushing them down in the list. Another area I’d like Finder to improve in is search indexing. Currently, if I try to look up an image of someone’s business card by their name, it’s hit-or-miss.
I hope Samsung improves Finder over time and markets it better so more people can use it to get things done on their phones more efficiently. But even in its current form, Finder is still pretty incredible. If you aren’t using it yet, you absolutely should.
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