Smart Search & Contextual Filters

Search inside any Space

Type a query into the search bar on any Space page and get instant results — powered by the same CLIP-based smart search that works on your main timeline. Search by description ("sunset over the ocean"), object ("red car"), or text visible in the photo.

Search results combine with your active filters. Select a year, pick a location, then search for "birthday" — you'll get exactly the photos that match all three. Click any result to open it in the full asset viewer with next/previous navigation across your search results.

Part of the Cmd/Ctrl+K search system

The same search surface now runs through Gallery's Search Palette and Global Search. Press Cmd/Ctrl+K from anywhere to search photos, people, places, tags, albums, Spaces, commands, and settings, then route a query back into the Photos timeline or the Space you are already viewing.

For faster scoping, use prefix shortcuts like @ for people, # for tags, / for albums and Spaces, and > for commands and pages. The palette also exposes page-specific commands, so albums and Spaces can be renamed, shared, managed, or safely deleted without leaving the current page.

Filter suggestions that make sense

When you select a date range in the temporal picker, the location, camera, and people filters automatically narrow to only show values that exist within that period. No more clicking a country only to find zero photos — if it shows up in the filter, it has results.

Sections with no matching data collapse to a compact "(0)" indicator instead of showing an empty list. The temporal picker itself updates bidirectionally: selecting a location or person shows you which months actually have matching photos.

Filter your entire library, not just Spaces

The same filter panel is now available on the main Photos page too. Filter your entire timeline by date, location, camera, people, tags, rating, and media type — all without leaving your library view.

Smarter cascades, fewer dead ends

Country-to-city and camera make-to-model cascades now query the server with the parent selection, so expanding "Italy" only shows cities where you actually have photos — Florence and Rome, not every city in the database. Combined with temporal scoping, expanding a country after selecting a year shows only the cities you visited that year.

If a previously selected filter value disappears after narrowing (e.g., you selected France then picked a year where you weren't in France), it stays visible but muted at the top of the list so you can deselect it rather than wondering where it went.