iOS 26.4 was released last month with Apple Music, Podcasts, and many other new features. Additionally, there is a new iOS 26.4 feature that makes iCloud more useful on the web; you can now search. Here’s how to enable it.

Apple's web services often lag behind native applications, but iOS 26.4 helps to bridge that gap

Most major tech companies prioritize web access for their services. For example, Google's services are fully optimized for the web, and app versions are often secondary priorities.

However, the situation is quite the opposite at Apple. Apple prioritizes the applications on its platforms, and while it does offer web versions at times, these interfaces often lag behind native applications.

This makes sense, as the average person using an Apple service is quite likely to be doing so on an Apple device. And on Apple devices, native applications provide the best user experience.

However, with iOS 26.4, Apple introduced a significant update for iCloud.com, making the web version of iCloud more useful: you can now search for files and photos.

iOS 26.4 updates iCloud.com with a new search feature

iOS 26.4 adds a new 'Allow Search' toggle that is off by default; when this toggle is enabled, it allows you to search for files in iCloud Drive or photos in iCloud Photos via the web.

From Apple's support document:

With iOS 26.4, if you enable data access for iCloud.com, you can also enable Allow Search. This allows you to search for your files in iCloud Drive or your photos in iCloud Photos on iCloud.com. To help you find what you're looking for, you may see suggestions for the following when you type in the search field:

  • File names, folder names, and document types for iCloud Drive.
  • Dates, people, and locations for iCloud Photos.

When you search for photos and files, your searches are encrypted and processed on the device, so search history is not stored on Apple servers.

For web-based services, search is definitely a vital necessity, as seen with Google Drive and Google Photos. However, for Apple, previously only local Files and Photos iOS applications offered search.

Now, you can get a full search experience for files and photos on iCloud.com; this closely resembles the experience offered by native applications.

To enable file and photo search on iCloud.com, you can follow these steps:

  1. Open Settings on your iPhone
  2. Tap your name at the top
  3. Tap 'iCloud'
  4. Scroll down and tap 'iCloud.com'
  5. Turn on 'Allow Search'
  6. Confirm 'Allow' in the pop-up window

This toggle must be manually enabled on every device where you want to provide search results to iCloud.com. However, if all your devices sync the same files and photos like mine, enabling this toggle once on your iPhone will be sufficient.

Someone with a full Apple setup is unlikely to use iCloud.com very frequently. However, if you regularly work on Windows or Android devices, this new feature is a nice addition.

How often do you use iCloud on the web, and has iOS 26.4 changed that? Let us know in the comments.

iCloud web access and new features