Am I using search wrong in iPadOS 14?

I have the exact same issue. Before the most recent beta I was able to fix it based the only thing I could think of, which is number of apps installed. I had a pretty significant number of apps installed so I guessed it was a bug in indexing for spotlight. Unfortunately after the last beta update it went back to not breaking. I've submitted feedback during the first beta, and have kept updating it, but still says there is no other reported cases for this issue. I'm at a loss for what to try next, and you're the first person I've found with this same problem, and like you, I only ever read how great spotlight was for everyone else, meanwhile I'm grinding my teeth.

Another thing I tried that didn't fix it was erasing my device, restoring back to iOS 13 non-beta (search worked), then upgrading again to iOS 14 Beta and search was still broken. I'm sure Apple doesn't read these posts, but just in case the FB ID is: FB7871373.

Matthew

It’s somewhat of a relief to know someone else is having the same issue. However, it feels like the kind of thing that’s baked into the OS, not an install error. It’s as if Search is only programmed to look into Safari results, nothing else. I’ve sent a Feedback message to Apple too, along with a screenshot. Let me know if you hear about anything. It’s literally the only thing I can find wrong with the beta, but it’s a big enough problem that it sours the whole experience.

I am having exactly same issue and I too have a significant number of apps (>1000) installed and that’s likely the problem. As you can imagine it’s quite a pain and I hope will get some attention in the next update. My iPhone has a lot (~600) but it seems to work as expected and finds the apps as well.

And still an issue with beta 5.

14.0.1 GA fixed this issue !!!!

Same problem here. STILL with beta 7.2.