# Spotlight, Siri, and Shortcuts

Cakeday integrates with Spotlight, Siri, Shortcuts, Control Center, and quick actions so birthday information is available from system entry points, not only from inside the app.

## Spotlight

Cakeday indexes birthday records with Spotlight when system indexing is available. You can search for a friend from system search and open the matching record in Cakeday.

Search can use:

- The friend's name
- Pinyin-style matching for Chinese names
- Zodiac and Chinese zodiac keywords when available
- Date and countdown details in the result description

On supported system versions, Spotlight results can also be associated with Cakeday app entities for deeper system integration.

## Siri and Shortcuts

Cakeday provides App Shortcuts for common actions:

- Search in Cakeday
- Show upcoming birthdays
- Add a birthday
- Open a random birthday

It also provides intents that Shortcuts can use to retrieve birthday data:

- Get today's birthdays
- Get upcoming birthdays in the next 1 to 90 days
- Get birthday information for a specific friend

Results are limited to a practical size so Siri and Shortcuts can respond quickly.

## Control Center and Quick Actions

On supported system versions, Cakeday surfaces fast actions through Control Center controls:

- Add Birthday
- Upcoming Birthday
- Birthday Countdown for a selected friend

The app also supports quick actions from the app icon, including Search, Upcoming, Add Birthday, and Random.

## Widgets and Apple Watch

For glanceable countdowns and upcoming lists, see [Widgets, Controls & Apple Watch](/docs/en/widgets). Widgets and Apple Watch surfaces share the same birthday data and date display preferences.

## Refresh Behavior

When birthday data changes, Cakeday refreshes related indexes and extension data where possible. The exact timing is still managed by iOS, watchOS, Spotlight, and WidgetKit.

If a system surface looks stale, open Cakeday once. The app refreshes data and asks the system to update the related entry points.