Agreed. The only way I find & launch apps (besides the 4 on the dock) is by swipe-down from the middle of the homescreen, to reveal search, then to search for the app's name. This is very analogous to how I launch apps in OSX, namely command-SPACE, then start typing the application name.
It's extremely frustrating when iOS takes forever to find an app, or worse proioritizes all kinds of other garbage before the app's icon. If I type "waz" and I have the Waze app installed, I sure as hell expect to see the Waze icon instantly at the very top. Ideally, after typing just the "W".
You'll be pleased to know that the results in iOS 12 instantly reveal the first four-matching installed apps. (Instantly meaning "I can't really determine how long it takes, because it's probably somewhere under 100ms")
All of the other stuff loads very quickly. Mail results are very very quick (over 3 inboxes containing over 100,000 mail items), and then a-bit-less-quick for the Siri search suggestions.
I'm actually shocked at how much iOS 12 improved responsiveness.
It's extremely frustrating when iOS takes forever to find an app, or worse proioritizes all kinds of other garbage before the app's icon. If I type "waz" and I have the Waze app installed, I sure as hell expect to see the Waze icon instantly at the very top. Ideally, after typing just the "W".