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subjonas

macrumors 603
Original poster
Feb 10, 2014
6,257
6,737
Yes, we all notice with autocorrect gets something wrong and it should be improved, but you probably aren't noticing all the times that it gets right (because there's nothing to notice). I know sometimes I will notice that I've typed something completely unrecognizable, but then the correct word pops up!

I'm pretty sure typing on an iPhone would be much more frustrating without autocorrect than it is even with its current frustrations.
Sure, overall it’s better than no autocorrect, otherwise I would have turned it off already—but the point is that it has gotten so much worse than it was before, inexplicably.

And if it gets any worse, I actually might have to turn it off. It’s actually pretty close, and occasionally it’s over the line.
 
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Reggaenald

Suspended
Sep 26, 2021
864
798
Sure, overall it’s better than no autocorrect, otherwise I would have turned it off already—but the point is that it has gotten so much worse than it was before, inexplicably.

And if it gets any worse, I actually might have to turn it off. It’s actually pretty close, and occasionally it’s over the line.
Same here. Very often it considerably changed the meaning of a text and message so much, even the not corrected gibberish would give more of a clue to what it was supposed to mean, sometimes it even downright changes the meaning to something insulting (with context) which is, just not correct.
 

Andrew73875

macrumors regular
Feb 1, 2022
225
599
Autocorrect is not the only issue. Also when you want to move the cursor somewhere in the word to correct it. It's almost impossible to put the cursor where you need it. It's easier to erase the word and type it again.

But it wasn't always like that. If you have iOS 6 and prior devices, try it there. They have smaller screens but it's easier to type and correct typos.

hot take: tvOS has the best autocorrect.
True! And not only autocorrect. I think I enjoy tvOS experience the most. I can't even complain much about it. I think the only suggestion I would make regarding tvOS is for Apple to enforce their video player in every app. Currently there are different video controls in every app.
 

Violet_Antelope

macrumors regular
Nov 14, 2020
102
158
I agree it's awful, mine routinely 'corrects' me into random german words. I don't speak German, never have! Other times it's total gibberish. I leave it turned on because after so many years of using iPhones it actually does recognise some unusual words I *do* type, and makes useful suggestions that help me compose documents faster, but it's very, very annoying!
 

Populus

macrumors 603
Aug 24, 2012
5,946
8,416
Spain, Europe
I agree it's awful, mine routinely 'corrects' me into random german words. I don't speak German, never have! Other times it's total gibberish. I leave it turned on because after so many years of using iPhones it actually does recognise some unusual words I *do* type, and makes useful suggestions that help me compose documents faster, but it's very, very annoying!

Have you taken a look at the languages added to your iPhone? Maybe you have German among them. To check it out, just go to Settings -> General -> Language and Region.
 
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BellSystem

Suspended
Mar 17, 2022
502
1,155
Boston, MA
Ya the autocorrect has been trash for me lately on Mac and iOS. Half the time the Mac won’t notice a misspelling at all, they I type the misspelling again and it sees that. Something is jacked up.
 
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Jeven Stobs

Suspended
Apr 8, 2022
224
226
I agree it's awful, mine routinely 'corrects' me into random german words. I don't speak German, never have! Other times it's total gibberish. I leave it turned on because after so many years of using iPhones it actually does recognise some unusual words I *do* type, and makes useful suggestions that help me compose documents faster, but it's very, very annoying!
„No, it’s German. It’s not ‚Die Bart, Die‘, it’s ‚The Bart, The.‘“ :D
 
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Violet_Antelope

macrumors regular
Nov 14, 2020
102
158
Have you taken a look at the languages added to your iPhone? Maybe you have German among them. To check it out, just go to Settings -> General -> Language and Region.
Yes, I have, sadly didn't help, although it did make it forget a lot of useful English words I use... Thank you though!
 

madeirabhoy

macrumors 68000
Oct 26, 2012
1,673
622
i think it has definitely got worse over the years. the poster who said yeah but you dont notice how often it gets it right, tbh not often at all.

and i think away from the quality of the suggestions, there needs to be some work on the fundamentals of it to use a bit more artificial intelligence in terms of how a person is typing and what they might be trying to do.

if i type something and it autocorrects it, and i straight away delete and replace with what i typed originally, the phone/mac should notice this and realise that this must be what i want to type. but no, it will replace it again unless i remember to hit esc or whatever...

search boxes on websites, the mac/phone should either not try and autocorrect anything, or should take a much gentler approach, as its likely that what i am searching for in a search box is far more likely to be a name or a company name, and far less likely to be a dictionary word.

and Ducking. no one uses the word ducking..... ducking hell.
 
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russell_314

macrumors 604
Feb 10, 2019
6,675
10,274
USA
It's terrible... Dictation is also terrible. I had dictation software on my PC over 20 years ago that was better than what the iPhone does today.
 
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Jim Lahey

macrumors 68030
Apr 8, 2014
2,745
5,686
Autocorrect/keyboard behaviour has been FUBAR since at least iPadOS 13. I only notice it with Safari text fields, though. Usually forums such as this. If you accidentally add a 'space' then backspace and try to complete the word, autocorrect thinks you're trying to type two separate words and basically just makes up a gibberish language in the process. It's the most infuriating typing experience ever.

They'll never fix it. Welcome to New Apple, where headline features are more important than making the basics work. See the Safari sidebar auto show/hide behaviour being permanently sacrificed at the alter of tab groups for further evidence.
 
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JM

macrumors 601
Nov 23, 2014
4,086
6,381
Autocorrect is not the only issue. Also when you want to move the cursor somewhere in the word to correct it. It's almost impossible to put the cursor where you need it. It's easier to erase the word and type it again.

But it wasn't always like that. If you have iOS 6 and prior devices, try it there. They have smaller screens but it's easier to type and correct typos.
Before iOS 15 and the “hold finger over text and get the mini magnifier bubble” you could tap exactly where you wanted the cursor… now if you tap anywhere near the cursor , even if it’s a separate line, the cursor will stubbornly stay put….

I had to retrain my typing speed to hold down to get that bubble to move cursor, or hold down the space bar to move cursor.

The other HUGE annoyance is that I can no longer double tap and drag drown to select blocks of text without it minimizing the keyboard. It was NOT this way in iOS 14. I hate iOS 15 so much.
 
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VulchR

macrumors 68040
Jun 8, 2009
3,508
14,459
Scotland
I know this is an old thread, but just to add to the chorus of people here who think something as fundamental as autocorrect - a feature proably used the most by users than any other - just sucks so badly on iOS. I just suffered from a bout of COVID and guess how many times 'ill' got converted to 'I'll'? But I can get a feature that converts my moving image to that of a unicorn. How useful. /RANT
 

steelhauler34

macrumors 6502
Jul 23, 2019
345
251
Yeah I always think apple can go ———-itself when their technology thinks it knows what I am trying to say better than I actually do. How do you turn it off??
 

CE3

macrumors 68000
Nov 26, 2014
1,809
3,146
I’m so glad to find this thread exists because I nearly just started one to vent my disdain for autocorrect.

As a poor speller, snobbish and annoying is how I would describe my perception of how bad it works sometimes. I will misspell a word by 1 letter, I’ll know it’s going to be misspelled before I even type it, and autocorrect refuses to provide me with the correct option when it absolutely should be there 🙄🤬
 

The-Real-Deal82

macrumors P6
Jan 17, 2013
17,314
25,463
Wales, United Kingdom
Autocorrect has a habit of changing ‘you’ into ‘yiw’, ‘have’ into ‘gave’ and ‘I’ve’ into ‘Ive’ on my devices all the time. I have gotten to the point where I’m sending messages and not bothering to re-correct the words iOS is insistent on changing.
 
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VulchR

macrumors 68040
Jun 8, 2009
3,508
14,459
Scotland
My personal favourite at the moment is changing 'tour' to 'your'. FFS. We have AI-enabled mobile devices now and this is the best we can do? And don't get me started on the failure of autocorrect to identify words misspelled due to the space key ('tot he' versus 'to the' - guess which one is more likely? I won't even go into space-key mispelling of 'got it'). Grrrrr....:mad:

It's not just an inconveninece. It is a disability thing (I am losing my vision plus I am dyslexic). Here I am, trying to be professional at work, and spellchecking/autocorrect is a dumpster fire on all devices.
 
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