iPhone users have criticized Apple’s “awful” autocorrect feature amid allegations that it’s gotten “worse and worse” following the most recent iOS updates.
Complaints about Apple’s autocorrect feature have flooded Twitter in recent days with users claiming that it incorrectly changed words in typed text.
That’s what one social media user claimed tried to change her device “burden” to “Biden” while typing, while another claimed that her phone always adds a “z” when trying to select an apostrophe.
“I’m not trying to sound dramatic, but iPhone’s autocorrect is literally ruining my life,” one person tweeted.
Another added, “Is it just me or is iPhone autocorrect actually horrible?” It keeps correcting words that are spelled correctly to a better meaning (i.e. eat to good) even though I had it correct?’
iPhone users have claimed that Apple’s autocorrect feature incorrectly changes words in texts
Complaints flooded Twitter after Apple’s latest 16.3.1 iOS upgrade last month
Others also suggested that the options to choose from in Apple’s predictive text menu were irrelevant to what they were typing.
One person said, “Another iPhone problem: predictive text and autocorrect. If I say “that is”, I expect the middle option to be “that is”, not “that sounds”.
“Also, I can’t type “omw” without Apple absolutely insisting that I type “On my way!” want to say. I must do my very best to choose otherwise.’
Another tweeted, “Will someone tell my iPhone/what’s app predictive text feature that with a child in daycare I type ‘sick’ more often than ‘I will’ so stop trying to make me say it.”
Criticism follows Apple’s latest 16.3.1 iOS upgrade released last month to provide “major bug fixes and security updates” for the iPhone.
Apple has not commented on the alleged issues surrounding its impact on autocorrect features.
But the website provides a step-by-step guide of how users can change which sentences are automatically corrected.
This falls under a feature called ‘text replacement’ that can create shortcuts that replace longer sentences.
For example, a user can type “HBD” and it will automatically change to “Happy Birthday” if chosen.
iPhone users can access this feature in the same ‘Keyboard’ section of the settings menu where a ‘Text Replacement’ tab can be selected.
Here a ‘+’ symbol will be visible in the top right corner. Once tapped, users can add the phrase and a shortcut.
Apple shares on its website that the autocorrect feature can be toggled on and off in the “Keyboard” section of the “General” tab in Settings
These can also be removed at your convenience using the ‘edit function’.
However, if you just want to turn off predictive text or autocorrect, you can do so in the “Keyboard” section of the “General” tab in the settings.
Predictive text settings can also be accessed by holding down the globe icon on the keyboard itself while typing on the device.
Apple last month urged users to update their phones as soon as possible over fears of two security flaws.
The first was linked to a Safari browser engine known as Webkit that allowed hackers to do this run any code on an iPhone.
Apple believed the flaw, discovered by an anonymous researcher, had already been exploited by hackers.
Predictive text settings can also be accessed by pressing and holding the globe icon on the keyboard
The second vulnerability in Kernel allowed attackers to take over privileges, but the tech giant didn’t know if this had been exploited.
Xinru Chi of Pangu Lab and Ned Williamson of Google Project Zero also helped find these vulnerabilities, alongside The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto Munk School.
It was unclear how long these vulnerabilities had been plaguing devices, as Apple said it “does not disclose, discuss, or confirm security vulnerabilities until an investigation has taken place and patches or releases are available.”
Other features of the update included iCloud and Siri bug fixes, along with more Crash Detection optimizations.
The updated operating system is only available for iPhone 8 and later models.
