Apple's mobile devices have a secret list of "sensitive" words that don't autocomplete

Apple’s mobile devices have a secret list of “sensitive” words that don’t autocomplete

I’m pretty sure Android does something like this.

So maybe “Mobile devices don’t autocomplete “sensitive” words” is more appropriate.

From the various comments, I presume it is impossible to actually see the message you are sending on these things? I’ve never understood how that would be a benefit.

If you can see the message why do you send it with things in it you do not want?

The phone is smart but I wonder about the users.

I’ve had the opposite problem with my Android phone. We spotted whales in the water and in my text “Orca” got corrected to “orgasm” without me noticing.

Thats why my ex girlfriend phoned me and said she could not text me and say yes she was still a virgin and no she was never a victim of rape

The clasic from damnyouautocorrect:

Your father and I are going to divorce this summer.
Disney! Not divorce! Disney!

A lot of people aren’t that astute when they’re texting. I know I’ve had some autocorrect issues that have come out funny (though thankfully not embarrassing; the one that comes to mind is “I love social cats” becoming “I love social pants”) simply because I don’t proofread most of my texts.

I was once involved in writing sofware for variable message signs on freeways. We had a list of slogans to display when the sign was otherwise idle, one of which was Freeway emergency telephones are there for your convenience and safety. Unfortunately a spell checker along the way had turned convenience into connivance.

Only those whose purity of mind is equal to our purity of design deserve our products.

You are talking about autocorrect, as opposed to autocomplete. They are similar, but slightly different in that autocorrect changes words it perceives typed incorrectly whereas autocomplete offers suggestions for half-typed words. They both run from the same dictionary, but are slightly different in function. I can understand autocorrect erring on the side of not using certain words, but for the words to be completely absent from a list of words you may intend to type is entirely insane, pathetic and typical of Apple’s view that they know better than users.

@doctorow

I’m pretty sure Android does something like this. “Fuck” and other
swear-words never, ever autocomplete correctly for me on Android;

That is something which is dictated by the keyboard in use which is completely non-standard across manufacturers. I believe the stock Google keyboard DOES avoid autocomplete for swear words (fuck/shit) but not the ‘naughty’ words apple doesn’t want you to use. If you get a 3rd party keyboard such as SwiftKey, you will get autocomplete suggestions for swear words.

This double shot was taken using the SwiftKey keyboard and the big graphic is taken using the default HTC Sense input keyboard that shipped with the HTC One (which is clearly the best keyboard because it suggested ‘raptors’ as an autocomplete for ‘rap’).

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A little while ago my wife sent me a text about the neighbours having had the police “knock in their door at 3 AM”. Had me pretty worried until she corrected that to “knock ON their door”.

Good point on the implications of autocorrect vs. autocomplete

Uh, file under feature not bug. It is autocorrect that deprives you of choice. This ensures that if anyone types “rape” or “abortion” it will be you, not the machine. Save your annoyance for that reactionary rigid autospell that imagines that anything that slightly resembles a word it knows must surely be the word it knows. Now that’s rigid and conservative. This is just an island of liberty in an ocean of auto enforced dictionary conformity.

Yeah, both my S1 and S4 were more than happy to autocomplete “abortion” and every swear I could think of.

(Even just typing “cu” gets the expected suggestion)

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