Apple
How to Fix AutoCorrect Problems in iOS 8
This guide shows you how to fix autocorrect problems in iOS 8 and iOS 8.1.1 so that you can stop going back and correcting names, common words, slang, stupid corrections and swear words.
Autocorrect in iOS 8 on the iPhone and iPad should help turn mistakes into the word you actually meant to type, but there are still many autocorrect problems that turn normal conversations into laugh or rage inducing typing sessions.
We’ll show you how to fix typos that change words completely, what to do when iOS 8 decides the word you are typing isn’t a real word, how to stop name autocorrect problems right away and how to swear or use slang in iOS 8 without constantly fixing the words you mean to type.
If you do this on one device it should fix the autocorrect problems in iOS 8 on all of your devices as long as you use the same Apple ID on both and iCloud.
Read on to learn how you can fix common iOS 8 autocorrect problems, and if things are really bad, you may need to go to the last option first and delete your personal iPhone dictionary to start over.
Fix Common Words & Typos in iOS 8
If you keep typing words that autocorrect never gets correct, you can add these words to your iPhone dictionary by creating a shortcut.
This will help fix a typo that the iPhone learned and added to your dictionary. For example, I typed tomorrow wrong so many times on the iPhone that it auto corrects to the misspelling. You can also use this to fix iOS 8 autocorrect problems with common words that the iPhone simply does not recognize.
Go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts. This allows you to add a shortcut that turns one word or phrase into another. In this case I typed “tomorow” in as the shortcut and “tomorrow” as the phrase. Now any time I type the wrong word it will automatically fix it to the right version.
You can use this for common words that you use at work like industry terms, acronyms and more. Once added the iPhone will keep this in sync to your other devices so you only need to teach one device.
Name Autocorrect Problems
Fix most name autocorrect problems with a quick and easy change. Any name that you have in your contacts should not autocorrect.
If the iPhone keeps autocorrecting names, there is a good chance you don’t have them as a contact. Even if you don’t have contact information for the person, you can add their name to your contacts and iOS 8 will no longer change it to some other word. Go to Contacts -> + -> Enter the Names – > Done.
You can also use the trick above to add it as a keyboard shortcut if the dictionary already knows an incorrect version of the name and adding a contact does not fix this.
Cursing & Swearing Autocorrect
There are two ways to teach the iPhone and iOS 8 to curse or swear. You can search for the curse words you want the iPhone to remember using Safari, which should train the iPhone to keep these in your iPhone dictionary.
Another option that allows more control is to add them to the Shortcuts section of the iPhone. Just like in the first step. This allows more control over the curse words and the option to remover them from the iPhone later without resetting the iPhone dictionary.
Slang Autocorrect Problems
For users that love to use slang or inside jokes that don’t rely on traditional spellings of words, the iPhone will always try to fix slang for you.
If you type the slang often enough, and correct the iPhone to the slang right after it autocorrects the word, it will learn the slang. The easier way is to add a custom shortcut as outlined at the top of this guide.
Fix Autocorrect Problems With iPhone Dictionary
If you cannot type a single message without massive autocorrect problems in iOS 8, you may need to reset the iPhone dictionary. This will wipe out everything the iPhone or iPad dictionary learned about your typing habits, but will leave the keyboard shortcuts in place.
Go to Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset Keyboard Dictionary. Enter your passcode if prompted and then tap on the red Reset Dictionary option.
This will completely remove the dictionary on the iPhone, so you will need to start from scratch, teaching it the words you want it to know.
Install a Better Keyboard
With iOS 8 you can install a third-party keyboard that can learn your typing style better than Apple and deliver a solution to common Autocorrect problems.
SwiftKey is a free iOS 8 keyboard for the iPhone and iPad that can learn your typing style from Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and other services to deliver better autocorrect options. Download SwiftKey for free from the app store and check out the other best iPhone keyboards in the slides below.
SwiftKey iOS 8 Keyboard | ||||||
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The SwiftKey iOS 8 keyboard offers better predictions than the stock iPhone keyboard thanks to connectivity to your other online accounts. This is one of the best smartphone keyboards in gneral and it's a great experience on the iPhone. If you choose this iOS 8 keyboard you can pick from a light or dark theme and link to accounts using hte app. You can tap out your words and pick from the predictive text or use the Flow option to slide your finger across words like on the biggest competitor. Works on iPhone and iPad. | ||||||
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