I’ve been observing iPhone customers and there is one factor all of them hate

Apple followers are notorious for defending the corporate’s each resolution. The notch, sticking with the Lightning cable for too lengthy, the value of additional storage, and so on. But deliver up the iPhone keyboard in a room filled with iPhone house owners, and the temper shortly turns.

I’m not an iPhone proprietor myself, however I’m , and I usually scroll via r/iPhone and MacRumors boards. People have totally different opinions about most subjects, however relating to the inventory Apple keyboard, there is a very clear narrative. iPhone customers don’t just like the iPhone keyboard.

A criticism that is older than most iPhones

It’s not a current drawback

The factor is, this is not one thing that began with a current iOS replace. Around the time of iOS 12, Apple author Dan Moren mentioned autocorrect had turn into “each worse at fixing reputable typos and extra aggressive about taking precise phrases and turning them into nonsense.” That was seven years in the past.

MacRumors threads about iOS 13 begin with absolutes reminiscent of “We all know autocorrect has been horrible.” Fast ahead to iOS 17, and an autocorrect thread on MacRumors reads like a help group. The authentic poster mentioned the autocorrect in beta 1 was really higher than the ultimate launch. Replies piled on. One individual mentioned autocorrect had gone from mediocre to a nightmare. Another mentioned it had turn into so aggressive that they had been fixing phrases in about half or extra of their messages.

In that very same thread, a German speaker mentioned the keyboard turns one explicit phrase into a unique one each single time. They’d even erased their iPhone fully with out restoring a backup, and it nonetheless occurred. And one commenter mentioned they’d solely simply began trusting the on-screen keyboard in any respect, after calling it a catastrophe because the iPhone 6, 10 years of frustration.

Reddit is the place the actual complainers go

Reddit is the place the place I see most iPhone customers go to air their grievances. A thread from last year a few YouTube video titled “It’s Not Just You – The iOS Keyboard is Broken ” has over 700 feedback. The most typical challenge, once more, centered round autocorrect rewriting appropriately typed phrases into nonsense. Several individuals additionally point out that the keyboard has slowly gotten worse with each replace.

One of the hottest threads concerning the iPhone keyboard is from simply six months in the past — “I used to have the ability to kind on iPhone keyboard with out it. Now, I’ve to observe myself kind and nonetheless in some way make errors on virtually each single phrase.” Simple sentences reminiscent of “Do you wish to eat pizza?” had been autocorrected to “Do you wish to emancipate slipper animals?” What.

Sometimes, individuals level to technical causes for the problems. A now-removed Reddit thread from earlier this year blamed a bug the place some keystrokes weren’t registering. Those lacking characters then confused autocorrect about what the individual meant to kind. This explicit challenge seems to be present on the model new iPhone Duo as properly.

Of course, we will not speak about autocorrect complaints with out mentioning its most notorious drawback. iOS 17 was alleged to make swearing simpler and tackle the annoying “duck” autocorrection. Whether it really works that means for everyone is one other query, and loads of individuals on the boards would say it is nonetheless a difficulty.

Apple wants to repair this

More than simply participation bias

Now, it is simple to imagine that points talked about on-line are greater than they are surely. It’s known as “participation” or “self-selection” bias. The individuals who have the issue are almost definitely to really submit about it, and also you by no means hear from the individuals who haven’t got the issue. However, when the experiences are this overwhelming, it appears to be real.

Let’s give attention to Reddit for instance. As I’m penning this, the iPhone Duo is model new, but after I kind r/iPhone by “Hot,” the second thread I see is about how the keyboard was better on old iPhones (500+ feedback). Meanwhile, over in r/iOS, one of many high posts of the 12 months is about speech-to-text mistakes. No matter which Apple-related subreddit you go to, you are going to see keyboard complaints.

These complaints span years, iOS variations, languages, and cellphone fashions. Apple has created a system that technically helps third-party keyboards, however does so in a means that is actually not an ideal expertise. Every time I’ve used an iPhone, I attempt to use Gboard, however I at all times find yourself again with the inventory keyboard because of numerous little issues. The majority of iPhone customers solely know the inventory keyboard.

Clearly, one thing must be performed to enhance the iPhone keyboard. Autocorrect looks as if the primary perpetrator, however format and voice-to-text might additionally use some work. When this many iPhone customers agree on one thing that is destructive towards Apple, you realize there’s an actual drawback.