iOS Predictive Text Bug Is Frustrating, But Apple Has A Workaround

It appears that iOS users are grappling with a new bug that is small in nature yet very frustrating at the same time. The bug centers around the iOS predictive keyboard, with a lot of users seeing predictive text autocorrecting "I" inputs to "A[?]." This, as you can probably imagine, is problematic for pretty much anyone who uses their keyboard on a regular basis.

Reports of the bug started popping up on Reddit over the weekend, and at the moment, the cause of the issue is unclear. After receiving reports from a number of its users, MacRumors theorizes that the bug may be caused by an unrecognized emoji from iOS 11. While a lot of iOS 11.1 users are experiencing the bug, it doesn't seem limited to this newest build, as folks running iOS 11.0.3 have experienced it as well.

Even then, it isn't just iPhone and iPad users who are affected; since predictive text is delivered to all Apple devices through iCloud, those on Mac are dealing with this issue too. Apple, for its part, has recognized that this bug exists, but so far, an official patch hasn't been pushed to affected users.

Instead, Apple posted this workaround on its support site over the weekend. Apple recommends setting up text replacements within the iOS keyboard as a short term fix for the problem. To do that, go into "Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement," the tap the "+" you see appear. From there, type an upper-case "I" for Phrase, and the for Shortcut, type a lower-case "i."

For now, that's all we're going to get in terms of a fix from Apple. The company doesn't say what's causing the issue, likely because it isn't sure itself yet. More news will inevitably be coming down the pipeline shortly, so stay tuned for that.