Fix for iOS Autocorrect Bug Reportedly Arrived in Latest Developer Beta, Coming to Public Beta This Week

[MacRumors]

For well over a week, many iOS 11 users have been noting a strange autocorrect bug plaguing their devices, which autocorrects the letter "i" to the uppercase letter "A" and a question mark symbol. Apple has issued a support document to help anyone facing the problem figure out a temporary workaround, but The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the bug has been fixed in the second iOS 11.2 developer beta released yesterday.

A few MacRumors forum members also mentioned a fix appearing in the second developer beta of iOS 11.2, although none seem to have yet confirmed the fix is implemented, likely because they never faced the bug in the first place. In The Wall Street Journal's report, an Apple spokesperson confirmed that an update fixing the problem "will be included in this week's public and developer beta releases."

A window for the non-beta fix wasn't given by Apple, but the company said the wide release rollout will follow, which was expected. At this point, it's unclear whether Apple will introduce the autocorrect bug fix in a quick update, or wait and launch it in iOS 11.2. It's been one week since iOS 11.1 launched, so 11.2 will probably not drop until later in November.

Nevertheless, Apple said it would patch the problem in an iOS update. "A fix will be released very soon," an Apple spokeswoman said. It will be included in this week's public and developer beta releases, with wide rollout to follow.

Although Apple originally stated that the bug was related to iOS 11.1, Apple confirmed that it "could also appear in earlier versions of iOS 11." Both The Wall Street Journal and multiple MacRumors forum members mentioned seeing the issue surface on devices running iOS 11.0.3.

If you are having trouble with the bug, Apple's temporary solution is to set up a Text Replacement for the letter "i" by visiting the Settings app > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement. After tapping the plus button to add a new replacement, in the Phrase field type an uppercase "I", and in Shortcut type a lowercase "i".

You can also toggle "Predictive" off completely in the Keyboard section of Settings, although that would greatly hinder the keyboard usability for many users. Third-party keyboard apps like Gboard are also available to type on without having to worry about the autocorrect bug.

Article Link: Fix for iOS Autocorrect Bug Reportedly Arrived in Latest Developer Beta, Coming to Public Beta This Week

 

[RdeCourtney]

Can confirm, had this bug in the first beta and cannot reproduce it in the latest beta.

 

[sjn419]

Finally, an article from macrumors about this. about time....Was so pervasive, saw it randomly on reddit and instagram.

 

[iFan]

Watching this same topic on CNBC at this very moment. Very annoying bug. It started randomly several days after updating on just my iPhone, and then yesterday on my MacBook.

 

[quaresma]

Embarrassing

 

[sjn419]

anyone else feel this bug was sort of contagious? my friend had it and started texting me then it started happening to me also. might just be a chance occurance

 

[mcfrazieriv]

THIS ... and the horrific bluetooth connectivity problem with w1 headphone devices, iphone and watch 3 pairing.

 

[magicman32]

Nice. But this just got me thinking as I tried to use it again today:
I assume Apple's version of “copy and paste,” as far as using it on webpages go, will remain broken in perpetuity as they clearly have no desire to fix it. Ever.

Clearly it works as they intend it to. <sigh>

 

[rcooked]

Here is to hoping that BETA goes to a release fast... This bug is beyond annoying and I would think warrant pushing out a separate fix to address it. Renders the iPhone a lot less effective...

 

[GadgetBen]

What.About.The.Error.That.Enters.Periods.After.Every.Word?.

 

[Vanilla35]

Now fix all the visual hickups and glitches in iOS 11.

I want a pristine iOS by the time jailbreak comes out. That way I can fix all the other things myself.

 

[C DM]

What.About.The.Error.That.Enters.Periods.After.Every.Word?.

What "error" is that?

 

[BrettApple]

Now, does this fix macOS Messages as well? (note those show up properly on my iPhone 3GS running iOS 6 that also still has iMessage, so it's not the message itself that's messed up, as it's from another sender).

 

[TallManNY]

My keyboard basically doesn't work on my iPhone 6S (there is just tremendous lag) unless I switch it to a non-Apple keyboard. And I did not ever have my screen repaired by anyone other than Apple. Though I am using a refurbished phone from Apple after I had the battery issue that 6S had.

 

[C DM]

Finally, an article from macrumors about this. about time....Was so pervasive, saw it randomly on reddit and instagram.

There were previous articles about this already (linked in this article as well):

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/01/ios-11-predictive-text-bug/

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/06/apple-workaround-for-autocorrect-bug-ios/

 

[DMVillain]

Has there been an explanation on this bug? It isn't universal (i don't have it on 4 iOS devices) and it appeared spontaneously across software versions.

 

[sjn419]

There were previous articles about this already:

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/01/ios-11-predictive-text-bug/

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/06/apple-workaround-for-autocorrect-bug-ios/

Wow okay I was wrong. Not sure how I missed those when I specifically looked for them. Thanks

 

[C DM]

Has there been an explanation on this bug? It isn't universal (i don't have it on 4 iOS devices) and it appeared spontaneously across software versions.

Out of curiosity, what software versions were affected for you?

 

[a104375]

I didn't really follow iOS10 last year but is it just me or has iOS11 been abnormally buggy?

 

[JM]

anyone else feel this bug was sort of contagious? my friend had it and started texting me then it started happening to me also. might just be a chance occurance

TTD - Textual Transmitted Disease

 

[ghostface147]

I haven't encountered this bug yet. 6s Plus and on the latest iOS public release. Weirdly enough, a friend sent me a text last night that didn't have bug, but on messages on my Mac....the bug is there in the message. Just not on my phone....

 

[gene731]

anyone else feel this bug was sort of contagious? my friend had it and started texting me then it started happening to me also. might just be a chance occurance

Yes started seeing on Facebook in a few groups. People didn’t know what was happening then started last night on daughters iPhone and now on mine.

 

[Vanilla35]

I didn't really follow iOS10 last year but is it just me or has iOS11 been abnormally buggy?

Seems like weird bugs that have never been present before. Like just completely random things. I actually don't mind those things because the likelihood of them happening is rather low. I would rather they fix the hanging (dropped frames), and visual glitches, which happen daily.

 

[jweinraub]

Hinder many users? You mean people actually use that predictive bar? I turned that off so fast I find no use. Typing or having Siri type for me is far easier.

 

[MikhailT]

I could be crazy but I think this could be machine learning at work here and everyone's using it meant that it was pushed to the dictionary sooner (auto-correction improvements over the air), thus it is spreading. My guess is Apple never thought of having to manually remove them, thus OTA update is required?

I didn't really follow iOS10 last year but is it just me or has iOS11 been abnormally buggy?

No, that's always been the case, the first release is always buggy as heck. That's what we get for annual releases determined by the marketing team.