No ducking way: Apple may soon let your friends know when autocorrect makes a mistake

Posted:
in iPhone edited April 2016
Textual ambiguity may be a thing of the past if Apple adopts one of its newly-published patent applications, a system which will inform the person on the other end of the line when autocorrect has been at work.




The method disclosed within the patent is relatively simple: it highlights any words within a message which have been automatically corrected by the operating system. Apple currently does this only for the sender, and only in limited circumstances -- after using dictation, iOS will use a blue underline to point out any words it was unsure about.

The rest of the time, words are simply changed. Combined with the input speed of a QWERTY keyboard and fact that most people don't review their messages after typing but before hitting send, this has resulted in some hilarious miscommunications.

Apple's new invention would fix this by essentially extending the current post-dictation model.

Recipients would be able to see that words were changed, but they would not be able to see the original. Instead, Apple hopes it will prompt them to ask for a clarification: whether they were to meet at four o'clock or the much more delicious but temporally unsuitable fudge o'clock.

Apple credits Christopher J. Hynes with the invention of U.S. Patent Application No. 14/815,910.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 40
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    An annoyance I've been faced with in autocorrect is the mysterious replacement of words with completely incorrect spellings.
    jackansitallest skildysamoria
  • Reply 2 of 40
    No way..get the frack out of here!
  • Reply 3 of 40
    What a half-way attempt to solve a very persistent problem. Why not just allow time based editing of a sent message, like Skype does. Give the sender some small amount of time (15 seconds?) to edit/correct the text. How many times have any of us pressed send and then instantly seen a typo? Happens quite often. Just let us edit/correct it.
    icoco3
  • Reply 4 of 40
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    Not sure if this'll even by the final concept.
    looks annoying and "messy". I want my messages to look clean.
  • Reply 5 of 40
    coolfactorcoolfactor Posts: 2,338member
    I think that's a good step in the right direction. Post-send editing like Skype has would be amazing! As well as an easier way to improve the training. I can't believe how many incorrect spellings come up in the replacements. Not sure where the system is pulling those from. I quite often need to correct the auto-correct!
  • Reply 6 of 40
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,469member
    Let it fly, as is. Take the 15seconds to do it right the first time or live with it. Otherwise we have no fun segments on TV of Auto-Correct Misadventures. The patent is interesting, but an answer in search of a question.
    icoco3
  • Reply 7 of 40
    irelandireland Posts: 17,800member
    Interesting idea.

    —kind retards
    igorskygatorguydysamoria
  • Reply 8 of 40
    irelandireland Posts: 17,800member
    mackymoto said:
    What a half-way attempt to solve a very persistent problem. Why not just allow time based editing of a sent message, like Skype does. Give the sender some small amount of time (15 seconds?) to edit/correct the text. How many times have any of us pressed send and then instantly seen a typo? Happens quite often. Just let us edit/correct it.
    There's another way to fix those kinds of mistakes, it's called read before send.
    edited April 2016 baconstangpmzigorskyslprescottdysamoriajony0
  • Reply 9 of 40
    pscooter63pscooter63 Posts: 1,081member
    Years back, my then-HS-age daughter hacked her mom's iPhone dictionary to deliberately spit out hilarious/unintended phrases.  (It was cute for about five minutes, then easily rectified.)
    dysamoria
  • Reply 10 of 40
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    mackymoto said:
    What a half-way attempt to solve a very persistent problem. Why not just allow time based editing of a sent message, like Skype does. Give the sender some small amount of time (15 seconds?) to edit/correct the text. How many times have any of us pressed send and then instantly seen a typo? Happens quite often. Just let us edit/correct it.
    Technology making lazy people even lazier. How about proofreading before sending?
    igorskyai46dysamoria
  • Reply 11 of 40
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,650member
    An annoyance I've been faced with in autocorrect is the mysterious replacement of words with completely incorrect spellings.
    One of the most appropriate auto-corrects I've seen lately and quite funny: Typing "lardass" was correcting to Kardashian. :)
    cnocbuidysamoria
  • Reply 12 of 40
    igorskyigorsky Posts: 774member
    ireland said:
    Interesting idea.

    —kind retards
    Well played!
    gatorguyireland
  • Reply 13 of 40
    igorskyigorsky Posts: 774member
    mackymoto said:
    What a half-way attempt to solve a very persistent problem. Why not just allow time based editing of a sent message, like Skype does. Give the sender some small amount of time (15 seconds?) to edit/correct the text. How many times have any of us pressed send and then instantly seen a typo? Happens quite often. Just let us edit/correct it.
    You're assuming they're not working on it.
    edited April 2016
  • Reply 14 of 40
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    This bug doesn't seem logical.

    If auto-correct is doing its job, I don't want every auto-corrected word underlined in the message I send. This defeats the purpose of auto-correct.

    Why not just do what dictation already does and underline it solely for ME, so that I can easily identify it before sending, and then have 1-tap access to changing any of the corrections.
    tallest skil
  • Reply 15 of 40
    Good feature, but doesn't seem large enough to be patent-worthy. A simple convenience.
  • Reply 16 of 40
    Years back, my then-HS-age daughter hacked her mom's iPhone dictionary to deliberately spit out hilarious/unintended phrases.  (It was cute for about five minutes, then easily rectified.)
    The fact that the iPhone has been around long enough that we can say "Years back" is kind of scary and humbling. 
    manfrommars
  • Reply 17 of 40

    Good feature, but doesn't seem large enough to be patent-worthy. A simple convenience.
    The problem is if Apple doesn't attempt to patient everything they may or may not put in a product, somebody will patent a thing called a "drunk text descrambler" that may sound more novel than this and then sue Apple for infringing on key elements of their patent. 
    dysamoria
  • Reply 18 of 40
    I want autocorrect turned off completely. I use a lot of specialized words and jargon. I'm sick of having to constantly argue with a stupid machine over the correct spelling of a word.

    Besides, autocorrect does not fix the most egregious spelling errors such as confusing 'loose' with 'lose,' 'cite' with 'site,' or 'hangar' with 'hanger.' In fact, it is likely to make those errors. As far as I am concerned, autocorrect is a complete and utter failure and any attempts to fix it will just make things even worse.
  • Reply 19 of 40
    Duck autocorrect. Duck it strait too he'll.
    edited April 2016 slprescottdysamoria
  • Reply 20 of 40
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    gatorguy said:
    An annoyance I've been faced with in autocorrect is the mysterious replacement of words with completely incorrect spellings.
    One of the most appropriate auto-corrects I've seen lately and quite funny: Typing "lardass" was correcting to Kardashian. :)
    I still like one I noticed a few years ago. My phone (and every other I've tried) attempts to replace "Donner" with "dinner". I kind of wonder if it was an attempt at some really dark humor, given the Donner party.
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