Inside iOS 10: Multilingual typing eases autocorrect woes
One subtly important improvement in iOS 10 is support for multilingual typing, letting people use several languages in the same sentence without unwanted autocorrections.
To make the option work, users should make sure desired languages are enabled in iOS 10's new Dictionary menu under Settings, then add the correct keyboards under General > Keyboards. Once this is done, Apple's QuickType should both accept multiple languages and offer appropriate word suggestions.
In iOS 9, the only way to switch between languages on the fly is manually selecting them in the same way you'd switch to emoji. Aside from being inconvenient, it also ignores the fact that even monolingual typists will sometimes use expressions from other languages.
QuickType's other main upgrade in iOS 10 is "Siri intelligence," used to make contextual suggestions that go beyond single words. Someone asking "Where are you?" in Messages, for example, will prompt iOS to offer up your current location.
iOS 10 is already out as a developer beta, which will be followed by a cleaner public beta in July. The software's final release date is sometime this fall, most likely in September in advance of new iPhones.
To make the option work, users should make sure desired languages are enabled in iOS 10's new Dictionary menu under Settings, then add the correct keyboards under General > Keyboards. Once this is done, Apple's QuickType should both accept multiple languages and offer appropriate word suggestions.
In iOS 9, the only way to switch between languages on the fly is manually selecting them in the same way you'd switch to emoji. Aside from being inconvenient, it also ignores the fact that even monolingual typists will sometimes use expressions from other languages.
QuickType's other main upgrade in iOS 10 is "Siri intelligence," used to make contextual suggestions that go beyond single words. Someone asking "Where are you?" in Messages, for example, will prompt iOS to offer up your current location.
iOS 10 is already out as a developer beta, which will be followed by a cleaner public beta in July. The software's final release date is sometime this fall, most likely in September in advance of new iPhones.
Comments
i wrote to Apple, giving them feedback about making this exact feature. I wonder if they took that idea to heart or if they'd already had it in the works.
Either way. Fuck yeah. This will be so helpful between English and Spanish. I use both super often. Often times I'll start typing without noticing I'm in the wrong language until I'm a sentence and a half in.
It's pretty significant for me; more so than the iMessage stuff and fluff.
Dear AppleInsider editors: Ok, we get it. iOS 10 is coming in the fall, public beta in July. Can you please stop mentioning this as the last paragraph of every iOS 10 article? Who doesn't know this by now? It's been Apple's pattern for years and years (particularly the final fall release). As surely as the sun rises in the east and the sky is blue. Enough already.
I have American English and Spanish (Spain) keyboards, and I have American English, Apple Dictionary, and Spanish-English dictionaries downloaded in the manage screen for dictionary.
I've never been able to multi language type. What do you mean "setting that needs to be set to activate multilingual typing is the dictionary"?
I thought maybe he meant that within iOS 10 Public Beta, you don't have to turn on some setting other than selecting the dictionary languages you want to use with multi-lingual autocorrect. Or that in iOS 9 all you had to do was turn on different dictionaries. I was like "oh really?! How did I miss that?"
But multilingual typing and long pressing for special characters are two different things. He thinks they're the same thing, so he's confused and then confused me.
I don't see the benefit of having access to special characters more quickly? In Spanish, for example, the autocorrect puts the special characters where they need to be. I don't have to long press to get any of them, it's done automatically.
Multilingual typing is talking about autocorrect that works with 2 (or more?) languages seamlessly, without needing to press the "world icon" next to the microphone and switch between languages in order to detect and correct your language. This is announced to be coming in iOS 10, and not available in iOS 9. CheeriosBandit alluded to it being available in iOS 9 today. He never responded to my question, but I think I figured it out eventually.
In any case, can't blame them for supporting the most widespread languages first - I switch between English and German constantly, and am so happy with this feature.
What language(s) are you using that aren't supported yet?