My iPhone won't let me write my name!

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Level 1

0 points

My iPhone won't let me write my name!

Hi, my name is Edam. No, it's Edan. You see, I'm posting this topic on my iPhone right now, and due to some word correction feature, whenever I type in my name, it suggests "Edam" instead. But that's when i try to write it the second time. The first time I type, it is literally impossible-- as in when I try to complete my name with 'n', it only let's me type 'b' or 'm' which is next to 'n' on the keyboard.

So can I add my name to the iPhone's vocabulary and correct this? Or does my iPhone just hate me?

iPhone 3g

Posted on Jul 18, 2008 9:33 PM

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Answer 1

roaminggnome

Level 10

106,401 points

Jul 18, 2008 9:36 PM in response to EdanD

When the box comes up to suggest a word, just hit the "x" next to the word - not the space bar. It will then let you finish your name. After a few time of this, it should "learn" the new word.

Hope this helps.

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Answer 2

EdanD Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 18, 2008 9:59 PM in response to roaminggnome

Thanks roaminggnome. I tried that and it partially helped, but I'm still encountering problems. This is what happens now: I write 'Eda' and when I go for the 'n', it will only let me type 'b' or 'm'. I then backspace the incorrect last letter and type 'n' at which time it suggests 'Edam'. I then must either ex-out the suggestion or press spacebar, go back and correct it a third and final time...
I shouldn't have this much difficulty writing my name.

Go ahead and try writing 'Edan' yourself on your iPhone. It seems almost impossible. Maybe the iphone developers are conspiring against me?

Message was edited by: EdanD

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Answer 3

w7ox

Level 4

2,407 points

Jul 18, 2008 10:04 PM in response to EdanD

EdanD wrote:

Go ahead and try writing 'Edan' yourself on your iPhone. It seems almost impossible. Maybe the iphone developers are conspiring against me?

Not that hard. I did it on my iPhone (original version) on the second try. Just do not hit the space bar. If you can't get it done, there's always a legal name change 🙂

The self correcting can be nice but also annoying. Every so often I send an email with a really weird word in it.

Phil

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Answer 4

EdanD Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 18, 2008 10:27 PM in response to w7ox

the suggest feature maybe I could deal with. But the preventing of letting me type the correct last letter of my name? This is more than word correction. It's typo- prevention. And it doesn't know that my name is not a typo.

Why would the iPhone prevent u from typing certain letters? Perhaps thats how they maintain higher typing accuracy, as those little letter buttons can be easy to miss by accident.

Message was edited by: EdanD

Message was edited by: EdanD

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Answer 5

gray_bry

Level 1

26 points

Jul 18, 2008 10:34 PM in response to EdanD

dude
i just tried to write Edan in my phone.
I put in E-d-a, then i tried to hit n. It put m instead so i thought i pressed the wrong key.
It wont let me press n. I can drag my finger around, and it will let me choose any letter other than n.
thats weird

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Answer 6

engstrom

Level 2

240 points

Jul 18, 2008 11:32 PM in response to gray_bry

Same thing here. I type "E" "d" "a" then press and hold "n" but "m" comes up. I drag my finger around all the letters and it'll select every letter except for "n". Very weird indeed!

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Answer 7

Jul 19, 2008 3:58 AM in response to gray_bry

That's weird. I can type the 'n' with no problems. But, my accuracy on the iPhone is almost as good as it is on my keyboard. I wonder if this is due to the fact that while I can touch-type without looking, I generally use my eyes to aim my fingers.

I wouldn't be surprised if the phone enlarged the targets around letters it expects to be common follow-ons in the language in question, but I think with precise enough movements you can hit the letter you want, even if its target is smaller.

~ Kiran <entropy@io.com>

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Answer 8

EdanD Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 19, 2008 6:17 AM in response to Kiran Wagle

I tried turning the iphone sideways where the leters on the keyboard are bigger. Still won't let me type 'n'. Kiran, is there a chance u r using a different version of the iPhone? I don't think it's a matter of aim.

Message was edited by: EdanD

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Answer 9

Jul 19, 2008 6:58 AM in response to EdanD

I think the iPhone sets a bias towards the 'm' because it thinks that is what you want to type. I just tried it out - I can hit 'n', but have to be far more accurate, otherwise it defaults to 'm'...

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Answer 10

EdanD Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 19, 2008 1:32 PM in response to EdanD

I thought I should post what my cousin had to say about it, he had some helpful ideas:

+"here's what happens with mine. i'm forced to type e d a m because it doesn't allow the n. but then the interesting thing is if i press m, it then wants to autocorrect "edam" to "edan" probably because I have you in my contacts. so if you add yourself to your contacts, maybe that could help.+

+the other thing i noticed is that i think the dictionary might learn over time. because I set up this thing where i would type in sms "bal rcheck" to get my account balance, and for a while it would want to autocorrect it to something else. But after awhile it stopped and now I just type in rch and it finishes the whole thing. So if you type edan a lot of times maybe it will learn the spelling.+

+maybe there's an app you can download to modify the dictionary or something+

+or if you're always typing your name at the end of emails you could go to mail preferences and set up an automatic signature"+

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Answer 11

tomeks

Level 1

0 points

Aug 22, 2008 7:38 AM in response to EdanD

The bottom line is; It should be posible to turn the blasted word correction off if you don't want to use it. It is beyond my imagination how the Apple developers were thinking here. Many small annoying things in iPhone that circumvent my freedom slowly make me regret that I bought this phone.

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Answer 12

jabecker

Level 1

140 points

Aug 22, 2008 8:04 AM in response to tomeks

I so agree! My son laughs at me constantly because I end up sending him totally garbled text messages because the phone thinks it knows better than I do what I'm trying to say.

Why isn't there an option to turn this off! It drives me nuts! Every other device I've had that uses predictive text allows the user to turn it off, and allows for new words to be entered.

To Edan: I tried typing your name, and it would only let me type "Edam" or "Edab." As hard as I tried, the letter "n" was unavailable. Strangely enough, when I typed "Edab," it changed it to "Edan." I give up.

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Answer 13

Aug 22, 2008 8:19 AM in response to EdanD

I thought you were a troll initially but I can confirm I can't type your name - lol.

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Answer 14

jcwacky

Level 1

10 points

Aug 22, 2008 8:37 AM in response to EdanD

I have just tried to force my phone to learn your name but because the correction happens on the keys before you actually type your name (which you can't) there does not appear to be a way to teach it "Edan". Apart from adding yourself to your address book. (Which I've done anyway as it syncs with my mac which has my own address card on it anyway).

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Answer 15

Aug 24, 2008 6:53 PM in response to EdanD

VERY weird. I can't type it either.

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