Why is Apple autocomplete/-correct so bad in Non-English languages?

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mcw_1111 Author

Level 1

8 points

Why is Apple autocomplete/-correct so bad in Non-English languages?

I am unfortunately doomed to speak in different languages, I.e. German, French, Spanish, besides English.

i have all 4 keyboards and switching works usually fine. However autocomplete does not.

Autocomplete seems to have problems with

special characters like ä, ü, ö
problems with combined words
problems with capital vs small

in all the non English languages. It’s not a dealbreaker, but somehow it feels a bit odd and makes me think if Apple should invest more in their autocorrect function for other non English/Latin character languages. Or are there any particular SETTINGS such that non-English languages work correctly?

iPad Pro, iPadOS 14

Posted on Jun 1, 2021 5:54 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

ProustGiulio

Level 10

208,584 points

Jun 1, 2021 6:15 AM in response to mcw_1111

You're not addressing Apple here, but you can let Apple know your comments/suggestions directly, using this link:--> https://www.apple.com/feedback/

Thanks and regards

Giulio

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Answer 2

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

118,358 points

Jun 1, 2021 7:35 AM in response to mcw_1111

Do you also have the dictionaries for your languages active in settings > general > dictionary?

Regarding special characters, can you elaborate on the problem? Are you expecting autocorrect to add diacritics when you leave them off?

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Answer 3

mcw_1111 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 2, 2021 6:29 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

Are these dictionaries not activated automatically when the keyboard is installed?

but no worries, yes I have :)

Are you familiar with German? In German you get ä, ö. So when I type words which require those, it doesn’t use them. The same is true for composite words.

zb: Arger should be Ärger. Ûber should be Über. Geistesgestort should be Geistesgestört, etc.

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Answer 4

mcw_1111 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 2, 2021 6:35 AM in response to ProustGiulio

Thanks for the advise.

HoweverI think it’s better to discuss such problems in public, isn’t it? Because in this way either a solution exist, or at least others are warned of the Problem, Apple has with non Latin characters. And English still works fine.

though I have the feeling that a lot of the fast responding pseudo-experts are mainly here to collect points, because in 90% the solutions are useless. Am I right?

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Answer 5

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

118,358 points

Jun 2, 2021 7:44 AM in response to mcw_1111

mcw_1111 wrote:

in 90% the solutions are useless.

I don't think points are an important factor for most participants in the forum. Unfortunately many problems with iOS devices have no solution other than asking Apple to fix it, because there is so little which is customizable by users. MacOS is much better In that regard.

I think I have seen other complaints that Apple's autocorrect is worse at adding missing diacritics than at correcting other kinds of misspelling.

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Why is Apple autocomplete/-correct so bad in Non-English languages?

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