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Independent researcher Derik Kauffman found a list encoded in Apple’s operating system that restricts more than 100,000 words and phrases from predictive text. Apple says its keyboard is designed to avoid inappropriate or offensive suggestions; users can still type the words themselves. The list includes drug and sexual terms as well as politically sensitive phrases, though Apple has not explained the individual entries.
Independent researcher Derik Kauffman found a list encoded in Apple’s operating system that restricts more than 100,000 words and phrases from being completed by iPhone predictive text. The list can affect swipe typing as well as suggestions, making some terms harder to enter even though Apple says users can type them manually.
The list, described in a report by The Guardian, contains both clearly sensitive material and phrases with political or social significance. It includes references to drugs and sexual acts, along with entries such as “Dictator Trump,” “Trayvon Martin,” “Kashmir dispute” and “male chauvinist pig.” The report also identified language-specific entries: in Hebrew, “the occupied territories,” and in Arabic, “the Hamas movement.”
Kauffman said he noticed that certain phrases were difficult to enter on his iPhone while others were not, then found a table within Apple’s software. When a restricted phrase is swiped across the keyboard, the phone may fail to recognize it or substitute a different word. The report gives “United Ireland” changing to “United Iceland” and “Tibetan independence” becoming “Tibetan independences” as examples.
Apple said its keyboard is designed to avoid offering inappropriate or offensive predictive suggestions. The company also said users can type specific words and phrases themselves and override predictive text to express what they intend. The list affects what the keyboard offers; the source report does not say that it prevents users from sending those terms.
How the List Shapes Typing
Predictive text can influence what people type by suggesting likely words or by making swipe typing work smoothly. A restriction that changes which terms are suggested can affect a user’s experience even when manual entry remains available. It may be noticeable when someone is typing names, political phrases or unfamiliar terms with one continuous finger gesture.
The entries raise questions about how companies set boundaries for automated language tools. Apple says its aim is to avoid inappropriate or offensive suggestions, while the reported list includes phrases whose meaning can depend on context. The discovery identifies one mechanism behind the keyboard’s behavior, but does not establish why any particular phrase was included or how often users encounter the restriction.
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Inside Apple’s Predictive Keyboard
Spellchecking and predictive typing have changed over time. Early systems compared typed words against dictionaries; later approaches used patterns in surrounding words to predict likely text. Apple’s keyboard has also changed: the report says the company introduced a transformer-based autocorrect system last year, a type of language model that predicts text from context.
That newer system attracted attention after iPhone users discussed unexpected spelling suggestions online, according to the report. The newly identified list points to a separate, hard-coded component that can restrict particular words or phrases. It does not explain every autocorrect error or prediction. The report also recalls a brief dictation glitch in which “Trump” appeared onscreen after users spoke the word “racist”; Apple quickly fixed that issue, the report says.
“A “light-touch form of censorship.””
— Derik Kauffman, as quoted by Reuters
What Apple Has Not Explained
Apple has not provided an explanation for why individual entries appear, how the list was assembled, or whether all entries are treated in the same way across devices and languages. The report describes the list as containing more than 100,000 words and phrases, but does not provide a full public account of its contents or the rules used to add and remove terms.
It is also unclear how often a restricted entry causes a failed swipe or an unwanted substitution, and whether the list changes through software updates. The discovery does not show that Apple blocks users from communicating the phrases: Apple says they can be typed manually. Kauffman’s characterization of the list as censorship is his interpretation of its effect, rather than a stated company policy.
Whether Apple Clarifies the List
The next questions are whether Apple will explain the criteria behind the list and whether it will clarify how the restrictions work across languages and keyboard features. Until the company provides further detail, the reported list is a snapshot of one part of its predictive-text system, not a complete account of how every suggestion is generated.
Users who want to enter a particular term can type it manually and override a suggestion, according to Apple. The report does not identify a promised Apple update or timeline for changes to the list.
Key Questions
What did the researcher find?
Derik Kauffman found a table encoded in Apple’s operating system containing more than 100,000 words and phrases restricted from predictive-text completion, according to The Guardian’s report.
Does the list stop iPhone users from typing the words?
No such block is described in the report. Apple said users can type the words manually and override predictive-text suggestions.
What kinds of phrases are included?
The reported entries include drug and sexual terms, as well as politically or socially charged phrases such as “Trayvon Martin” and “Kashmir dispute.” The list also contains entries in Hebrew and Arabic.
Why does Apple restrict these suggestions?
Apple said its keyboard is designed to avoid offering inappropriate or offensive suggestions. The company has not, in the source material, explained why particular entries were included.
Source: theguardian.com
