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Does iPhone’s Auto-Correct Feature bother you?

I love my iPhone. Yes, it does lack many of the features found in phones much cheaper phones in the market. But the UI and the design makes up for what is lacking in the phone. Whether you agree with me or not is a different discussion altogether.

The iPhone lacks a physical keypad and there have been countless discussions about the lack of the haptic feedback. How does one even type using the keyboard? Well, as long as what you’re typing is English, the iPhone’s auto-correct feature takes good care of your spelling mistakes. It will kick them far away, so much so that they don’t interfere in your typing.

But what about other languages? Apparently, the auto-correct feature of the iPhone is proving to be a mighty nuisance for users in non-English speaking countries. So annoyed are they with it, that an online petition drive has been initiated by a Swiss Web Design company. 

The Web Design Company from Switzerland, Fruahjahr, has a launched a site, http://please-let-us-disable-autocorrection-steve.com/ for users to sign the petition. Quite a cheesy name for the site, don’t you think?

The site claims that it is almost impossible to write an email or SMS in a language other than English, which is “really not Apple-like“. They want Apple to let the developers choose whether they want to use the feature with their applications or not.

At the time of writing this, over 14,000 users had signed the petition. The entries will be open until September 30, 2008 and will then be sent to Apple.

Although most of my conversations on my iPhone are in English, I will have to agree with the fact above. It’s really a pain when you need to type non-English words.

What is your view?

6 COMMENTS

  1. It's annoying enough in english they need to provide an option to turn the auto correct off and make it touch to correct or allow some way of adding words.

  2. It is definitely a nuisance.
    Vodafone Greece sells the iPhone, and the OS doesn't (yet?) have support for Greek.
    So Greeks are left with greeklish (greek in latin characters).
    Imagine what it is to write a text with the iPhone trying to correct every single word…

  3. I have seen a few apps which do have the option to switch the feature off. But I'm guessing there's no real way to do it using the SDK offered by Apple.

  4. I have seen a few apps which do have the option to switch the feature off. But I'm guessing there's no real way to do it using the SDK offered by Apple.

  5. I have seen a few apps which do have the option to switch the feature off. But I'm guessing there's no real way to do it using the SDK offered by Apple.

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