How often do you really need to use a lone "i" anyway?
Anthony KarczApple released an official workaround earlier this week, but if you don't feel like hobbling your ability to type a capital "i" and the autocorrect issue is driving you insane, I’ve got a couple of quick solutions.
Download A Third Party Keyboard
The quickest fix is to load up a third-party keyboard and wait it out till Apple releases a fix (maybe this week?). Third-party keyboards don't use Apple's autocorrect algorithm, and are therefore unaffected by the bug.
Gboard by Google is still my iOS keyboard of choice. Their implementation of swipe is unerringly accurate, plus there’s built in GIFs, Google search, and contextual information automatically provided on places and things you type. The bonus is that, if you have the Google app on your iPhone, you already have their keyboard installed. Just go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add a Keyboard to enable it.
But can it fix your complete lack of punctuation? Your poor word choice? Is it smart enough to pull apart your mashed-together words to improve the readability of your texts and comments? Keep reading to find out what keyboard can do that all for you.
Grammarly does not appreciate the song stylings of Gilbert and Sullivan
Anthony KarczIf you're constantly re-writing texts or find yourself having to go back and edit social media posts, the new Grammarly keyboard for iOS might be exactly what you need.
While it's not foolproof, it does a solid job of suggesting correct words as you type and auto-correcting major misspellings. Clicking the G icon will cycle through all the issues that Grammarly has found in the current text field you're typing in. Handy for a quick double-check before you click Send.
It doesn't have swipe-support, which is hard to get used to once you've transitioned to swiping-to-type, but it's a small price to pay for text responses that don't make the recipients want to tear their hair out.
There are dozens of solid third-party keyboards in the App store. Take a quick spin and download one that catches your eye. You might discover that you don't need the default Apple keyboard at all!
If you're willing to take a walk on the slightly less stable side...
Anthony KarczBe A Beta Tester
Why am I so certain that Apple will fix the keyboard issue soon? Because it's already fixed on my iPhone X. No, I don't get special treatment because I'm on the flagship device, I have the iOS 11.2 Public Beta installed.
While beta testing an operating system is always a gamble (bad things can, and do, happen), you also get access to fixes before the general public. Chances are, by the time news hits about an issue, the developers behind the software are already aware and coming up with solutions.
Plus, it's fun to see what makes it through the crucible of beta testing and what surprises are coming. Just make sure you have a backup to revert back to in case you brick your iPhone!
For fun, add one of these for all of your capital letters...to your least favorite person's phone.
Anthony KarczHave Autocorrect Defeat Itself
If you want to be really sneaky, you can create an Autocomplete entry so that every time you enter "i" the Apple keyboard replaces it with...well…"i." This is also Apple's official workaround, so if you're not inclined to jump to a new keyboard or switch to the beta, this will be your best solution until the problem is fixed in a future iOS 11.1 patch.
- Open your Settings app and select General > Keyboard > Text Replacement.
- Click the plus icon to add a new entry.
- For Phrase, enter an upper-case "I" then enter a lower-case "i" in the Shortcut field.
- Click Save to add the fix to the list.
This will make it a bit more annoying to type "I" on its own (at least, for those of us who twitch whenever we see grammar issues), but it's better than your texts looking like glitchy messes until Apple releases their fix.
Just make sure you delete the Text Replacement when you're done with it, for the sake of the Grammar Gods.
