# Keyboard app that won't predict text with spelling errors? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2020, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370 "2020-11-11T22:50:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/1 "2020-11-11T22:50:33Z")
I use SwiftKey on Android and I prefer a swipe-style keyboard app. The problem is the predictive text feature has taken to giving me incorrectly spelled words. For example I have always struggled to spell license correctly, and my keyboard app will predict the incorrect spelling lisence, making me think that’s the correct way to spell it. Then I post it and look dumb. I don’t understand why this is happening, but my spelling is not good enough to endure it. Maybe it’s cataloging all my spelling errors that came before and pulling those up as options. Make it stop. 😩 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/2 "2020-11-11T23:38:57Z")
That sucks. But not as much as my Fire tablet replacing perfectly spelled words with gibberish…with autocorrect allegedly turned off. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/3 "2020-11-11T23:39:59Z")
Go into Android setup. Search for keyboard Press Spell Checker there’s an option to turn it off You can also delete saved words from your personal dictionary. Press personal dictionary and see if anything is saved. It can be very frustrating to accidentally save a misspelled word. You can change the keyboard on that screen. I use GBoard. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/4 "2020-11-12T02:17:26Z")
And then, there’s this thing called “proofreading.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/5 "2020-11-12T18:28:49Z")
The only way that makes any sense to me is if the misspelling has somehow gotten into your user dictionary, or your options are set for, say, UK spellings (if you meant licence, not lisence. I dont know SwiftKey, but I’m sure the options are in your input settings. If that’s not it, I guess you could just try Google’s Gboard. I’ve never had the problem you describe, and it does have a swipe-to-type option. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/6 "2020-11-12T18:32:38Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > And then, there’s this thing called “proofreading.” Proofreading only works if you know how to spell the word. Incidentally, my posts are suddenly showing up with spell check, so there’s something. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/7 "2020-11-12T22:30:54Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Proofreading only works if you know how to spell the word. Oh yeah. There’s this other thing called a “dictionary.” ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/8 "2020-11-13T00:16:22Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Oh yeah. There’s this other thing called a “dictionary.” So you refer to a dictionary when composing texts on a phone? That’s cute. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/9 "2020-11-13T01:33:43Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > So you refer to a dictionary when composing texts on a phone? That’s cute. I guess I’m confused. In your OP, you seemed to be concerned that you might “look dumb.” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/10 "2020-11-13T02:02:09Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > So you refer to a dictionary when composing texts on a phone? That’s cute. On my iOS device, if I select a word, I get a menu pop-up bar above it that includes such items as “cut”, “paste”, “replace”, etc. One of the items is “look up”, which looks for the word in some online dictionary. If the word is misspelled, it will typically not find it, or it may find the correctly spelled word, which I can see is not what 8 typed. Also, that “replace” function can be handy if one has doubts. Of course, this is iOS, I am not sure what andy does. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/11 "2020-11-13T02:10:30Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > I guess I’m confused. In your OP, you seemed to be concerned that you might “look dumb.” It’s not my OP. Maybe I got confused myself, but I thought you were referring to a physical, dead tree dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/13 "2020-11-13T03:03:32Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > I guess I’m confused. In your OP, you seemed to be concerned that you might “look dumb.” I’m confused as to why you’re being so rude in such a banal thread. Did the “look dumb” thing really rub you the wrong way? I’m sorry, I don’t actually think people who struggle with spelling are dumb. But some people will pounce like a rabid raccoon if you slip up, and I’d rather not. Up until this point my workaround has been to leave this site, open a new window and Google search the word, which is of course much less efficient than correcting errors as I type. So yes, I’ve been consulting a dictionary which is a pain in the ass. I switched to Gboards, didn’t love it and switched back to SwiftKey, and now, for some reason, I have a spell checker. So, that’s cool. Thanks for your helpful suggestions! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/14 "2020-11-13T03:20:48Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > On my iOS device, if I select a word, I get a menu pop-up bar above it that includes such items as “cut”, “paste”, “replace”, etc. One of the items is “look up”, which looks for the word in some online dictionary. If the word is misspelled, it will typically not find it, or it may find the correctly spelled word, which I can see is not what 8 typed. Also, that “replace” function can be handy if one has doubts. I tested this out and there’s a “define” option for correctly spelled words, but when I input an incorrectly spelled word, the only option I get is “translate.” At least with the spell checker, it will underline the word in red, and I get a fighting chance trying to figure out what I did wrong. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/15 "2020-11-13T14:55:13Z")
Here’s how I remember to spell “license”. The letter C comes before S in the alphabet, so it comes first in the word license. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![shawnpdx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@shawnpdx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shawnpdx)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/16 "2020-11-13T15:17:47Z")
I also use Swiftkey for Android, so much better than the keyboard that comes with the phone. If it is predicting misspelled words, it’s likely that those have been added to your personal dictionary. The easiest way to stop Swiftkey from predicting those misspelled words is to: press and hold on the prediction that is incorrect, a window will pop up asking if you want to ‘Remove that prediction’ and not suggest that spelling in the future, select ‘Ok’ and it will be removed from your personal dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keyboard-app-that-wont-predict-text-with-spelling-errors/925370/17 "2020-11-13T15:19:28Z")
Thanks! I had no idea you could do that!