July 5, 2018
We’ve all had the experience where we’re writing out an important text to our friends, mom or coworker and suddenly you look back at what was sent and realize one of the words was autocorrected to something completely different, often changing the whole meaning. Videos and photos of some of the funniest and most common autocorrect mistakes fill the internet. While many of these auto corrections make for a good laugh, it can easily become an annoyance.
According to a recent U.S. Cellular survey1, texting is the preferred form of communication, with 75 percent of those surveyed texting daily. With so many texts being sent daily, it’s no wonder there are countless autocorrect mistakes going viral on the internet.
“It’s a mistake that happens to everyone, and while a lot of times it does warrant a laugh, it can also be annoying,” said Nathan Waddell, U.S. Cellular’s director of sales for Tennessee. “A lot of people don’t know that you can prevent this common occurrence and put a stop to embarrassing autocorrects. These solutions are simple enough to do at home, but you can also visit a nearby U.S. Cellular store for assistance.”
U.S. Cellular suggests the following tips to prevent autocorrections:
- Turn off autocorrect. Yes, it’s as simple as that. In iOS, you can easily disable autocorrect by going to Settings, General, Keyboard and then toggle the Auto-Correct to off, and in Android, go to Settings, Language and Input, choose your keyboard, and change the Smart Typing options you choose, thus allowing you to send important texts stress-free.
- Reset your keyboard dictionary. Your phone is constantly gathering information about what you write, so those few times when you were excited to message your friend and wrote her name in all caps, it stored that. To reboot your iPhone keyboard’s dictionary and put an end to the all-caps-catastrophe, go to Settings, General, Reset and then Reset Keyboard Dictionary and in Android, go to Settings, Language and Input, choose your keyboard and then Reset to Default Settings. Your phone will now be good as new—literally.
- Turn off predictive text. What can sometimes be considered a helpful feature when used correctly, predictive text can also backfire. Mistakes are made when predictive text uses incorrect data to anticipate the subsequent words. To turn off this feature in iOS, simply open the message app, press and hold the Keyboard button and toggle off the predictive option. For Android smartphones, go to Settings, Language and Input, choose your keyboard and toggle off Predictive Text.
¹ Between Nov. 8-17, 2017, a total of 706 online interviews were conducted among a nationally representative sample by Consumer Insights, in partnership with Maritz CX.
About U.S. Cellular
U.S. Cellular is the fifth-largest full-service wireless carrier in the United States, providing national network coverage and industry-leading innovations designed to elevate the customer experience. The Chicago-based carrier offers coverage where the other carriers don’t and a wide range of communication services that enhance consumers’ lives, increase the competitiveness of local businesses and improve the efficiency of government operations. For the fourth time in a row, U.S. Cellular has the Highest Wireless Network Quality Performance, according to J.D. Power’s twice-annual U.S. Wireless Network Quality Performance Study, and 99 percent of customers have access to 4G LTE speeds. To learn more about U.S. Cellular, visit one of its retail stores or www.uscellular.com. To get the latest news, promos and videos, connect with U.S. Cellular on Facebook.com/uscellular, Twitter.com/uscellular and YouTube.com/uscellularcorp.
