Researchers found tens of thousands of words and phrases that the iPhone keyboard never suggests, and some swipe-typed phrases get changed to something else.
Apple's iPhone keyboard has a hidden list of tens of thousands of words and phrases it will not suggest. You can still type them by hand. But autocomplete and swipe typing skip them, and in some tests swiping a phrase produced a different phrase entirely.
Independent researcher Derik Kauffman detailed the list, which sits inside the system itself. Most entries are what you would expect: violence, drugs and overtly sexual themes. Apple told Reuters only that the keyboard is designed to avoid suggesting words that could be offensive or inappropriate. Kauffman says every major language the keyboard supports has its own version of the list. Apple has never disclosed it publicly.
Some entries are political, and not tied to one country. Reported examples include:
Reuters tested some of these. Swipe-typing "Tibetan independence" often became "Tibetan independences," and "United Ireland" became "United Iceland." Swiping "white man" gave "white mean," while "red man" and "blue man" went through fine.
Kauffman first suspected a list when he swipe-typed phrases like "bad boy" and "white man." He then used AI coding tools, OpenAI's Codex and Anthropic's Claude Code, to dig into iOS. That turned up thousands of words and phrases. Users have also reported scattered cases over the years of the keyboard refusing to go along with a word they typed.
Apple has not explained why specific entries are on the list or how it decides what goes there. It has not said whether the list will change. David Greene, a lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told Reuters part of him found the list "creepy." He also said he could see the case for curbing inflammatory suggestions.
If your iPhone keeps turning a word into something odd, especially when swipe typing, this list may be the reason, not a typo. Reread messages and emails before sending them, particularly when the topic is political or sensitive.
If the iPhone keyboard swaps in a strange word while you swipe-type, reread the message before you send it.
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