iOS Keyboard Doesn't Suggest More Than 100,000 Words and Phrases

    Researcher Derik Kauffman has discovered more than 100,000 words and phrases blocked from the iOS keyboard's autocomplete and swipe-typing features. The list covers all major languages. The system does not display these words and phrases as suggestions, but users can still type them by entering each letter individually.    The restriction is more apparent when using swipe typing. This method allows users to type a word by moving a finger across the letters without lifting it from the screen. For example, when entering the phrase “left wing conspiracy,” the keyboard may change it to “left wrong conspiracy.” The phrase can be entered by typing the letters normally.    Most of the list consists of insults, profanity, sexual content, drugs and other sensitive topics. Political phrases such as “illegal immigrant,” “dictator Trump,” “sleepy Joe,” “covid was a hoax” and “left wing conspiracy” are also included. More harmless sentences such as “Santa isn’t real” and “iMessage isn’t working” are blocked as well.    Kauffman also found inconsistencies among the selections. For example, while “bad girl” is blocked, “bad boy” is not subject to the same restriction. The researcher uncovered the list with the help of OpenAI Codex and Anthropic Claude Code. The data was stored in a special table within iOS in which the words were encoded and was later converted back into text.    Another researcher independently obtained the same list. According to Apple, the keyboard is designed this way to avoid displaying suggestions that may be inappropriate or offensive. Nevertheless, iPhone users can manually type any text they want and override the keyboard's suggestion. In other words, the list does not completely prohibit those words from being typed.