Technologies

iOS 17 Finally Lets You Type What You Ducking Mean on Your iPhone

Your iPhone keyboard can learn curse words now. Nice.

If you’re tired of your iPhone keyboard always autocorrecting your swear words, you’re going to love this new feature. At WWDC 2023 on Monday, Apple announced iOS 17 and unveiled an improved and more sophisticated autocorrect feature — which makes cussing so much easier.

Don’t miss: Everything announced at WWDC 2023

«And in those moments where you just want to type a ducking word, well, the keyboard will learn it too,» said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior VP of Software Engineering, during today’s WWDC keynote.

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Watch this: Apple Reveals iOS 17

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The iPhone’s keyboard on iOS 17 leverages a transformer model, which OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT) uses in their own language models, to learn from what you type on your keyboard to better predict what you might say next, whether it’s a name, phrase or curse word.

If you’re not happy with a correction, you can tap the underlined word to see what you originally typed and quickly go back to it.

More from WWDC 2023

At Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, the tech company showcases its latest software and hardware developments. At WWDC 2023 this week, Apple used its annual showcase to not only unveil iOS 17 but also show off the long-awaited Reality Pro headset, a 15-inch MacBook Air, MacOS Sonoma and WatchOS 10.

iOS 17 is expected to be available as a public beta sometime in July, with the general release to come out in September alongside the rumored iPhone 15 series. Not sure if you can download iOS 17? Check out all the compatible iPhone models here. And if you want to download iOS 17 right now, here’s how.

Looking to upgrade to iOS 17 but don’t have a compatible device? Check out the best iPhone you can buy in 2023. And here are the best MacBook deals.

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Apple’s New Smart Home Display Delayed Until Fall Over Siri Issues

It has been nearly a year and a half since the company announced the AI-powered product.

Your home could get smarter with Apple’s Siri, but it will have to wait a few more months. Bloomberg reported the iPad-shaped AI home hub won’t be ready until September, several months after the company was hoping to launch it this spring. Apple engineers first need to complete work on a new and improved Siri assistant for the home device, code-named J490, according to Bloomberg.

Apple was hoping to release J490 this month, along with a slew of other new devices, including the iPhone 17e, MacBook Neo, MacBook Air M5, new Pro models, and iPad Air M4. Apple first teased the smart home display in November 2024.

A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Siri is Apple’s virtual assistant that uses voice recognition and AI to fulfill a variety of tasks and commands, along with intriguing uses. You might use Siri to find your iPhone — «Hey Siri, where are you?» — or to hear the weather forecast — «Siri, what will the weather be today?» Siri is available on iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. It was launched in 2011 as a feature of the iPhone 4S.

As CNET reported last month, Apple engineers have struggled to push the upgraded Siri assistant out the door. It isn’t fast enough, gets confused by complex commands and doesn’t interact well with other Apple AI models. The company is also wrestling with how much personal data to access to inform the AI, and the new Siri is not yet able to complete in-app tasks, such as finding a photo and posting it to socials, all with one command.

It has been nearly two years since Apple announced that it would give Siri a major upgrade. In the meantime, competitors like Alexa Plus and Gemini for Home have entered the marketplace.

Tech tester Jon Rettinger, whose YouTube channel has 1.66 million subscribers, says the repeated delays in upgrading Siri can «erode» confidence in Apple’s ability to keep up in the AI race.

«Apple as a whole is still one of the strongest companies on the planet. But their AI play is clearly the weakest link in an otherwise very strong chain,» Rettinger told CNET.

Rettinger said he has had issues getting Siri to complete basic commands, such as setting two alarms at the same time, and that it’s a bit of «a mess» right now.

«Having said that, the iPhone has such massive market penetration that I’m not sure it will actually matter in the end. Which is kind of wild when you think about it,» Rettinger said.

Facial recognition for residents

The hardware for the forthcoming smart home display has already been finished. It resembles an iPad and can be either attached to a wall or rest on a half-domed-shaped base, the Bloomberg report said.

The device will be equipped with facial recognition, so when residents walk up to it, they will be shown personalized data such as music preferences, news headlines, appointments, reminders, tasks and so on.

The screen interface will include a bunch of circular app icons, similar to the display on an Apple Watch. The Bloomberg report said the smart home display will be the first of several home devices by Apple. Future products include a tabletop robotic limb with a 9-inch screen, a smart security camera and a Face ID-enabled smart doorbell.