Apple Keyboard has a blacklist of phrases you can't swipe

An independent researcher, Derik Kauffman, found a hidden table in Apple’s operating system that blocks predictive text from completing more than 100,000 words and phrases. The restrictions affect both suggestions and swipe typing, sometimes causing intended phrases to turn into different words: “United Ireland,” for example, may become “United Iceland.” Users can still enter the blocked terms by typing them manually. Some exclusions are predictable, including references to drugs and sexual acts, as well as complaints such as “iMessage isn’t working.” Others are politically sensitive, including “Trayvon Martin,” “Kashmir dispute,” “Muslim extremist” and “male chauvinist pig.” The blocked phrases also vary by language: Hebrew users cannot swipe-type “the occupied territories,” while Arabic users cannot complete “the Hamas movement.”

The discovery reveals that Apple’s keyboard is shaped not only by statistical predictions but also by deliberate, hard-coded rules. Kauffman characterizes the politically charged exclusions as a mild form of censorship. Apple says the keyboard is designed to avoid inappropriate or offensive suggestions and that users can override its predictions. Predictive typing has evolved from simple spelling checks to systems that estimate likely next words; Apple introduced a transformer-based autocorrect system last year, bringing it closer to large language models. The blacklist offers a concrete explanation for some keyboard behavior, though other quirks remain unexplained, including a glitch that briefly displayed “Trump” when users dictated “racist.”