By Basant El-Faramawy
Apple's iOS keyboard contains an undisclosed multilingual gray list of tens of thousands of words and phrases that are not suggested via autocomplete or swipe-typing, according to independent researcher Derik Kauffman.
Researcher Discovers Hidden List
Kauffman, who works independently, discovered the list recently and said Apple has never made it public. The list is not a ban; iPhone users can still type any words manually. However, in most cases the words on the list will not be suggested to users via autocomplete or swipe-typing, revealing how Apple manages the tradeoff between preventing offensive or politically charged suggestions and anticipating user intent.
Political and Sensitive Terms Flagged
According to Kauffman, the flagged words and phrases are overwhelmingly vulgar, offensive, or related to drugs, sex, or violence. But other phrases are politically salient, such as "dictator Trump" and "sleepy Joe." Other excluded phrases include "right wing conspiracy," "Tibetan independence," and "United Ireland."
Inconsistent Application Across Languages
Non-English languages have different flagged words or phrases. In Hindi, the keyboard does not allow swipe-typing "Modi braggart" or "Rahul is Pappu," digs at India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his leading opponent, Rahul Gandhi. French speakers cannot swipe-type the phrase "immigration too high," and Hebrew speakers cannot swipe-type "occupied territories." Kauffman said every major language has some version of this list.
Apple Responds
In an email, Apple did not comment directly on Kauffman's findings, including the size or composition of its list, or its reasons for flagging certain political terms. It said that iPhone users always have the option to type specific words or phrases and can always override any predictive text suggestions. Apple said its keyboard is set up to avoid offering suggestions that might be inappropriate or offensive.
Experts Weigh In
Matt Suiche, an engineer at cybersecurity company Tolmo, said he independently recovered the same gray list and cross-referenced Kauffman's findings against Apple's internal data, getting a near-perfect match. David Greene, senior counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the word list is "creepy" but could be seen as a useful way to curb unwanted or inflammatory suggestions. He added that if Apple is going to do it, users should be well aware and have some ability to customize, and that this should not be secret.
