iOS 17: What's New With Autocorrect, Dictation and the Keyboard

Apple in iOS 17 introduced a range of small features and tweaks that make using the iPhone a better, and more intuitive experience. There are minor but notable changes to the keyboard, which is a key part of the operating system.

iOS 17 General Keyboard Feature
This guide highlights everything new with the keyboard and keyboard-related features.

Autocorrect

The machine learning technology that Apple is using for autocorrect has been improved in iOS 17. Apple says it has adopted a "transformer language model," that will better personalize autocorrect to each user. It is able to learn your personal preferences and word choices to be more useful to you.

iOS 17 Autocorrect Feature
After using iOS 17 for a few weeks, most users will notice that the autocorrect suggestions are much better at predicting what you want to say and presenting words for you to tap to autofill. When you use acronyms, shortened words, slang words, and colloquialisms, autocorrect is not as aggressive with the automatic correcting, but it is still able to correct accidental typos.

On stage, Apple's Craig Federighi humorously said that the ‌iPhone‌ would no longer swap in "ducking" for a certain swear word that you actually meant to type. The new engine still makes mistakes, but most users should find that it is improved compared to iOS 16.

Correcting Autocorrect

When autocorrect changes a word, there is now a blue line underneath the corrected word that you can tap. Tapping the blue line shows the original word that you typed, and you can tap it to choose that instead. If there are other possible autocorrect options for what you typed, those will also be displayed.

autocorrect underline ios 17
The functionality is useful for when autocorrect does correct something that you did not want fixed because it takes just a tap to revert rather than having to retype the word.

Word Autofill

Some word suggestions now pop up in line when you are typing, and you can tap on the space bar to insert them. If you start typing "Didn't" for example, the ‌iPhone‌ will offer 't as an autofill option after you type "didn," so that you can just tap on the space bar rather than continuing to spell out the word.

ios 17 word autofill
It makes for quicker typing, and this is a function that gets better as you use iOS 17 more often.

Sentence Autofill

The word autofill feature that makes suggestions inline also works for entire sentences in some cases, so you can type what you need with just a tap or two of the space bar.

Better Grammar Correction

After you finish typing a sentence, if you've used a word wrong or have another grammar error in what you've written, the ‌iPhone‌ will let you know by highlighting the mistake. You can tap on it to see suggested corrections.

ios 17 grammar correction
As an example, if you write a sentence and accidentally swap "affect" for "effect," the ‌iPhone‌ can tell and will suggest the word you should be using instead, or in some cases, just correct it. This is true for then/than, they're/their/there, two/to/too, your/you're, its/it's, and other common grammatical errors. iOS 16 corrected some of these issues, but iOS 17 does more.

Dictation

The Dictation feature built into the ‌iPhone‌ has been updated with the same transformer language model that Apple is using for text, so dictation should be able to better suss out what you're attempting to say when there are multiple word options.

Dictation is still far from perfect in our testing, and it does take some time to get better.

Stickers as Emoji

Emoji are an integral part of the keyboard, and in iOS 17, stickers and emoji have been merged. If you tap on the emoji icon on the keyboard, it will bring up emoji and also all of your stickers. The end result is that you can use stickers in more places across the operating system, and in the Messages app, emoji can be used like stickers and can be placed anywhere.

ios 17 emoji sticker keyboard

Read More

More information on all of the new features in the iOS 17 update can be found in our iOS 17 roundup.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
iOS 26

What's New in iOS 26.1 Beta 4

Monday October 20, 2025 1:02 pm PDT by
Even though we're at the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple is continuing to add new features. In fact, the fourth beta has some of the biggest changes that we'll get when iOS 26.1 releases to the public later this month. We've rounded up what's new below. Liquid Glass Transparency Toggle Apple added a toggle for customizing the look of Liquid Glass. In Settings > Display and Brightness,...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...

Top Rated Comments

carrrrrlos Avatar
29 months ago
Duck yeah auto correct improvements!
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mity Avatar
29 months ago
Is there still no multi-punctuation key? :oops: You can't hold the period key to bring up question marks or exclamation points? Why is this basic feature still missing?

Here's the Pixel keyboard:
ios 17 keyboard image ios 17 keyboard image
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LouisPiper Avatar
29 months ago

Cool! More stuff I don't care about or use. Well done Apple.
You don't use...they keyboard?
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
usmaak Avatar
29 months ago
Is anyone still saying chillax? It might be time to stop. ?
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Howyalikdemapls Avatar
29 months ago

Cool! More stuff I don't care about or use. Well done Apple.
*We’ll done.

Autocorrected that for you.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
noslenpar Avatar
29 months ago

Is there still no multi-punctuation key? :oops: You can't hold the period key to bring up question marks or exclamation points? Why is this basic feature still missing?

Here's the Pixel keyboard:
ios 17 keyboard image ios 17 keyboard image
Exactly, and no option to have a number row.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)