iOS 15 Keyboard Dictionary Controls

Apple’s iOS 15 introduced several enhancements to system-wide text input, refining how the standard keyboard learns, adapts, and defines words. While the interface for manual entry remains streamlined through Text Replacement, iOS 15 expanded the standard dictionary ecosystem by introducing new bilingual and monolingual reference dictionaries, updating on-device machine learning for vocabulary customization, and reorganizing how users manage and reset their learned keyboard data.

Expanded Bilingual and Reference Dictionaries

In iOS 15, Apple significantly broadened the built-in system dictionary library used by the standard keyboard's "Look Up" and autocorrect engines. Users gained access to new bilingual dictionaries, including Urdu–English, Tamil–English, Telugu–English, Gujarati–English, and Cantonese (Traditional)–English.

To customize active dictionaries:

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Tap General, then select Dictionary.
  3. Tap any dictionary to download or remove it from the system-wide active list.

Enhanced On-Device Personal Vocabulary Learning

Rather than requiring users to manually input every slang term or technical word, iOS 15 enhanced on-device intelligence to dynamically customize the keyboard dictionary. The keyboard automatically learns proper nouns, frequently used phrases, and user-specific typing habits locally without sending keystroke data to Apple servers. This dynamic vocabulary is tied directly to user profiles and syncs across devices via end-to-end encrypted iCloud syncing.

Reorganized Keyboard Dictionary Reset Controls

When a user accidentally trains the keyboard to remember a typo, the learned dictionary must be cleared. In iOS 15, Apple restructured the settings menu to relocate this control:

  1. Go to Settings > General.
  2. Scroll to the bottom and select Transfer or Reset iPhone.
  3. Tap Reset.
  4. Select Reset Keyboard Dictionary.

Confirming this action wipes all custom words learned automatically through typing, restoring the dictionary to its factory defaults while leaving custom Text Replacement shortcuts untouched.

Text Replacement as Manual Dictionary Management

For explicit customizations, iOS 15 continues to rely on the Text Replacement menu to override standard dictionary behaviors:

  1. Navigate to Settings > General > Keyboard.
  2. Tap Text Replacement.
  3. Tap the + (plus) icon to add a word to the "Phrase" field while leaving the "Shortcut" field blank.

Leaving the shortcut blank forces the standard keyboard dictionary to recognize the phrase as a valid, intentional word, effectively preventing unwanted autocorrect changes without requiring an abbreviation trigger.