Here’s Apple’s ‘fix’ for the iOS 11.1 autocorrect bug

An innocuous yet very annoying bug is affecting some users who have updated to iOS 11.1, which landed last week with hundreds of new emojis in tow.

For various users, iOS 11.1 makes media playback stutter, breaks audio control on the lock screen. but we are going to be focusing on the annoying bug that autocorrects the word “I” to an unrecognizable character.

It happens when typing the letter “i.” Instead of auto-correcting to a capital, it’s instead replaced with the letter “A” and a unicode symbol.

This bug is persistent throughout several different apps but, oddly, not everyone using iOS 11.1 is affected. For those who are, Apple has provided a temporary workaround until a software patch can be issued.

The workaround makes use of the Text Replacement feature built into iOS. You need to create a text replacement that automatically changes a lone lowercase “i” to a capital, effectively overriding the bug.

To create a new text replacement, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement. Next, click on the plus sign in the top right corner. Beside Phrase, type “I,” and beside Shortcut, type “i.” Tap Save in the top right.

Now when you type “i” and hit space, it should automatically correct itself to “I.”