AutoCorrect Switch app aims to rein in power of smartphone prediction

Today’s smartphone-powered world has reached a point that stories of autocorrect gone awry have achieved almost urban-legend status. Everyone, it seems, has an anecdote of autocorrect out of control. Heck, there are entire websites dedicated to the confusing, humorous and oftentimes excruciatingly awkward outcomes produced when a phone has a mind of its own. Now,…

AutoCorrect Switch enables users to turn autocorrect on and off while composing text, then export that text to any other application on the phone. Screenshots from AutoCorrect Switch in the Android Market.

Today’s smartphone-powered world has reached a point that stories of autocorrect gone awry have achieved almost urban-legend status. Everyone, it seems, has an anecdote of autocorrect out of control. Heck, there are entire websites dedicated to the confusing, humorous and oftentimes excruciatingly awkward outcomes produced when a phone has a mind of its own. 

Now, thanks to Overland Park, Kan.-based Innovating Solutions, there’s a new app aimed at curbing the problems associated with autocorrect. The startup last month introduced the AutoCorrect Switch mobile app, which is available for download in the App Store and the Android Market for 99 cents.

The app is designed to provide an easy way for users of mobile devices to enable and disable the autocorrection (prediction) option on the fly, without going back and forth changing their phone’s keyboard settings. 

Users log in to the app and start typing what they want. In the app, they can turn autocorrect on or off often as they want. And, after they’re finished typing, users simply select the option of where they want to post the text, which can be sent as an SMS message or email or pasted into any other app or document.

Aniruddha Shukla, a graduate of the Entrepreneurship Scholars Program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, co-founded Innovating Solutions with Gina Bourret. Their venture is one of the first 24 to be launched from the UMKC entrepreneurship program.

“We saw a lot of chatter on the Internet about the problem,” Bourret said in a press release, “but couldn’t find a solution, so we decided to build one.”

Added Shukla: “Personally I’ve had problems from writing two languages with the English keyboard and the auto-correct feature causing miscommunications. Bilingual people who may write Spanish for one message and English for another will get autocorrected with English dictionary words replacing their Spanish words. It’s a very frustrating experience. I see potential for this app to help many people with this issue.”

For a demonstration of the app, watch the video below. And, for more on AutoCorrect Switch, check out the recent press the app has gotten from other outlets:

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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