Two weeks of typing without predictive text

Two weeks without predictive text

My phone was putting words in my mouth and I didn’t even realize it.

I discovered this while hunting for ways to squeeze more battery life out of my iPhone. Deep in a Reddit thread about iOS optimization, someone casually mentioned that predictive text burns through battery with all its background processing. Minimal impact, they said, but still there.

I was about to dismiss it as another marginal optimization when I paused. When was the last time I'd actually typed a message without those three suggestions hovering above my keyboard? When had I last spelled "adequate" or "synonymously" from memory instead of tapping the first suggestion?

Then it hit me. I'd become completely dependent on a feature I'd never consciously chosen to rely on.

The experiment

I toggled off predictive text that same day.

The first week was genuinely uncomfortable. I found myself pausing mid-sentence, unsure if I'd spelled words correctly. I second-guessed spellings of words I use frequently.

By week two, something shifted. Words felt more intentional, messages became more thoughtful. Not from extra effort, but from engaging with muscle memory instead of algorithmic suggestions.

Your brain on autocomplete

What I hadn't considered: Predictive text doesn't just save time. It actively rewrites how you think about language.

When your phone suggests the next three words, you start choosing from its suggestions instead of your vocabulary. Your writing voice becomes a collaboration between you and Apple's language model.

That's the trap. You think you're being more efficient, but you're actually outsourcing the creative act of word choice to software.

The tap and swipe strategy

Rather than go all-or-nothing, I came up with two approaches:

Tap-type for control. No suggestions, no corrections, just deliberate character selection. Perfect for important emails, thoughtful messages, anywhere creativity matters and I want to reflect on how to communicate my thoughts.

Swipe-type for speed. Swiping uses autocorrect on iOS, so I swipe for quick replies and casual texts where the algorithm can actually help.

Two input modes for two different needs. Revolutionary? No. Effective? Absolutely.

What I kept (and why it matters)

I didn't turn my iPhone into a Nokia 3310. Text replacements stayed on. "vg" still expands to "Viele Grüße" (the casual German equivalent to "kind regards"). My email signature still autofills from "sig".

The rationale is simple: Optimize for intention, not just efficiency. I kept the text replacement shortcuts I created while ditching the sentence completion with short-term convenience but long-term cognitive costs.

The real win

Did it actually improve my battery? Hard to measure, but probably slightly. One less background process constantly analyzing my typing patterns and generating predictions.

But that wasn't the real win. The real win was breaking free from a dependency I didn't know I had.

Your phone should amplify your capabilities, not replace them. When predictive text stops predicting and starts prescribing, it's time to turn it off.

Try it for a week. Your thumbs will complain, but your brain will thank you.