Predictive Proof-reading

[Bob Marsden]

I never understood what people were going on about when they wrote “bloody predictive texting”, thinking, just turn it off. But I do now since upgrading my iMac operating system and I’ve been infected, seemingly in most word-processing applications, even non-Apple ones like Scrivener.

I want proof-reading but I don’t want coercive editing.

The alternative box appears under the offending string with an X compartment. If you don’t tell it to bugger off it replaces your text with its better version. But I don’t want “workshy“ censored to “workshop” on the sly.

Is there a fit-for-purpose default option, a preference, where the X-compartment is replaced by a tick-compartment, when a click there replaces the string with know-all’s suggestion, but doing nothing, normal for us slow non-touch typers (it wanted ‘types’ there) leaves the string dotty-red underlined for later editing consideration?

If so, where is it, and if not, why not?

 

[Cory Cooper]

I think this article may help you. It seems that you can turn off auto-correct globally for the system, but there is also a setting per application.

Turn off AutoCorrect on OSX 10.11 El Capitan for all Applications

The article states this will work for Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan.

Let us know if that solves it for you.

C

 

[Bob Marsden]

Thanks Cory. Proof-reading prompting is still on, persisting dotty red underline, and no suggestions appear.

I don’t do coding, but I imagine it would be easy to provide two kinds of ‘spelling’ correction, default and suggestive. Default would offer the word box with the ✖-compartment, and suggestive with ✔ compartment. If you don’t click ✖ the suggested string is inserted, if you don’t click ✔ the box lapses.

It would also help if, especially for us keyboard peckers, a sound indicated spellcheck alert. In the System Preferences I don’t know how to assign sounds to functions. In DragThing Preferences you can do that, so ‘Item Added’ gives me Magic Bell whenever an email arrives. But none of their offered functions corresponds to Spellcheck Alert.

I do wonder if software writers ever try to use the things they’ve produced. If they had they’d never have let loose Mission Control as a dysfunctionalised Spaces, nor decreed the current arrangements for coercive text-correcting. It’s akin to packaging designers issuing plastic wrappings and stampings before trying to open them without self-harm or learned helplessness. But then, I could rant forever about avoidable design faults.

 

[Cory Cooper]

I do wonder if software writers ever try to use the things they’ve produced.

That is just part of the infamous and never-ending blame game between the hardware and software developers, and the inability of most software companies to have proper QC and user-experience/interface departments. Thus was spawned the third-party software market, where many of those inconsistencies and overlooked functionality issues are corrected.

C