How Smartphones Suggest and Correct Words While You Type
Apple's patent on a system that displays word suggestions above a touchscreen keyboard, allowing users to accept or reject them with simple taps or keystrokes.
Original patent title: “Method, system, and graphical user interface for providing word recommendations”
Apple's patent on a system that displays word suggestions above a touchscreen keyboard, allowing users to accept or reject them with simple taps or keystrokes. Granted to Apple Inc in 2011 with 48 claims and 58 forward citations.
Key facts
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
This patent describes a method for managing text input on a touchscreen device. As a user types in one area of the screen, the device displays a suggested correction or completion in a separate area located between the text field and the keyboard. The system allows the user to accept the suggestion by tapping it or pressing a delimiter key like the space bar. Conversely, the user can reject the suggestion and keep their original text by tapping the original word in that same suggestion area. This creates a fluid interaction loop that balances speed with user control.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover predictive text systems that automatically replace words without a user-initiated gesture or delimiter key.
- Does not cover text correction systems that operate entirely in the background without a dedicated suggestion display area.
- Does not cover voice-to-text input methods.
- Does not cover hardware-based predictive text systems that lack a touchscreen interface.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
What made this novel
The patent cleverly treats the suggestion bar as a two-way interface: one side offers the 'fix' and the other side acts as a 'keep my original' button, giving the user equal, immediate control over both choices.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
iOS QuickType keyboard
Android Gboard suggestion bar
Most modern smartphone virtual keyboards
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This technology became a fundamental part of the mobile experience, appearing in the original iPhone and subsequent iOS versions. It addressed the core frustration of typing on small glass screens by providing a clear, interactive way to fix typos without navigating complex menus. It set the standard for how modern mobile operating systems handle text input.
Filed
January 5, 2007
Granted
December 6, 2011
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Apple continues to refine this mechanism within iOS, while Google has built extensive machine learning models on top of this basic interaction pattern for Gboard. These companies dominate the space by integrating these UI patterns with increasingly sophisticated language models.
Market impact
This patent helped define the user experience for the first generation of mass-market smartphones, making touch-based typing viable for general consumers. It essentially codified the 'suggestion bar' UI pattern that is now present on virtually every mobile device globally.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
This patent describes a method for managing text input on a touchscreen device. As a user types in one area of the screen, the device displays a suggested correction or completion in a separate area located between the text field and the keyboard. The system allows the user to accept the suggestion by tapping it or pressing a delimiter key like the space bar. Conversely, the user can reject the suggestion and keep their original text by tapping the original word in that same suggestion area. This creates a fluid interaction loop that balances speed with user control.
The clever bit
The patent cleverly treats the suggestion bar as a two-way interface: one side offers the 'fix' and the other side acts as a 'keep my original' button, giving the user equal, immediate control over both choices.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover predictive text systems that automatically replace words without a user-initiated gesture or delimiter key.
- Does not cover text correction systems that operate entirely in the background without a dedicated suggestion display area.
- Does not cover voice-to-text input methods.
- Does not cover hardware-based predictive text systems that lack a touchscreen interface.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
High impact
Citation count
35/40
Highly cited
Claim breadth
20/20
Very broad protection
Recency
5/20
Granted 10–20 years ago
Assignee scale
20/20
Major company or institution
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$86K – $276K
Midpoint $173K · expired or expiring · industry ×1.6
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
The original legal language
Original claims
48 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
Ording, B., & Kocienda, K. (2011). How Smartphones Suggest and Correct Words While You Type (U.S. Patent No. 8,074,172). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8074172/ios-springboard-home-screen
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does How Smartphones Suggest and Correct Words While You Type cover?
Apple's patent on a system that displays word suggestions above a touchscreen keyboard, allowing users to accept or reject them with simple taps or keystrokes.
Who owns patent US 8074172?
Apple Inc owns this patent, granted in 2011.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on December 6, 2031, when the invention enters the public domain.
What is patent US 8074172 cited by?
This patent has been cited by 58 later patents that build on its ideas.
What problem does this patent solve?
This technology became a fundamental part of the mobile experience, appearing in the original iPhone and subsequent iOS versions. It addressed the core frustration of typing on small glass screens by providing a clear, interactive way to fix typos without navigating complex menus. It set the standard for how modern mobile operating systems handle text input.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover predictive text systems that automatically replace words without a user-initiated gesture or delimiter key.
Same assignee
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