User Dictionary

CleverKeys learns new words you add and preserves their original capitalization. Names, places, technical terms, and other custom words appear exactly as you entered them - both when typing and swiping.

Quick Summary

What	Description
Purpose	Add custom words with preserved capitalization
Access	Automatic prompts or Settings > Activities > Dictionary Manager
Works with	Tap typing, swipe typing, and suggestions

How It Works

When you type a word not in the dictionary:

1. CleverKeys prompts “Add ‘Word’ to dictionary?”
2. Tap to add the word with its exact capitalization
3. The word appears in predictions and swipe results
4. Capitalization is preserved automatically

Case Preservation Examples

You Type	Stored As	Predicted As
Boston	Boston	Boston
iPhone	iPhone	iPhone
McDONALD	McDONALD	McDONALD
API	API	API

This works for:

• Proper nouns: City names, people’s names
• Brand names: iPhone, McDonald’s, GitHub
• Acronyms: API, URL, HTML
• Technical terms: Your project-specific vocabulary

Adding Words

Method 1: Automatic Prompt

1. Type a new word and press space
2. If not autocorrected, a prompt appears
3. Tap “Add to dictionary” to save it
4. The word is saved with your capitalization
5. The bar confirms “Added “word” to dictionary”. Tap that message twice to undo: the first tap shows “Tap again to undo”, the second removes the word again. The text you typed is left as it is. The confirmation times out after about 3 seconds.

The same tap-twice undo follows every add made from the keyboard: the prompt, the tap-to-add chip for the exact letters you typed, undoing an autocorrection, and accepting a “Prefer “word” when swiping?” offer (Swipe Typing).

[!NOTE] In terminal apps and remote-desktop fields (see Advanced) neither the prompt nor the tap-to-add chip appears: the keyboard cannot read the line back, so it cannot verify the word. Add such words in the Dictionary Manager instead.

Method 2: Dictionary Manager

1. Open keyboard settings (gear icon)
2. Go to Activities > Dictionary Manager
3. Tap Custom tab
4. Use the add button to enter new words

Frequency and Swipe Priority

Each custom word in the Dictionary Manager has two numbers you can edit (tap the word’s edit button). The two numbers do different jobs.

Frequency (1–255)

Frequency ranks your word against the built-in dictionary. 255, the default, is already the top, so a word you add is ranked like the most common dictionary words. Lower it to demote a word, for example a name that should not crowd out a common word on the same keys.

Each engine reads it on its own scale:

Where	What frequency does
Tap suggestions	Ranks the word among completions; 255 is the strongest
CTC swipe (default engine)	Maps 1–255 onto the dictionary’s own range; 255 ties the most common words
Geometric swipe	Orders your words among themselves; they always sit ahead of dictionary words

Raising frequency cannot go past the top. That is why some words still lose when you swipe them, even at 255.

Words added with older versions (frequency 100)

Before September 2026 a new custom word was stored at frequency 100, not 255. Some older versions also reset every custom word to 100 when a word was added from the keyboard. At 100 a word starts in the middle of the dictionary’s range, so it loses swipes it would win at 255. On one test phone, adb at 100 lost to an even at swipe priority Highest. After it was raised to 255, adb ranked first.

When a language has such words, the Custom tab shows a notice: “N custom words still use the old default frequency 100. Raise them to 255?”

• Review lists the words and asks first. Raise sets only those words to 255 and leaves their swipe priority unchanged. Not now changes nothing.
• Dismiss hides the notice. It comes back only if a new word appears at 100, for example from a backup that stored words without a frequency.
• Only words at exactly 100 are listed. If you set a word to 100 on purpose, it is listed too. Raising it is optional, and you can lower it again with Edit.

Swipe priority (Normal / High / Highest)

Some words still lose when swiped, even as a custom word at 255. The decoder may not notice a letter that the swipe passes straight through. Or a short swipe may look like a more common word that ends near the same key. Examples: adb comes out as an, ad as as, wet as we. Swipe priority adds a fixed boost for that word on top of its frequency:

Level	What it does
Normal (default)	No boost. The word swipes exactly as before
High	A moderate boost. Fixes most swipes of the word that lose narrowly
Highest	A strong boost, for words that still lose at High

Choosing High or Highest in the Add/Edit dialog also sets the frequency field to 255 when it is lower, and a line under the buttons says so. A lower frequency would cancel part of the boost. Choosing Normal leaves the frequency as it is, and you can still lower it by hand before saving.

The boost has limits:

• It only applies when your swipe already passed close to the word. It never puts the word on a swipe that went somewhere else.
• It applies only to swiping. Tap suggestions and autocorrect stay as they were.
• It works with both swipe engines (CTC and Geometric).

[!WARNING] A raised word also wins some swipes of similar words. With ad at High, some as swipes become ad. With wet at Highest, some we swipes become wet. Raise only the words you need, start at High, and use Highest only if High is not enough. The measured trade-offs are in User swipe priority (eval).

The keyboard can also raise a word for you. If you keep correcting the same swipe to a word, the bar asks “Prefer “word” when swiping?”. Accepting the first time adds the word at Normal. If you still correct swipes to that word, the bar asks again, and accepting raises it to High. The bar never sets Highest; only the Dictionary Manager does (Swipe Typing).

Swipe priority is saved with the word. Dictionary backups include it, and it is restored with the word. Deleting a word removes its priority. Renaming a word keeps it.

Using Custom Words

Once added, custom words:

• Appear in predictions when you start typing them
• Show in swipe results when you swipe the pattern
• Keep their capitalization in both tap and swipe modes
• Won’t be autocorrected to something else

Swipe Typing with Custom Words

When you swipe a pattern matching a custom word:

1. The swipe decoder predicts possible words
2. Custom word case is applied from your dictionary
3. Word appears with correct capitalization

[!TIP] Add names and technical terms before you need them frequently. This improves both accuracy and capitalization.

Managing Your Dictionary

View Custom Words

1. Settings > Activities > Dictionary Manager
2. Select Custom tab
3. Browse your added words

Delete a Custom Word

1. Find the word in Dictionary Manager
2. Tap the delete icon
3. Confirm deletion

Disable Without Deleting

1. Find the word in Dictionary Manager
2. Toggle it off (moves to Disabled tab)
3. Toggle back on later if needed

Settings

Setting	Location	Description
Dictionary Manager	Settings > Activities	View and manage custom words, their frequency and swipe priority
Personalized Learning	Word Prediction section	Adapt to your typing patterns

How Capitalization Works

CleverKeys uses a priority system for capitalization:

1. User dictionary case - Your saved capitalization (highest priority)
2. Shift state - Sentence-start capitalization
3. I-words - Automatic “I”, “I’m”, “I’ll” capitalization
4. Default - Lowercase from main dictionary

Example Flow

When you swipe “boston” after adding “Boston”:

Swipe decoder output: "boston" (lowercase)
         ↓
User dictionary check: Found "Boston"
         ↓
Apply saved case: "Boston"
         ↓
Check shift state: (if sentence start, stays "Boston")
         ↓
Final output: "Boston"

Tips and Tricks

• Add proper nouns early: Prevents frustration with miscapitalization
• Include variations: Add both “API” and “APIs” if you use both
• Brand names matter: “GitHub” vs “Github” - add your preferred form
• Export settings: Use Backup & Restore to preserve your dictionary

[!NOTE] Words in the main dictionary cannot have their case changed. Custom words override the main dictionary for your entries.

Common Questions

Q: Why isn’t my custom word appearing?

A: Check that:

• The word is in the Custom tab of Dictionary Manager
• It’s not disabled
• You’re typing/swiping the correct pattern

Q: Can I change capitalization of an existing word?

A: Delete and re-add with new capitalization, or edit in Dictionary Manager.

Q: Does this work with swipe typing?

A: Yes! Swipe predictions apply your custom word capitalization.

Q: I added a word and swiping still gives a different word. What now?

A: Edit the word in the Dictionary Manager and set Swipe priority to High (see Frequency and Swipe Priority). Raising the frequency does not help: 255 is already the top.

Related Features

• Autocorrect - Automatic spelling corrections
• Swipe Typing - Word prediction for gesture input
• Special Characters - Accents and symbols

Technical Details

See User Dictionary Technical Specification.