The iPhone keyboard has some notorious quirks, but there’s one little “feature” you may have noticed. Every time you type “omw” it is automatically expanded to “On my way!” This can be pretty annoying, so let’s turn it off.
The Problem
Talking over text does not lend itself well to conveying emotion. That’s why every small detail—punctuation, case, and emoji—is so important. There’s a huge difference in how a casual “omw” and an enthusiastic “On my way!” can be interpreted. So lets you give the control back to you.
The iOS and iPadOS feature responsible for this is called “Text Replacement.” It allows you to create custom text shortcuts for anything you’d like. For whatever reason, the “omw” shortcut is the only one included and enabled by default.
The Fix
To get started, open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
Go to “General.”
Now go to “Keyboard.”
Select “Text Replacement.”
You’ll see the “omw” shortcut listed. Tap “Edit” in the bottom left corner.
Tap the red minus icon next to “omw” to delete it, and then select “Delete” to confirm.
That’s all there is to it! You don’t have to worry about Apple hijacking your casual “omw” and adding unimplied enthusiasm. Text Replacement is a cool feature you should use, but you don’t have to use Apple’s built-in text replacement shortcut.
