Ok, maybe I am missing something here. The link points to a list Apple is hostin...

varenc · on April 4, 2022

For context, see my buried comment explaining how I found this here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30906482

In summary: I don't have any indication it's in current use. I saw this URL in intercepted traffic from an iOS 13 device. I suspect it was used at some point but not anymore. I bet iOS 15 still uses something similar but doesn't use this particular URL (perhaps one with more obscurity/protection).

p.s. I also found this list of spelling corrections/autocompletes: https://cdn.smoot.apple.com/static/static_corrections_dict/2...

Some examples:

   {"q":"hackernews","c":{"hackerneww":0,"hackernees":0,"hackernee":0}}
   {"q":"ycombinator","c":{"ycomi":0,"ycombinatir":0}}
   {"q":"apple store","c":{"apple stire":0,"apple stoe":0,"apple stoee":0,"aple st":0,"aplle":0,"aple":0}}

JoeyBananas · on April 4, 2022

The link https://cdn.smoot.apple.com/static/spotlight_suggestions_sto... is interesting.

It's a binary file, but if you look at the hex dump there's a list of vaguely "bad" words near the end including "whorehouse," "Zipperheads," "unabomber". I have no idea what format it is, though.

jjoonathan · on April 4, 2022

When I type "analog.com" into the search bar, I can imagine a way for autocomplete to go wrong. This list would prevent it from going wrong.

zymhan · on April 4, 2022

Can't say the same for Firefox on Windows, on a powerful PC :/

blenderdt · on April 4, 2022

That's because Firefox on desktop parses JSON.