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Change language in android application resources

after studying about supporting multiple languages in android application, i have good the basic idea about how i can make resources for different languages within application, for example i want to add Spanish language in my application so in res direction within my application i have added values-en directory and in that direct i have added strings resource and within that resource i have added strings with values of Spanish text, in my application default language is English now i want to know how can i switch it to Spanish, i have the resources ready i just need to change my application language to Spanish

Use below code in your onCreate() after setContentView:
String languageToLoad = "es";
Locale locale = new Locale(languageToLoad);
Configuration config = new Configuration();
config.locale = locale;
getBaseContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(config, getBaseContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
You also have to change your value folder to values-es. values-en is for English. Hope this helps.
To change App locale follow below code:
1) Create LocaleUtils class:
public class LocaleUtils {
private static Locale sLocale;
public static void setLocale(Locale locale) {
sLocale = locale;
if(sLocale != null) {
Locale.setDefault(sLocale);
}
}
public static void updateConfig(ContextThemeWrapper wrapper) {
if(sLocale != null && Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR1) {
Configuration configuration = new Configuration();
configuration.setLocale(sLocale);
wrapper.applyOverrideConfiguration(configuration);
}
}
public static void updateConfig(Application app, Configuration configuration) {
if (sLocale != null && Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN_MR1) {
//Wrapping the configuration to avoid Activity endless loop
Configuration config = new Configuration(configuration);
// We must use the now-deprecated config.locale and res.updateConfiguration here,
// because the replacements aren't available till API level 24 and 17 respectively.
config.locale = sLocale;
Resources res = app.getBaseContext().getResources();
res.updateConfiguration(config, res.getDisplayMetrics());
}
}
}
2) In Application Class:
public class YourAppName extends Application {
public void onCreate(){
super.onCreate();
LocaleUtils.setLocale(new Locale("es"));
LocaleUtils.updateConfig(this, getBaseContext().getResources().getConfiguration());
}
#Override
public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
LocaleUtils.updateConfig(this, newConfig);
}
}
3) Remember, Your Application class name and <application android:name=".YourAppName"> should be same. Otherwise it won't work. Kudos to this answer.

How to Refresh App with onConfigChanges without loosing instance

protected void onResume() {
super.onResume();
SharedPreferences settings = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
Configuration config = getBaseContext().getResources().getConfiguration();
String lang = settings.getString("lang_list", "");
// Log.d("Lang",lang);
if (!"".equals(lang) && !config.locale.getLanguage().equals(lang)) {
recreate();
Locale locale = new Locale(lang);
Locale.setDefault(locale);
config.locale = locale;
getBaseContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(config, getBaseContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
}
if (AppController.getInstance().isPreferenceChanged()) {
setupViewPager(viewPager);
adapter.notifyDataSetChanged();
}
}
I want to change the app language without recreate the app. I mean I want to do it when user select any language from the setting then it Should change the Setting Activity language without using recreate();, because when I use recreate(); it blinks the App once.
So I am not using recreate();. Instead I wrote below code in Setting Activity in AndroidManifest.xml
<activity
android:name=".activity.SettingsActivity"
android:label="#string/title_activity_settings"
android:configChanges="orientation|keyboardHidden|screenSize|locale|layoutDirection"/>
As in below screenshot you can see that I have selected "Hindi" for the language but it is not updating the Activity to Hindi. I mean "Select Country", "Select Your Language" and "Select Categories" should be display in Hindi instead of English. I have wrote String in both languages.
Can Anybody know How to change it when Change the language ?
OR
Why onConfigChanges is not working for locale as it is working for Orientation.
Thank you !

In your MainActivity call sharedPrefrences on onStart callback insted of calling in onCreate
Example:-
protected void onStart() {
SharedPreferences sharedPreferences = this.getSharedPreferences("selectedLanguage", Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
String pine = sharedPreferences.getString("language", DEFAULT);
String languageToLoad = pine;
Locale locale = new Locale(languageToLoad);//Set Selected Locale
Locale.setDefault(locale);//set new locale as default
Configuration config = new Configuration();//get Configuration
config.locale = locale;//set config locale as selected locale
this.getResources().updateConfiguration(config, this.getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
invalidateOptionsMenu(); //This changes language in OptionsMenu too
setTitle(R.string.app_name); //calling app name according to language selected by user
super.onStart();
}

You can use a singleton class that will handle the language change without restarting the activity,
public class MyApplication extends Application
{
private Locale locale = null;
#Override
public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig)
{
super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
if (locale != null)
{
newConfig.locale = locale;
Locale.setDefault(locale);
getBaseContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(newConfig, getBaseContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
}
}
#Override
public void onCreate()
{
super.onCreate();
SharedPreferences settings = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
Configuration config = getBaseContext().getResources().getConfiguration();
String lang = settings.getString(getString(R.string.pref_locale), "");
if (! "".equals(lang) && ! config.locale.getLanguage().equals(lang))
{
locale = new Locale(lang);
Locale.setDefault(locale);
config.locale = locale;
getBaseContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(config, getBaseContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
}
}
}

Use custom locale for plurals

I am trying to override the locale to use Czech locale no matter what is set in the phone. However, although when I try to get the current locale, it returns czech, but for plurals, it acts like it still takes the real phone locale.
Here is my code:
<application
android:name=".xxx"
android:allowBackup="true"
android:icon="#drawable/logo"
android:label="#string/app_name"
android:theme="#style/Theme.mystyle"
android:configChanges="locale"
>
In application:
String lang = settings.getString("cs", "");
locale = new Locale(lang);
Locale.setDefault(locale);
config.locale = locale;
getBaseContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(config, getBaseContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics());

I posted on GitHub simple LocaleAssistant class I just tested with plurals for Slovak and also Czech language, and it worked on the device with default locale set to EN. Just call those two methods from within your custom Application on the member instance of LocaleAssistant.

In the end I found the correct solution. Gray Wolf's solution did not work for me for some reason. Maybe it is all about the API level you develop your app for.
This is the working code. Besides that, it is also necessary to add configChanges:locale to AndroidManifest. This should work on Android 4.0.1 and above.
public class MyApplication extends Application
{
private Locale locale = null;
#Override
public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig)
{
super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
if (locale != null)
{
newConfig.locale = locale;
Locale.setDefault(locale);
getBaseContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(newConfig, getBaseContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
}
}
#Override
public void onCreate()
{
super.onCreate();
SharedPreferences settings = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
Configuration config = getBaseContext().getResources().getConfiguration();
String lang = "cs";
if (!"".equals(lang) && !config.locale.getLanguage().equals(lang))
{
locale = new Locale(lang);
Locale.setDefault(locale);
config.locale = locale;
getBaseContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(config, getBaseContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
}
}
}

Android - App locale changes and displayed orientation

I'm having a headache with the locale thing in my app. So basically my app supports two languages, English and Vietnamese, and user can choose to change the language to be displayed. So I have a SettingActivity like this:
public class SettingsActivity extends SherlockPreferenceActivity implements OnPreferenceChangeListener{
private ListPreference langPref;
private SharedPreferences languagepref;
private String language;
private Locale locale;
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
languagepref = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
Configuration config = getBaseContext().getResources().getConfiguration();
language = languagepref.getString("languageToLoad","en");
locale = new Locale(language);
Locale.setDefault(locale);
config.locale = locale;
getBaseContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(config, getBaseContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences_login);
langPref = (ListPreference) findPreference("lang_pref");
if (language.equalsIgnoreCase("vi")){
langPref.setValueIndex(1);
}
else{
langPref.setValueIndex(0);
}
langPref.setOnPreferenceChangeListener(this);
}
#Override
public boolean onPreferenceChange(Preference preference, Object newValue) {
String key = preference.getKey();
if (key.equals("lang_pref")){
String languageToLoad = (String) newValue;
Locale locale = new Locale(languageToLoad);
Locale.setDefault(locale);
Configuration config = new Configuration();
config.locale = locale;
getBaseContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(config,
getBaseContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
SharedPreferences.Editor editor = languagepref.edit();
editor.putString("languageToLoad",languageToLoad );
editor.commit();
recreate();
}
return false;
}
}
In every other activity, I add this in their onCreate method:
SharedPreferences languagepref = PreferenceManager.getDefaultSharedPreferences(this);
Configuration config = getBaseContext().getResources().getConfiguration();
String language = languagepref.getString("languageToLoad","en");
Locale locale = new Locale(language);
Locale.setDefault(locale);
config.locale = locale;
getBaseContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(config, getBaseContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics());
And now my app is acting weird: in the SettingActivity, the language is displayed properly whenever I rotate my device, even without the need of adding android:configChanges="locale" in the activity's manifest. However, in every other activity, the language is changed back to English when I rotate the device. I've try adding android:configChanges="locale" in their manifest but it doesn't work. Also, I've tried every solution found on Stackoverflow but none of them works for me, so I'm basically clueless now. Could anyone of you help me point out the mistake I made here? Please do and thanks in advance.

Try adding
android:configChanges="orientation|keyboard|keyboardHidden"
in the manifest for each activity.
Then you should override onConfigurationChanged in your activities, and in this method reload layout (depending orientation). If you still have problems with locale, reload the appropriate locale in onConfigurationChanged.

Changing locale: Force activity to reload resources?

So I have a language setting in my application. When the language is switched, I would like all the textviews etc to change language immediately. Currently I just change the locale in the configuration, so the language has changed when the user restarts the activity.
An ugly solution to my problem would be to make each textview load the new resources each time the language is changed. Is there a better solution? Perhaps a neat way to discretely restart the activity? Or maybe just force reload of the resources?

In your AndroidManifest.xml, add this attribute to your Activity
android:configChanges="locale"
In your activity override onConfigurationChanged()
#Override
public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
// refresh your views here
super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
}
https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/activity-element.html#config

I think the question is switching language in runtime for the app and displaying localized messages in UI. android:configChanges="locale" calls onConfigurationChanged if the system locale is changed (in setting of your device) while the app is running, and not if you change locale in the code for your app, which I guess is what you want to accomplish. That's why it's not refreshing.

Here is the method I use during every activity onCreate() or onResume() depending on my needs (if my activity will be resuming after user changed language settings or will always be created with language already set):
From there I just refresh the view manually or from onConfigurationChanged() which get called after this method finishes.
public static void changeLocale(Activity activity, String language)
{
final Resources res = activity.getResources();
final Configuration conf = res.getConfiguration();
if (language == null || language.length() == 0)
{
conf.locale = Locale.getDefault();
}
else
{
final int idx = language.indexOf('-');
if (idx != -1)
{
final String[] split = language.split("-");
conf.locale = new Locale(split[0], split[1].substring(1));
}
else
{
conf.locale = new Locale(language);
}
}
res.updateConfiguration(conf, null);
}

I'm not sure why this isn't picked up by onConfigurationChanged().
Hey, sandis, do you mean the method onConfigurationChanged() doesn't called in your activity when you changed the language? I met the same problem. The problem maybe this: when we change the language, the activity goes to onDestroy()(you can try this), so there is nobody to call onConfigurationChanged(). When we launch the activity again, the onCreate() is called, not the onConfigurationChanged(). There maybe something different in locale change and orientation change.

public void settingLocale(Context context, String language) {
Locale locale;
Configuration config = new Configuration();
if(language.equals(LANGUAGE_ENGLISH)) {
locale = new Locale("en");
Locale.setDefault(locale);
config.locale = locale;
}else if(language.equals(LANGUAGE_ARABIC)){
locale = new Locale("hi");
Locale.setDefault(locale);
config.locale = locale;
}
context.getResources().updateConfiguration(config, null);
// Here again set the text on view to reflect locale change
// and it will pick resource from new locale
tv1.setText(R.string.one); //tv1 is textview in my activity
}

Assuming you're changing the language through something like
private void updateLocale(#NonNull final Context context,
#NonNull final Locale newLocale) {
final Resources resources = context.getResources();
final DisplayMetrics displayMetrics = resources.getDisplayMetrics();
final Configuration configuration = resources.getConfiguration();
configuration.locale = newLocale;
resources.updateConfiguration(configuration, displayMetrics);
Locale.setDefault(newLocale);
}
You'll need to call Activity.recreate() in all currently open activities, which is what would happen if the user changed the system language while you were not subscribing to android:configChanges="locale".