Change app language programmatically in Android

Question

Is it possible to change the language of an app programmatically while still using Android resources?

If not, is it possible to request a resource in an specific lan

Answer 1

Create a class Extends Application and create a static method. Then you can call this method in all activities before setContentView().

public class MyApp extends Application {

@Override
public void onCreate() {
    super.onCreate();
}

public static void setLocaleFa (Context context){
    Locale locale = new Locale("fa"); 
    Locale.setDefault(locale);
    Configuration config = new Configuration();
    config.locale = locale;
    context.getApplicationContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(config, null);
}

public static void setLocaleEn (Context context){
    Locale locale = new Locale("en_US"); 
    Locale.setDefault(locale);
    Configuration config = new Configuration();
    config.locale = locale;
    context.getApplicationContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(config, null);
}

}

Usage in activities:

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    MyApp.setLocaleFa(MainActivity.this);
    requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
}

Answer 2

/*change language at Run-time*/
//use method like that:
//setLocale("en");
 public void setLocale(String lang) { 
  myLocale = new Locale(lang);         
  Resources res = getResources();         
  DisplayMetrics dm = res.getDisplayMetrics();         
  Configuration conf = res.getConfiguration();         
  conf.locale = myLocale;         
  res.updateConfiguration(conf, dm);         
  Intent refresh = new Intent(this, AndroidLocalize.class);         
  startActivity(refresh); 
 }

Answer 3

If someone looking for disable language at compile time, here is the solution:

android {
    defaultConfig {
        resConfigs "en"
    }
}

This isn't just for disabling localisation—resConfigs simply tells the build system which resources to keep.

You can check original answer here

Answer 4

None of the solutions listed here helped me.

The language did not switch on android >= 7.0 if AppCompatDelegate.setDefaultNightMode(AppCompatDelegate.MODE_NIGHT_YES)

This LocaleUtils works just fine: https://gist.github.com/GigigoGreenLabs/7d555c762ba2d3a810fe

LocaleUtils

public class LocaleUtils {

public static final String LAN_SPANISH      = "es";
public static final String LAN_PORTUGUESE   = "pt";
public static final String LAN_ENGLISH      = "en";

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);
        config.locale = sLocale;
        Resources res = app.getBaseContext().getResources();
        res.updateConfiguration(config, res.getDisplayMetrics());
    }
}
}

Added this code to Application

public class App extends Application {
public void onCreate(){
    super.onCreate();

    LocaleUtils.setLocale(new Locale("iw"));
    LocaleUtils.updateConfig(this, getBaseContext().getResources().getConfiguration());
}

@Override
public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
    super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);
    LocaleUtils.updateConfig(this, newConfig);
}
}

Code in Activity

public class BaseActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    public BaseActivity() {
        LocaleUtils.updateConfig(this);
    }
}

Answer 5

I was looking for a way to change the system language programmatically. While I fully understand that a normal application should never do that and instead either:

• the user should be pointed(through an intent) to the system settings to change it manually
• the application should handle its localization on its own just like described in the answer of Alex

there was a need to really change the language of the system programmtically.

This is undocumented API and thus should not be used for market/end-user applications!

Anyway heres the solution i found:

  Locale locale = new Locale(targetLocaleAsString);

  Class amnClass = Class.forName("android.app.ActivityManagerNative");
  Object amn = null;
  Configuration config = null;

  // amn = ActivityManagerNative.getDefault();
  Method methodGetDefault = amnClass.getMethod("getDefault");
  methodGetDefault.setAccessible(true);
  amn = methodGetDefault.invoke(amnClass);

  // config = amn.getConfiguration();
  Method methodGetConfiguration = amnClass.getMethod("getConfiguration");
  methodGetConfiguration.setAccessible(true);
  config = (Configuration) methodGetConfiguration.invoke(amn);

  // config.userSetLocale = true;
  Class configClass = config.getClass();
  Field f = configClass.getField("userSetLocale");
  f.setBoolean(config, true);

  // set the locale to the new value
  config.locale = locale;

  // amn.updateConfiguration(config);
  Method methodUpdateConfiguration = amnClass.getMethod("updateConfiguration", Configuration.class);
  methodUpdateConfiguration.setAccessible(true);
  methodUpdateConfiguration.invoke(amn, config);

Answer 6

Locale configuration should be set in each activity before setting the content - this.setContentView(R.layout.main);