Identifying RTL language in Android

Question

Is there a way to identify RTL (right-to-left) language, apart from testing language code against all RTL languages?

Since API 17+ allows several resources for RTL a

Answer 1

Get it from Configuration.getLayoutDirection():

Configuration config = getResources().getConfiguration();
if(config.getLayoutDirection() == View.LAYOUT_DIRECTION_RTL) {
    //in Right To Left layout
}

Answer 2

Because English language devices are supporting RTL, you can use this code in your MainActivity to change device language to english and you don't need to "supportRTL" code.

String languageToLoad  = "en"; // your language
Locale locale = new Locale(languageToLoad);
Locale.setDefault(locale);
Configuration config = new Configuration();
config.locale = locale;
getBaseContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(config,
getBaseContext().getResources().getDisplayMetrics());

Answer 3

You can use TextUtilsCompat from the support library.

TextUtilsCompat.getLayoutDirectionFromLocale(locale)

Answer 4

You can check like this if you want to check for API lower than 17

boolean isRightToLeft = TextUtilsCompat.getLayoutDirectionFromLocale(Locale
               .getDefault()) == ViewCompat.LAYOUT_DIRECTION_RTL;

OR for API 17 or above

boolean isRightToLeft = TextUtils.getLayoutDirectionFromLocale(Locale
               .getDefault()) == ViewCompat.LAYOUT_DIRECTION_RTL;