Localizing strings in iOS: default (fallback) language?

user_111430 0
Viewed 30867

Is there a way to set a default language to be used when the device UI language is not supported by an app?

Example: My app is localized into English and German:

// en.lproj:
"POWER_TO_THE_PEOPLE_BTN" = "Power";
"POWER_PLUG_BTN" = "Power";

// de.lproj:
"POWER_TO_THE_PEOPLE_BTN"  = "Macht";
"POWER_PLUG_BTN" = "Spannung";

Now, if I run the app on a device with UI language set to Italian the app will use the key strings POWER_TO_THE_PEOPLE_BTN and POWER_PLUG_BTN.

There must be a way to specify a default (fallback) language to be used by the application in such a case.

From the above example it should be clear that using the English string as a key will not work.

The only option I see right now is to use NSLocalizedStringWithDefaultValue instead of NSLocalizedString.

internationalization localization ios
9 Answers

@Bogus answer in Swift 4, works like a charm on iOS 11.1:

public func NSLocalizedString(_ key: String, tableName: String? = nil, bundle: Bundle = Bundle.main, value: String = "", comment: String) -> String {
    let fallbackLanguage = "en"
    guard let fallbackBundlePath = Bundle.main.path(forResource: fallbackLanguage, ofType: "lproj") else { return key }
    guard let fallbackBundle = Bundle(path: fallbackBundlePath) else { return key }
    let fallbackString = fallbackBundle.localizedString(forKey: key, value: comment, table: nil)
    return Bundle.main.localizedString(forKey: key, value: fallbackString, table: nil)
}
user_12643750

Based on Bodus solution (thx btw.) I created this category because you need the "fallbackString" too. So I have to check the current selected language of the device and compare it with my languages I want to support. Just import the header and you can use apples default macro 

NSString *myString = NSLocalizedString(@"My Ub0rstring", nil);

Works fine on iOS 9.x and 11.1.

NSString+Helper.h

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

#undef NSLocalizedString
#define NSLocalizedString(key, comment) [NSString localizedStringForKey:(key) replaceValue:(comment)]

@interface NSString (Helper)

+ (NSString *)localizedStringForKey:(NSString *)key replaceValue:(NSString *)comment;

@end


NSString+Helper.m

#import "NSString+Helper.h"

@implementation NSString (Helper)

+ (NSString *)localizedStringForKey:(NSString *)key replaceValue:(NSString *)comment
{
    NSString *fallbackLanguage      = @"en";
    NSString *fallbackBundlePath    = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:fallbackLanguage ofType:@"lproj"];
    NSBundle *fallbackBundle        = [NSBundle bundleWithPath:fallbackBundlePath];
    NSString *fallbackString        = [fallbackBundle localizedStringForKey:key value:comment table:nil];
    NSString *localizedString       = [[NSBundle mainBundle] localizedStringForKey:key value:fallbackString table:nil];

    NSString *language              = [[NSLocale preferredLanguages] firstObject];
    NSDictionary *languageDic       = [NSLocale componentsFromLocaleIdentifier:language];
    NSString *languageCode          = [languageDic objectForKey:@"kCFLocaleLanguageCodeKey"];

    if ([languageCode isEqualToString:@"de"] || [languageCode isEqualToString:@"en"]) {
        return localizedString;
    }
    else {
        return fallbackString;
    }
}

@end
user_25007240

Old issue, but still an evergreen.

Here we are with a swift 4.2 quick solution to force the app on an WHATEVER_THE_FALLBACK_LANGUAGE_WE_WANT_IT_TO_BE fallback.

The example forces to "en"

extension String {

  var localized: String {

    var preferred = "-"
    if let pl = NSLocale.preferredLanguages.first, let pref = pl.split(separator: "-").first { preferred = String(pref) } //<- selected device language or "-"

    guard let _ = Bundle.main.path(forResource: preferred, ofType: "lproj") else {
        //PREFERRED ISN'T LISTED. FALLING BACK TO EN
        guard let en_path = Bundle.main.path(forResource: "en", ofType: "lproj"), let languageBundle = Bundle(path: en_path) else {
            //EN ISN'T LISTED. RETURNING UNINTERNATIONALIZED STRING
            return self
        }
        //EN EXISTS
        return languageBundle.localizedString(forKey: self, value: self, table: nil)
    }
    //PREFERRED IS LISTED. STRAIGHT I18N IS OKAY
    return NSLocalizedString(self, comment: "")
  }

}
user_105634730
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