Change app language programmatically in Android

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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 language?

I would like to let the user change the language of the app from the app.

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It’s possible. You can set the locale. However, I would not recommend that. We’ve tried it at early stages, it’s basically fighting the system.

We have the same requirement for changing the language but decided to settle to the fact that UI should be same as phone UI. It was working via setting locale but was too buggy. And you have to set it every time you enter activity (each activity) from my experience. here is a code if you still need this (again, I don’t recommend that)

Resources res = context.getResources();
// Change locale settings in the app.
DisplayMetrics dm = res.getDisplayMetrics();
android.content.res.Configuration conf = res.getConfiguration();
conf.setLocale(new Locale(language_code.toLowerCase())); // API 17+ only.
// Use conf.locale = new Locale(...) if targeting lower versions
res.updateConfiguration(conf, dm);

If you have language specific content – you can change that base on the setting.

update on 26th of march 2020

    public static void setLocale(Activity activity, String languageCode) {
        Locale locale = new Locale(languageCode);
        Locale.setDefault(locale);
        Resources resources = activity.getResources();
        Configuration config = resources.getConfiguration();
        config.setLocale(locale);
        resources.updateConfiguration(config, resources.getDisplayMetrics());
    }
  • NOTES: Language code cannot got ‘-‘ & must be 2 small case letter only

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