{"id":5359,"date":"2015-03-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/2015\/03\/17\/android-a-world-of-language-support\/"},"modified":"2021-01-06T11:25:01","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T11:25:01","slug":"android-a-world-of-language-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/2015\/03\/17\/android-a-world-of-language-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Android: A World of Language Support"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 9 years since Google acquired Android, it has grown to be the world’s most popular mobile operating system (OS). To achieve this, the Google Android team developed language support features so that Android OS-based phones fully function in the language of the user’s choice.<\/p>\n

Market Share and Language Support<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Below is a pie chart showing the percentage of the world that uses Android:<\/p>\n

Worldwide Smart Mobile Device Market Share – Q1 2013<\/p>\n

\"GPI_Android_2\"<\/p>\n

Data by Canalys<\/p>\n

The list of languages currently supported by Android are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Language<\/td>\nCode<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Afrikaans<\/td>\n\u00b7 af<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Amharic<\/td>\n\u00b7 am<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Bulgarian<\/td>\n\u00b7 bg<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Catalan<\/td>\n\u00b7 ca<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Chinese (PRC)<\/td>\n\u00b7 zh-CN<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Chinese (Taiwan)<\/td>\n\u00b7 zh-TW<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Croatian<\/td>\n\u00b7 hr<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Czech<\/td>\n\u00b7 cs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Danish<\/td>\n\u00b7 da<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Dutch<\/td>\n\u00b7 nl<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 English (UK)<\/td>\n\u00b7 en-GB<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 English (US)<\/td>\n\u00b7 en-US<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Estonian<\/td>\n\u00b7 et<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Filipino<\/td>\n\u00b7 fil<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Finnish<\/td>\n\u00b7 fi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 French (Canada)<\/td>\n\u00b7 fr-CA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 French (France)<\/td>\n\u00b7 fr-FR<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 German<\/td>\n\u00b7 de<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Greek<\/td>\n\u00b7 el<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Hindi<\/td>\n\u00b7 hi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Hungarian<\/td>\n\u00b7 hu<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Indonesian<\/td>\n\u00b7 id \/ in<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Italian<\/td>\n\u00b7 it<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Japanese<\/td>\n\u00b7 ja<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Korean<\/td>\n\u00b7 ko<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Latvian<\/td>\n\u00b7 lv<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Lithuanian<\/td>\n\u00b7 lt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Malay<\/td>\n\u00b7 ms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Norwegian<\/td>\n\u00b7 no<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Polish<\/td>\n\u00b7 pl<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Portuguese (Brazil)<\/td>\n\u00b7 pt-BR<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Portuguese (Portugal)<\/td>\n\u00b7 pt-PT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Romanian<\/td>\n\u00b7 ro<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Russian<\/td>\n\u00b7 ru<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Serbian<\/td>\n\u00b7 sr<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Slovak<\/td>\n\u00b7 sk<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Slovenian<\/td>\n\u00b7 sl<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Spanish (Latin America)<\/td>\n\u00b7 es-419<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Spanish (Spain)<\/td>\n\u00b7 es-ES<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Swahili<\/td>\n\u00b7 sw<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Swedish<\/td>\n\u00b7 sv<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Thai<\/td>\n\u00b7 th<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Turkish<\/td>\n\u00b7 tr<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Ukrainian<\/td>\n\u00b7 uk<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00b7 Zulu<\/td>\n\u00b7 zu<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Source: https:\/\/support.google.com\/googleplay\/android-developer\/table\/4419860?hl=en<\/a><\/p>\n

Future Plans<\/strong><\/h5>\n

In June, Google mentioned they are close to releasing a multilingual feature that will allow users of an Android OS device to easily switch between languages using Google Now search. When this becomes available, the feature will allow users to select as many as 7 different languages for various phone functions and applications. You could perform a search in one language, run an application in another and look up your contacts in yet another language, all without having to re-set any settings between use of the apps or functions.<\/p>\n

I have an Android phone and will only have a need for one language at a time but, I have many polyglot friends who will likely use this feature daily once it is a released.\u00a0 Today, many families speak multiple languages in their homes and would like the ability to use their mobile devices in multiple languages to play a game online with others, use various social media applications and browse the web.<\/p>\n

\"GPI_Android_3\"<\/p>\n

When considering localization of applications for mobile devices, it is not only the people in a target country that may benefit and seek use of the localized app.\u00a0 Many of the native speakers who have migrated to other countries will also use their phones in multiple languages.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Android is an excellent mobile operating system with strong language support. It is great that they are continuing to expand the language features and capabilities. If you are a mobile application developer with an interest in supporting mobile users globally or a mobile user looking to use your phone in a language other than English, you should feel confident that Android is a platform that can support your needs in almost every market in the world today.<\/p>\n

Mobile application translation or localization is typically an affordable option for many start-ups, rather than the cost for an enterprise or PC-based application, as it will have much less text to translate. Here is a link to a GPI blog to provide tips on what to consider when creating a mobile app with localization in mind: What to consider for Mobile Application Localization<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Additional Resources from GPI<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Globalization Partners International\u00ae has developed a suite of globalization tools to achieve internationalization. You can explore them under the Tools<\/a> sections of our\u00a0Translation Services<\/a>. GPI also offers internationalization and globalization consulting services and can evaluate your application. Partnering with GPI before you localize or translate your application will ensure that you avoid many mistakes and will also save you considerable time and money on your localization projects.<\/p>\n

For more information about mobile application translation and localization please check our services and blogs:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the 9 years since Google acquired Android, it has grown to be the world’s most popular mobile operating system (OS). To achieve this, the Google Android team developed language support features so that Android OS-based phones fully function in the language of the user’s choice. Market Share and Language Support Below is a pie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":5360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1269,1271,673,1267,1270,53],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5359"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5359"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27938,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5359\/revisions\/27938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalizationpartners.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}