Example of Localization in React Native Multi Language App

React Native Localization

Here is an Example of Localization in React Native Multi-Language App. Localization is the process of making something local in character or restricting it to a particular place. In the case of application development, it is related to the development of the application according to the local language.

For the localization, we are going to use LocalizedStrings component from react-native-localization library.

How to Use LocalizedStrings Component?

Here is the code snippet of LocalizedStrings we have used in this Example.

const strings = new LocalizedStrings({
  hi: {
    first:"क्या हाल है ?",
    second:"मैं ठीक हूँ ?",
  },
  "ma":{
    first:"तू कसा आहेस ?",
    second:"मी ठीक आहे ?",
  },
  "en":{
    first:"How are You ?",
    second:"I am fine ",
  },
  "fr":{
    first:"comment allez vous",
    second:"je vais bien",
  }
});

In this example below, we will make a home screen to select the language and will show the text content on the next screen accordingly from a common string repository where we have defined the same text for each language code.

To Make a React Native App

Getting started with React Native will help you to know more about the way you can make a React Native project. We are going to use react native command line interface to make our React Native App.

If you have previously installed a global react-native-cli package, please remove it as it may cause unexpected issues:

npm uninstall -g react-native-cli @react-native-community/cli

Run the following commands to create a new React Native project

npx react-native init ProjectName

If you want to start a new project with a specific React Native version, you can use the --version argument:

npx react-native init ProjectName --version X.XX.X

Note If the above command is failing, you may have old version of react-native or react-native-cli installed globally on your pc. Try uninstalling the cli and run the cli using npx.

This will make a project structure with an index file named App.js in your project directory.

Installation of Dependencies

To install the dependencies open the terminal and jump into your project

cd ProjectName

1. Install react-native-localization dependency to import LocalizedStrings

npm install react-native-localization --save

2. Install following dependencies for react-navigation

npm install @react-navigation/native --save

npm install @react-navigation/native-stack --save

npm install react-native-screens react-native-safe-area-context --save

react-native-screens package requires one additional configuration step to properly work on Android devices. Edit MainActivity.java file which is located in android/app/src/main/java/<your package name>/MainActivity.java.

Add the following code to the body of MainActivity class:

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
  super.onCreate(null);
}

and make sure to add the following import statement at the top of this file below your package statement:

import android.os.Bundle;

This change is required to avoid crashes related to View state being not persisted consistently across Activity restarts. These commands will copy all the dependencies into your node_module directory.

CocoaPods Installation

Please use the following command to install CocoaPods

npx pod-install

Project Structure

We are using the following project structure. Please make the following project structure.

Code to Make a Multi-Language App

If you are done with the project structure then please replace the following code

App.js

// Example of Localization in React Native Multi Language App
// https://aboutreact.com/localization-in-react-native/

import React from 'react';
import {NavigationContainer} from '@react-navigation/native';
import { createNativeStackNavigator } from '@react-navigation/native-stack';

import LanguageSelectionScreen from './pages/LanguageSelectionScreen';
import ContentScreen from './pages/ContentScreen';

const Stack = createNativeStackNavigator();

const App = () => {
  return (
    <NavigationContainer>
      <Stack.Navigator initialRouteName="LanguageSelectionScreen">
        <Stack.Screen
          name="LanguageSelectionScreen"
          component={LanguageSelectionScreen}
          options={{headerShown: false}}
        />
        <Stack.Screen
          name="ContentScreen"
          component={ContentScreen}
          options={{
            title: 'Content Screen', //Set Header Title
            headerStyle: {
              backgroundColor: '#f4511e', //Set Header color
            },
            headerTintColor: '#fff', //Set Header text color
            headerTitleStyle: {
              fontWeight: 'bold', //Set Header text style
            },
          }}
        />
      </Stack.Navigator>
    </NavigationContainer>
  );
};

export default App;

LanguageSelectionScreen.js

// Example of Localization in React Native Multi Language App
// https://aboutreact.com/localization-in-react-native/

import React, {useEffect} from 'react';
import {
  SafeAreaView,
  View,
  Text,
  ScrollView,
  Image,
  StyleSheet,
} from 'react-native';
import StringsOfLanguages from './StringsOfLanguages';

const LanguageSelectionScreen = ({navigation}) => {
  const lang = [
    {shortform: 'hi', longform: 'Hindi'},
    {shortform: 'ma', longform: 'Marathi'},
    {shortform: 'en', longform: 'English'},
    {shortform: 'fr', longform: 'French'},
  ];

  const settext = (value) => {
    StringsOfLanguages.setLanguage(value);
    navigation.navigate('ContentScreen', {selectedLanguage: value});
  };

  return (
    <SafeAreaView style={{flex: 1}}>
      <View style={styles.container}>
        <Text style={styles.headingStyle}>
          Please Select Preferred Language
        </Text>
        <Image
          source={{
            uri:
              'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AboutReact/sampleresource/master/language.png',
          }}
          style={styles.imageStyle}
        />
        <ScrollView style={{marginTop: 30, width: '80%'}}>
          {lang.map((item, key) => (
            <View style={styles.elementContainer} key={key}>
              <Text
                onPress={() => settext(item.shortform)}
                style={styles.textStyle}>
                {item.longform}
              </Text>
              <View style={styles.saparatorStyle} />
            </View>
          ))}
        </ScrollView>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 18,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey',
          }}>
          Example of Localization in React Native 
         (Multi Language App)
        </Text>
        <Text
          style={{
            fontSize: 16,
            textAlign: 'center',
            color: 'grey',
          }}>
          www.aboutreact.com
        </Text>
      </View>
    </SafeAreaView>
  );
};

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    backgroundColor: 'white',
    justifyContent: 'center',
    alignItems: 'center',
    padding: 10,
  },
  headingStyle: {
    color: '#191919',
    fontSize: 25,
    textAlign: 'center',
  },
  imageStyle: {
    width: 64,
    height: 64,
    marginTop: 30,
  },
  elementContainer: {
    width: '100%',
    marginTop: 30,
    alignItems: 'center',
  },
  textStyle: {
    color: '#191919',
    fontSize: 25,
  },
  saparatorStyle: {
    height: 0.5,
    width: '60%',
    backgroundColor: '#C2C2C2',
    marginTop: 10,
  },
});

export default LanguageSelectionScreen;

ContentScreen.js

// Example of Localization in React Native Multi Language App
// https://aboutreact.com/localization-in-react-native/

import React, {useEffect} from 'react';
import {SafeAreaView, View, Text, StyleSheet} from 'react-native';
import StringsOfLanguages from './StringsOfLanguages';

const ContentScreen = ({route, navigation}) => {
  useEffect(() => {
    let heading = '';
    if (route.params.selectedLanguage == 'hi') {
      heading = 'Selected Language Hindi';
    } else if (route.params.selectedLanguage == 'ma') {
      heading = 'Selected Language Marathi';
    } else if (route.params.selectedLanguage == 'en') {
      heading = 'Selected Language English';
    } else if (route.params.selectedLanguage == 'fr') {
      heading = 'Selected Language French';
    }
    navigation.setOptions({title: heading});
  }, []);

  return (
    <SafeAreaView style={styles.container}>
      <View style={styles.container}>
        <Text style={styles.text}>
          {StringsOfLanguages.first}
        </Text>
        <Text style={styles.text}>
          {StringsOfLanguages.second}
        </Text>
      </View>
      <Text
        style={{
          fontSize: 18,
          textAlign: 'center',
          color: 'grey',
        }}>
        Example of Localization in React Native (Multi Language App)
      </Text>
      <Text
        style={{
          fontSize: 16,
          textAlign: 'center',
          color: 'grey',
        }}>
        www.aboutreact.com
      </Text>
    </SafeAreaView>
  );
};

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    backgroundColor: 'white',
    alignItems: 'center',
    padding: 10,
  },
  text: {
    color: '#191919',
    fontSize: 25,
    marginTop: 15,
  },
});

export default ContentScreen;

StringsOfLanguages.js

// Example of Localization in React Native Multi Language App
// https://aboutreact.com/localization-in-react-native/

import LocalizedStrings from 'react-native-localization';

const StringsOfLanguages = new LocalizedStrings({
  hi: {
    first: 'क्या हाल है ?',
    second: 'मैं ठीक हूँ ?',
  },
  ma: {
    first: 'तू कसा आहेस ?',
    second: 'मी ठीक आहे ?',
  },
  en: {
    first: 'How are You ?',
    second: 'I am fine ',
  },
  fr: {
    first: 'comment allez vous',
    second: 'je vais bien',
  },
});

export default StringsOfLanguages;

To Run the React Native App

Open the terminal again and jump into your project using.

cd ProjectName

1. Start Metro Bundler

First, you will need to start Metro, the JavaScript bundler that ships with React Native. To start Metro bundler run following command:

npx react-native start

Once you start Metro Bundler it will run forever on your terminal until you close it. Let Metro Bundler run in its own terminal. Open a new terminal and run the application.

2. Start React Native Application

To run the project on an Android Virtual Device or on real debugging device:

npx react-native run-android

or on the iOS Simulator by running (macOS only)

npx react-native run-ios

Output Screenshots

This is how you can make a multi-language React Native Application (Localization). If you have any doubts or you want to share something about the topic you can comment below or contact us here. There will be more posts coming soon. Stay tuned!

Hope you liked it. 🙂