ReactNativeLocalization

Class to localize the React Native interface.

Use react-localization if you want to share code with a React project or localized-strings for a generic javascript solution.

Note about version 3.x

Version 3.x modernizes the library and is aligned with the current React Native ecosystem:

• Written in TypeScript with bundled type declarations.
• Built on top of react-localization 2.x / localized-strings 2.x.
• Requires React 19+ (a react-localization 2.x requirement) and React Native 0.73+.
• Ships CommonJS, ESM and TypeScript builds through a proper exports map.
• Works with the New Architecture through the legacy native module interop layer.
• The native modules are resolved automatically via autolinking; the legacy react-native link step is no longer needed.

See the CHANGELOG for the full list of changes.

Note about version 1.x

This library has been refactored to use the localized-strings package, now added as a dependency, so to unify the code and make it easier to maintain.

All the basic code is now in the localized-strings project and in the react-localization version that adds support for embedding JSX code in the formatted strings, by overriding the formatString method.

This version adds a custom version of the getInterfaceLanguage to retrieve the interface language from the native OS.

What it does

I just needed a dead simple way to internationalize my first React Native app.

At the beginning I thought I'd expose the native iOS internationalization API (NSLocalizedString macro) to React Native, but then I've opted for a solution that seems, at least to me, more in the spirit of React (and I hope better performance wise).

In this implementation we can keep the localized strings in the same file of the React View in a similar way of how Styles are implemented (I don't deny that this approach could lead to some duplications in the translated strings, but it could be feasible to create a CommonJS module to use as common source of the strings, requiring it in the different views).

Beware: Expo Go / managed Expo apps need a development build (or need to be ejected) before integrating native modules like this one.

How it works

The Javascript library uses a native module (ReactLocalization) to get the current interface language, then it loads and displays the strings matching the current interface locale or the default language (the first one if a match is not found) if a specific localization can't be found.

It's possible to force a language different from the interface one.

Requirements

• React Native >= 0.73.0
• React >= 19.0.0
• iOS >= 13.0, Android minSdkVersion >= 24
• Node.js >= 20.19.0 for building the library from source

Installation

The easiest way to install is to type just a couple of commands inside your React Native project folder:

yarn add react-native-localization

# or

npm i react-native-localization

# iOS only (React Native >= 0.60 uses autolinking)
cd ios && pod install && cd ..

Android and iOS are linked automatically through autolinking (React Native >= 0.60). Don't forget to restart the app / bundler after installing.

Windows does not support autolinking, so it requires a manual installation (see below).

Manual installation iOS

1. npm install --save react-native-localization
2. In the XCode's "Project navigator", right click on Libraries folder under your project ➜ Add Files to <...>
3. Go to node_modules ➜ react-native-localization and add the ReactNativeLocalization.xcodeproj file
4. Add libReactNativeLocalization.a to Build Phases -> Link Binary With Libraries
5. Build and run

Manual installation Android

1. npm install --save react-native-localization

2. In android/settings.gradle

   ...
   include ':react-native-localization', ':app'
   project(':react-native-localization').projectDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, '../node_modules/react-native-localization/android')

3. In android/app/build.gradle

   ...
   dependencies {
       ...
       implementation project(':react-native-localization')
   }

4. register module (in MainApplication.java)

   import com.babisoft.ReactNativeLocalization.ReactNativeLocalizationPackage; // <--- import
   
   public class MainApplication extends Application implements ReactApplication {
     ......
       @Override
       protected List<ReactPackage> getPackages() {
         return Arrays.<ReactPackage>asList(
             new MainReactPackage(),
             new ReactNativeLocalizationPackage()
         );
       }
     ......
   }

(Thanks to @rebeccahughes for showing by example how to create an android module for React Native)

Manual installation windows

Full process is documented in the official React Native plugin for Universal Windows repo.

1. Run npm install --save react-native-localization
2. Open your Visual Studio solution.
3. Right-click the solution in the Solution Explorer
4. Select Add -> Existing Project
5. Choose the .csproj of the dependency from the Explorer window. Dependency will be in node_modules\react-native-localization\windows\ReactNativeLocalization
6. Right-click the Universal Windows App project in the Solution Explorer
7. Select Add -> Reference
8. Choose the ReactNativeLocalization project.
9. Open MainPage.cs
10. Add the new ReactNativeLocalization.RNLocalizationPackage() to the Packages list in MainPage.cs

Usage

In the React class that you want to localize require the library and define the strings object passing to the constructor a simple object containing a language key (i.e. en, it, fr..) and then a list of key-value pairs with the needed localized strings.

// ES6 module syntax
import LocalizedStrings from 'react-native-localization';

// CommonJS syntax
// const LocalizedStrings = require('react-native-localization').default;

let strings = new LocalizedStrings({
  "en-US":{
    how:"How do you want your egg today?",
    boiledEgg:"Boiled egg",
    softBoiledEgg:"Soft-boiled egg",
    choice:"How to choose the egg"
  },
  en:{
    how:"How do you want your egg today?",
    boiledEgg:"Boiled egg",
    softBoiledEgg:"Soft-boiled egg",
    choice:"How to choose the egg"
  },
  it: {
    how:"Come vuoi il tuo uovo oggi?",
    boiledEgg:"Uovo sodo",
    softBoiledEgg:"Uovo alla coque",
    choice:"Come scegliere l'uovo"
  }
});

Then use the strings object literal directly in the render method accessing the key of the localized string.

<Text style={styles.title}>
  {strings.how}
</Text>

The first language is considered the default one, so if a translation is missing for the selected language, the default one is shown and a line is written to the log as a reminder.

Update / Overwrite Locale

You might have default localized in the build but then download the latest localization strings from a server. Use setContent to overwrite the whole object. NOTE that this will remove all other localizations if used.

strings.setContent({
  en:{
    how:"How do you want your egg todajsie?",
    boiledEgg:"Boiled eggsie",
    softBoiledEgg:"Soft-boiled egg",
    choice:"How to choose the egg"
  }
})

You can also only overwrite a specific language using

strings.setContent(Object.assign({}, strings.getContent(), {
  en:{
    how:"How do you want your egg todajsie?",
    boiledEgg:"Boiled eggsie",
    softBoiledEgg:"Soft-boiled egg",
    choice:"How to choose the egg"
  }
}));

Typescript

Types are bundled with the package, so no extra @types package is required. A typical tsconfig.json looks like this:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "esnext",
    "module": "esnext",
    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
    "jsx": "react-jsx",
    "strict": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true
  }
}

Import should be done like this:

import LocalizedStrings from 'react-native-localization';

const strings = new LocalizedStrings({
  en: { how: "How do you want your egg today?" },
  it: { how: "Come vuoi il tuo uovo oggi?" },
});

// `strings.how` is fully typed

API

• setLanguage(languageCode) - to force manually a particular language
• getLanguage() - to get the current displayed language
• getInterfaceLanguage() - to get the current device interface language
• formatString() - to format the passed string replacing its placeholders with the other arguments strings

  en:{
    bread:"bread",
    butter:"butter",
    question:"I'd like {0} and {1}, or just {0}"
  }
  ...
  strings.formatString(strings.question, strings.bread, strings.butter)

Beware: do not define a string key as formatString or language!

• getAvailableLanguages() - to get an array of the languages passed in the constructor
• getString(key, language?) - to get a string for a specific language
• getContent() - to get the whole content object (all the languages/strings)
• setContent(content) - to replace the content object without reinstantiating

Examples

To force a particular language use something like this:

_onSetLanguageToItalian() {
  strings.setLanguage('it');
  this.setState({});
}

It's also possible to set the language directly in your Xcode project using the following code snippet:

[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] setObject:[NSArray arrayWithObjects:@"de", nil] forKey:@"AppleLanguages"];

Replace de with a supported locale identifier to test.

Check out the WIKI page for additional informations.

Questions or suggestions?

Feel free to contact me on Twitter or open an issue.