Translate app

[aasandr0]

Hello,
thanks for its app. This is very good. I can translate the app into the Russian language. Do you plan to work with Crowding or its counterparts so that enthusiasts can help translate the app into their language?

[acristescu]

Hi Aleksandr, thanks for offering. When I started the project, I never envisioned that it would become so popular that it would require translations, hence I haven't actually written it in such a way. For example, all strings are hardcoded. There would need to be a lot of work to pull this out.

Normally I would say I'm not willing to do it, but recently about 40% of all comments and reviews are asking for translations in various languages, I would have to reconsider at some point.

Sadly, I don't have any experience with Localization Management Tools, for example it's the first time I heard of Crowding. Have you successfully used this in the past? Is that the go-to platform for open-source projects?

[MathieuDreano]

I did some tests with localizy, I'm not sure i pushed the branch to thé repository, i'll check. But here is link to localizy for the app: https://localazy.com/p/onlinego Already have an issue here #73

[aasandr0]

Hi Aleksandr, thanks for offering. When I started the project, I never envisioned that it would become so popular that it would require translations, hence I haven't actually written it in such a way. For example, all strings are hardcoded. There would need to be a lot of work to pull this out.

Normally I would say I'm not willing to do it, but recently about 40% of all comments and reviews are asking for translations in various languages, I would have to reconsider at some point.

Sadly, I don't have any experience with Localization Management Tools, for example it's the first time I heard of Crowding. Have you successfully used this in the past? Is that the go-to platform for open-source projects?

Yes, I used it as a translator for the open-source federated social network Mastodon. In addition to that, it is also used for translations by projects such as:
GitLab, NodeJS, Directus, Postgre SQL and OpenProject.

[BHydden]

Hosted Weblate is also very popular right now. It's free for open source projects.

[acristescu]

I'm on vacation right now and since there are so many options, I will have to have a look I guess. Since @MathieuDreano seems to have put so much work into translations already, I'm leaning towards using that.

Could you guys see why we shouldn't be using that?

[MathieuDreano]

Well.. I'm not sure the solution i went for (localazy) has a very active community.
And i had issue using their plugin. Si it's worth taking some time benchmarking if someone has experience with translation tool.

[acristescu]

Looking at your work in the PR it seems that 99% of it is just pulling the text out into XMLs, which is going to be needed regardless of which solution we're going to end up using.

[davi-jorge-art]

I'm thinking in translate it to Portuguese (Brazilian) . I've never done this to a software. Maybe through this service (or another like this one...) : https://weblate.bubbletea.dev/about/

[davi-jorge-art]

I've used the weak AI from microsoft to trying to do it make a binary file with for your app use the "automatic translate" from Android...
I Think I've achieved very much with my almost zero skills on programming...Maybe you @acristescu can ask more accurate questions in a way to shrink to minimum the typing time...
Here the instructions in html. After that I will put another message with the transcription of the "conversation"

<title>Sente - Online GO Localization</title> <style> body { font-family: sans-serif; margin: 40px; line-height: 1.6; color: #333; } h1, h2 { color: #146c94; } code, pre { background-color: #f6f6f6; padding: 10px; border-radius: 5px; display: block; } .folder { background-color: #e8f0fe; padding: 8px; border-left: 4px solid #4285f4; margin: 10px 0; } .language { margin-bottom: 30px; } </style>

🌐 Sente - Online GO Localization Project

This guide outlines how to implement multi-language support in the Sente - Online GO Android app. It uses Android's strings.xml system to load the appropriate language automatically based on the user's device settings.

📁 Folder Structure

res/
├── values/                → Portuguese (default)
│   └── strings.xml
├── values-en/             → English
│   └── strings.xml
├── values-es/             → Spanish
│   └── strings.xml
├── values-ru/             → Russian
│   └── strings.xml
├── values-de/             → German
│   └── strings.xml
├── values-fr/             → French
    └── strings.xml
    

📑 File Format and Encoding

Each strings.xml file must:

• Be saved as UTF-8 (without BOM)
• Use standard XML format
• Contain key-value pairs inside a <resources> block

🌍 Language Examples

🇧🇷 Portuguese (values/strings.xml)

<resources>
    <string name="app_name">Sente - Online GO</string>
    <string name="welcome_message">Bem-vindo ao antigo jogo de GO!</string>
    <string name="play_online">Jogar Online</string>
    <string name="play_offline">Jogar Offline</string>
    <string name="settings">Configurações</string>
    <string name="exit">Sair</string>
</resources>
    

🇬🇧 English (values-en/strings.xml)

<resources>
    <string name="app_name">Sente - Online GO</string>
    <string name="welcome_message">Welcome to the ancient game of GO!</string>
    <string name="play_online">Play Online</string>
    <string name="play_offline">Play Offline</string>
    <string name="settings">Settings</string>
    <string name="exit">Exit</string>
</resources>
    

🇪🇸 Spanish (values-es/strings.xml)

<resources>
    <string name="app_name">Sente - Online GO</string>
    <string name="welcome_message">¡Bienvenido al antiguo juego de GO!</string>
    <string name="play_online">Jugar en línea</string>
    <string name="play_offline">Jugar sin conexión</string>
    <string name="settings">Configuración</string>
    <string name="exit">Salir</string>
</resources>
    

🇷🇺 Russian (values-ru/strings.xml)

<resources>
    <string name="app_name">Sente - Онлайн ГО</string>
    <string name="welcome_message">Добро пожаловать в древнюю игру ГО!</string>
    <string name="play_online">Играть онлайн</string>
    <string name="play_offline">Играть офлайн</string>
    <string name="settings">Настройки</string>
    <string name="exit">Выход</string>
</resources>
    

🇩🇪 German (values-de/strings.xml)

<resources>
    <string name="app_name">Sente - Online GO</string>
    <string name="welcome_message">Willkommen beim alten Spiel GO!</string>
    <string name="play_online">Online spielen</string>
    <string name="play_offline">Offline spielen</string>
    <string name="settings">Einstellungen</string>
    <string name="exit">Beenden</string>
</resources>
    

🇫🇷 French (values-fr/strings.xml)

<resources>
    <string name="app_name">Sente - GO en ligne</string>
    <string name="welcome_message">Bienvenue dans le jeu ancien du GO !</string>
    <string name="play_online">Jouer en ligne</string>
    <string name="play_offline">Jouer hors ligne</string>
    <string name="settings">Paramètres</string>
    <string name="exit">Quitter</string>
</resources>
    

📬 Developer Instructions

• Create folders inside app/src/main/res named values-XX for each language
• Save each strings.xml using UTF-8 encoding
• Don’t include hardcoded strings in layout or Java/Kotlin files — use @string/name
• Android will automatically switch languages if translations exist for the system language
• Use device settings to test different language outputs

Need help testing or packaging? I’m here to assist! 💬

[davi-jorge-art]

Eu queria outra coisa : poder fazer o Sente online Go ser traduzido automaticamente pelo sistema Android , dependendo da linguagem padrão do sistema e enviar essas instruções já feits para o desenvolvedor .

Entendi! Você quer que o app Sente - Online GO seja traduzido automaticamente com base no idioma padrão do Android — e que essas instruções estejam prontas para serem enviadas ao desenvolvedor. Perfeito! Aqui vai um guia direto e técnico que você pode copiar e colar para ele:
🌐 Instruções para ativar tradução automática no Android (internacionalização)
✅ 1. Adotar o sistema de internacionalização (i18n)

Criar arquivos strings.xml separados para cada idioma:

    res/values/strings.xml → Português (padrão)

    res/values-en/strings.xml → Inglês

    res/values-es/strings.xml → Espanhol

    ...e assim por diante

✅ 2. Evitar textos fixos no código

Substituir todos os textos hardcoded por chamadas a getString(R.string.nome_da_string)

✅ 3. Detectar idioma do sistema automaticamente

O Android já faz isso por padrão: se o app tiver traduções disponíveis, ele usará a que corresponde ao idioma do sistema.

✅ 4. Testar com diferentes idiomas

Alterar o idioma do sistema Android nas configurações

Verificar se o app muda automaticamente para o idioma correspondente

✅ 5. Sugestão de bibliotecas (se usar React Native ou Flutter)

React Native: usar react-native-localize + i18n-js

Flutter: usar flutter_localizations + intl

📩 Mensagem pronta para o desenvolvedor

Olá! Gostaria de sugerir que o app Sente - Online GO seja adaptado para suportar tradução automática com base no idioma do sistema Android. Isso pode ser feito com arquivos strings.xml separados por idioma e evitando textos fixos no código. Assim, o app se tornaria mais acessível para usuários internacionais. Se precisar de ajuda com a implementação, posso colaborar!

Se quiser, posso até te ajudar a criar os arquivos de tradução ou revisar o código atual do app. Quer que eu gere um exemplo de strings.xml em inglês e espanhol? 🇬🇧🇪🇸