Add Translations to Your Expo React Native App - Use Localizations to Bring Your App to more Users

Hi everyone!

Today I will show you how to add localizations to your Expo React Native app using two very simple and easy to use libraries; i18n and expo-localization. We will use expo-localisation to retrieve the locale the user has set their phone to which can be set against i18n to determine what translation to show. I will also show you how to configure i18n for fallbacks if certain languages don't have applicable translations and how to re-render the application with new locale settings if the user chooses to override the system language.

It is my hope that by sharing this with you, you will be able to provide users a better experience as they will be able to navigate your applications in a language that they are more familiar in so they may better understand how to use various features. You will also be able to tap into different markets that may have less apps available to them in a native language and thus be able to increase the exposure your app receives.

My code is available on GitHub:

You can also find the full expo-localization documentation on expo here:

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// ABOUT ME
My name is Chelsea and I started studying software engineering in 2010. I have been working commercially full time since 2014 and have been in various positions from graduate developer to tech lead to solution architect.
I'm a full stack developer with a lot of experience in C# and Javascript but my passion is for mobile development; specifically native iOS development and cross platform using React Native.

I always have many things on the go and am always trying out a new side hustle and failing at it; perhaps you can learn from my mistakes!

Please like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video and want to see more like it!
Have any suggestions on topics you would like to learn more about? Please suggest them in the comments... I would love to help you out while doing a bit of learning myself!

// PRODUCTS USED
I use the following products in the creation of my videos:

A reasonable quality and reasonably sturdy but cost effective microphone that can be used by both DSLR cameras, mobile phones and laptops

A kit lens but a decent quality lens for beginners getting used to a DSLR

This is the kit I started with it includes the lens linked above and is a great starter camera.

I love Apple devices... These are the ones I use for my channel content creation:

A good all round phone, good for Apple development and recording videos with enough high quality features but at a cheaper price point than the pro versions.

A nice portable computer for working from anywhere and perfect for iOS development

Really easy to use for graphic design if required for logos as part of my app development or editing the videos on the go.

For logo and icon design in Affinity Designer app for iPad

Adds keyboard and touchpad to iPad Air, making it easier to use for writing code/eBooks etc. on the go!

DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my channel so I can continue to provide you with free content each week!

//CONTACT:

//CRAVING MORE:

[mohammedelborawi]

Great video, better than million tutorials, yesterday I browsed the web could not find an answer to my issue, until I found your video, simplest most useful tutorial using react native and expo, thank you very much.

[shakatalka]

For some reason I get an error as soon as I enter i18n.fallbacks = true. The error says undefined is not an object when evaluating to true. Im using dev-client and built it with the dependancies. Any idea on how to fix this to get it working?

It was a very good and helpful video!. I got a question. What about if I dont wanna have several languages in my App, only Spanish. I'm asking this cuz I coded my app in Spanish, but when I submitted to the AppStore, the AppStore says: Language: English. Is there a way to set only one languaje? Thanks in advance

[SagarChauhan-ur]

Do we need to define all the translation steps on every component, turns out setting it on the app component doesn't actually reflects on other components.
Do you have a resource for apps which are not using expo?

[hmleao]

One more sub, keep getting to your excellent tutorials.

[bjarki]

Great video, but in most cases you would create an app with more than one screen, so how would you pass the chosen language between the screens?

[mustafaalajmi]

Create a video how to use i18n & redux for multi-pages apps

[yashvardhantyagi]

Why am i giving translations for every language, it should convert the text on its own. I should only give the language for the variable

[goodpanda]

(imported as 'i18n') was not found in 'i18n-js' err

[csrit]

React native track player using expo
Pls make a video

[gouravnainwaya]

plZZ make vpn app with source code and function components

[mletada]

I got error
undefined is not an object (evaluating '_i18nJs.i18n.fallbacks = true')