Post AaabqlGNeH4tuEImTg by kly@fosstodon.org
(DIR) More posts by kly@fosstodon.org
(DIR) Post #AaabqYJ5osWVisTGOu by kly@fosstodon.org
2023-10-09T05:05:33Z
0 likes, 4 repeats
One thing I hate about my phone and localization is that I get to pick ONE language. That's it. But I'm fluent in both English and Norwegian.I don't want American apps in shitty translated Norwegian, I want them in native English. At the same time, I don't want my local bank, gym, metro etc showing me their dubious English translations, I want the native Norwegian.But I can't choose this. I get everything in one language. And it sucks.
(DIR) Post #AaabqaC4nw6DZhCgk4 by kly@fosstodon.org
2023-10-09T05:11:58Z
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There are so many examples in the software industry that it's dominated by people who mainly only speak one language, and this is just one.English isn't my mother tounge and I'm way past the illusion that my English will ever be as good as Norwegian, but it doesn't feel like a foreign tounge either. Yet when dealing with localization there is NEVER an attempt to handle this aspect of language proficiency.
(DIR) Post #Aaabqc4hoJOLPPlpWy by kly@fosstodon.org
2023-10-09T05:16:06Z
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I still remember when I got a (valid) bug report for a plugin I had written for compiz fusion, including screen shots of the settings dialogs. The user was a fellow Norwegian, but unlike me, they were using the Norwegian translations and they were so bad I had to ask them to switch to English because even though I understood the words, I couldn't tell what settings they were refering to IN MY OWN CODE.This is why I don't want translations if the original is in EITHER Norwegian OR English.
(DIR) Post #AaabqfXsuHVyAmRfvc by kly@fosstodon.org
2023-10-09T08:07:39Z
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I'm getting a lot of suggestions about "per app language". Let me emphasise how wrong that "solution" is.First: this is NOT a corner case! The wast majority of the world do not speak English as their mother tounge. I don't know how many are fluent enough to prefer English over a translated version, but I'm betting it's a huge amount.Second: this puts more work on the user, work most people wont be able to do. Essentially, this is a solution that solidifies the problematic attitude.
(DIR) Post #AaabqjRIQicaFVOTDM by kly@fosstodon.org
2023-10-09T08:58:45Z
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Asking hundreds of millions of users to make per-app settings because apparently that's good enough is an insane take.
(DIR) Post #AaabqlGNeH4tuEImTg by kly@fosstodon.org
2023-10-09T09:14:24Z
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And just for the record, this magic per app thing people keep suggesting over and over does not exist on my phone.It tells you something of the scope of the attitude problem when something like this takes over FIFTEEN YEARS to implement.And seen from the user, this is an O(n) solution. It should be O(1).
(DIR) Post #Aaacw1FVjy7it5xy40 by julia@hcommons.social
2023-10-09T07:38:10Z
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@kly Maybe I dreamed it, but I think the newest Android OS allows users to set language preferences per app? Is that a thing? I would also like it, as a native English speaker trying to learn Norwegian but still using English a lot...EDIT: Okay it's a thing in the newest OS https://support.google.com/android/answer/12395118?hl=en
(DIR) Post #Aaacw2AEL5Ufj0VGTI by tante@tldr.nettime.org
2023-10-09T09:44:08Z
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@julia @kly Yeah just wanted to say that. For a while Android allows setting "app languages". But it's kinda hidden and clunky and you might actually want to switch while in an app. But it's a least something.
(DIR) Post #AaagNhekTo2c5lfBgW by duponin@udongein.xyz
2023-10-09T10:22:35.569726Z
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@kly use an iphone, you can do this :cirno_shrug: i’m not even joking, it’s an option in every apps settings
(DIR) Post #Aab458bcSJXD4Xsbqq by shironeko@fedi.tesaguri.club
2023-10-09T14:48:25.475697Z
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@kly yep, this totally suck. With unix locale it allows the user to specify a list of "languages" for fallback when the preferred one is not available; it still have the problem you described but I think it can be co-opted by new applications to mean "list of languages the user speak ranked by preference" instead. Then the app itself can have a "list of languages ranked by nativeness" to achieve what you want.
(DIR) Post #AabOwTPRpwVk1bte7s by scathach@stereophonic.space
2023-10-09T18:42:03.889735Z
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@kly POSIX localization and it's consequences :akkoweary:
(DIR) Post #AabP06j47EtUpbnzRQ by scathach@stereophonic.space
2023-10-09T18:42:47.746926Z
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@kly POSIX localization and its consequences :akkoweary:
(DIR) Post #AacUwSt6ZPBxI36j1E by piggo@piggo.space
2023-10-10T07:23:55.285940Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@duponin @kly some android apps do too, but the developer must add it. and they usually don't care, especially if the app makes them money in any way.