iOS: Localizable.strings doesn't work

Question

This has been bothering for days now.

I've set up Arabic localisation in my project and I've set my device Language to Arabic.

When I run my app from Xcode with the run scheme option set to use Arabic Localization, localisation works fine.

When I run the app without Xcode, the app uses English.

I've read the answers to similar questions but none of them have worked for me thus far.

I am using NSLocalizableString(@"login",@""); to load the strings from the Localizable.strings file. This works fine as long as I set the Run scheme localization option to Arabic.
I've tried uninstalling the app, cleaning the project and then re-installing. Now the app uses the Localizabe.strings key names instead of their arabic values.
The Localizable.strings file is named correctly, and is listed under "Copy Bundle Resources".
The Localizable.strings is perfectly formatter. I've verified this using plutil.

What else could I be missing?

Example:

-(void) viewDidLoad
{
    [super viewDidLoad];

    // ...

    [self setupLocalization];
}

-(void) setupLocalization
{
    self.mailAddress.placeholder = NSLocalizedString(@"email_address", @"");
    self.password.placeholder = NSLocalizedString(@"password", @"");
}

Can you please show us the code which you are using to gather Localizable strings from the file? — MrAsterisco, Jan 02 '17 at 14:43
Check `[NSLocale currentLocale]` in logs when you're running the app on the real device. Locale can be defined with country and there are a lot of combination `Language - Country` for Arabic language (check [this](https://gist.github.com/jacobbubu/1836273)). — dive, Jan 02 '17 at 15:26

Duncan C · Answer 1 · 2017-01-02T15:52:19.767

0

Are you calling NSLocalizedString(_:,comment:) to convert your strings to localized strings?

If you are not doing that, that is the reason it is not working.

edited Jan 02 '17 at 15:52

answered Jan 02 '17 at 14:44

Duncan C

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This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post. - [From Review](/review/low-quality-posts/14762496) – Draken Jan 02 '17 at 15:21
1

@Draken, if the OP was not calling NSLocalizedString then this would be the cause of the problem. I did not phrase my answer in those terms, but it was a possible cause and solution to the problem, so I posted it as an answer. – Duncan C Jan 02 '17 at 15:51
It did pop up in the review queue and the wording of the answer was quite poor to look like something that was a comment rather than an answer. Just something to bear in mind for the future – Draken Jan 02 '17 at 15:55

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

I found out what the issue is:

AppDelegate's application:didFinishLoadingWithOptions: contained this snippet of code

NSUserDefaults *defaults = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];
[defaults setObject:@[@"en"] forKey:@"AppleLanguages"];
[defaults synchronize];

which forces NSLocalizedString() to return English values.

The project was outsourced and I had no idea that the snippet was there.

iOS: Localizable.strings doesn't work

2 Answers2