Internationalizing Applications

Android users hail from many different parts of the world. They speak different languages, use different currencies, and format their dates in different ways—just to name a few examples. Android application internationalization generally falls into three categories:

• Providing alternative resources such as strings or graphics for use when the application runs in different languages

• Implementing locale-independent or locale-specific code and other programmatic concerns

• Configuring your application for sale in foreign markets

We already discussed how to use alternative resources in Android Wireless Application Development Volume I: Android Essentials, but perhaps another example is in order. Let’s look at an application that loads resources based upon the device language settings. Specifically, let’s consider a simple application that loads different string and graphic resources based on the language and region settings of the device.