Language Support

B

big timer

New member
Anybody knows the extent of the foreign language support such as Hebrew in Android? This will require Hebrew fonts and right to left support.
 
There is a Unicode reference to hebrew:
http://code.google.com/android/reference/java/lang/Character.UnicodeBlock.html#HEBREW
right to left support:
http://code.google.com/android/reference/java/text/Bidi.html

But on the fonts side I didn't see hebrew in the built-in fonts, so it might not be able to display it.
http://www.ascendercorp.com/pr/pr2007_11_12.html

But that article is very old. Ascender is still working to include more characters from additional languages even as the G1 is preparing to ship: "Ascender is continuing to work on Droid, even as the G1 prepares to ship next month. Manufacturers of future Android devices have asked the company to adapt the characters to additional languages and screen widths, Davis says". It will likely come in an update if it isn't on the phone at first.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/09/25/font-android-g1-tech-wire-cx_ew_0926font.html
 
Thanks. I was realy hoping for an out-of-the-box Hebrew support. I guess I'll have to stick to English and hope for a quick update.
 
Bumping this thread to see if anybody is aware of any progress on the foreign language support. I didn't see any added support for Hebrew (or other foreign languages) on the road map. Is there any possibility to add the Hebrew fonts to the device?
 
I'm working on an add-on of Hebrew fonts.
They are present on the SDK, we just need to upload them through the market.
It might take me some time as I don't have much spare time and my code isn't too elegant.

I'll keep posting my progress on this thread.
 
Very little... as I mentioned before.. I don't have much time to spare...
If you know java I can give you my code and you can do some work of your own.

I own a subversion server you can user to submit your code.

Let me know

L
 
Oh.. another issue... I don't really feel like paying the 25$ for uploading this...
Maybe we'll wait till android market will start charging and I'll sell it for a dollar or two...
 
I wish. Other than playing with gudgets I have no technical knowledge. As for cost, I'll be happy to share cost of uploading if this works, or you can always just upload outside the market (will handandgo charge?). In any event, if you spend time and money working on this, I completely understand that you want to be compensated. If you finish this before Google permits to charge, please consider using other upload methods that will permit you to charge. Me and others would be more than happy to pay for a good working solution than to have no solution at all.
 
I thought about it long and hard.. I feel it's wrong to charge for it.. I'll release it for free. (25$ isn't a big deal if I can make some Israelis happy).

It works on the emulator fine now... Just need to test it on the phone and hopefully it will work
 
I have seen someone working on arabic and he did actually install it correctly on the emulator ..

check this link and if u all know arabic and hebrew are written from right to left
http://www.ahmed-essam.com/2007/11/applicability-for-arabizing-android.html
 
Ok... for some reason I can't go through and install the new fonts on the G1.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong with the permissions.. I'll keep trying.

Have you heard of other people who installed foreign languages? Maybe they can tell me what they did differently.

I saw a guy at iandroid.co.il who also got the thing to work on the emulator, he even included some pics (better job than what I did). Pherhaps we should try to check it out with him.
 
liorbk, i just wanted to stress that there are many people waiting for Hebrew support, and if you do get it to work, i will gladly share the market expenses with you.

Thanks!
 
Based on the thread at iAndroid.co.il I think that it's out of his hands. Android may be open, the G1, however, does not appear to be that open.

Do you live in Israel? Were you able to connect to Celcom's or Orange's 3G network or are you using it with WiFi only? Seems like you lose many of the connectivity advantages of this phone if you don't have an unlimited data plan.
 
Hi,
Depending on how far you have got and what is furether needed I maybe able to finish or atleast develop the project a little furthet.

If you pass on details I will have a look. Superficially worked on android, but java and midlets etc I am not bad ! I am also
Interested to see this project complete
I
 
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