Changing language on the fly in swift

Question

Now I know that apple does not recommend this.

In general, you should not change the iOS system language (via use of the AppleLanguages pref key) from

Answer 1

As answered by "vikingosegundo" above was having category in Objective c So here is Swift extension version

import ObjectiveC

private var associatedLanguageBundle:Character = "0"

class PrivateBundle: Bundle {
    override func localizedString(forKey key: String, value: String?, table tableName: String?) -> String {
        let bundle: Bundle? = objc_getAssociatedObject(self, &associatedLanguageBundle) as? Bundle
        return (bundle != nil) ? (bundle!.localizedString(forKey: key, value: value, table: tableName)) : (super.localizedString(forKey: key, value: value, table: tableName))

    }
}

extension Bundle {
    class func setLanguage(_ language: String) {
        var onceToken: Int = 0

        if (onceToken == 0) {
            /* TODO: move below code to a static variable initializer (dispatch_once is deprecated) */
            object_setClass(Bundle.main, PrivateBundle.self)
        }
        onceToken = 1
        objc_setAssociatedObject(Bundle.main, &associatedLanguageBundle, (language != nil) ? Bundle(path: Bundle.main.path(forResource: language, ofType: "lproj") ?? "") : nil, .OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN_NONATOMIC)
    }
}

remains code will same as mentioned by "vikingosegundo"

Corrections are always welcome :)

Answer 2

Use this line of code it will change layout without closing application. From right to left

UIView.appearance().semanticContentAttribute = .forceRightToLeft

And for Left to Right Flip

UIView.appearance().semanticContentAttribute = .forceLeftToRight

and if you want to change textfield layout or text change then use this code because i faced this issue . textfield's texts was not changning layout. check this code to change layout of textfield text.

extension UITextField {
  open override func awakeFromNib() {
super.awakeFromNib()
  if UserDefaults.languageCode == "ar" {
    if textAlignment == .natural {
        self.textAlignment = .right
    }
  }
 }
}

Answer 3

Basically you have to teach you bundle how to switch languages by loading different bundle files.

I translated my Objective-C code to Swift — with leaving the NSBundle category untouched.

The result is a view controller class that offers a languageDidChange() method for overriding.

---

NSBundle+Language.h

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

@interface NSBundle (Language)
+(void)setLanguage:(NSString*)language;

@end

---

NSBundle+Language.m

#import "NSBundle+Language.h"
#import <objc/runtime.h>

static const char associatedLanguageBundle=0;

@interface PrivateBundle : NSBundle
@end

@implementation PrivateBundle
-(NSString*)localizedStringForKey:(NSString *)key
                            value:(NSString *)value
                            table:(NSString *)tableName
{
    NSBundle* bundle=objc_getAssociatedObject(self, &associatedLanguageBundle);
    return bundle ? [bundle localizedStringForKey:key
                                            value:value
                                            table:tableName] : [super localizedStringForKey:key
                                                                                      value:value
                                                                                      table:tableName];
}
@end

@implementation NSBundle (Language)
+(void)setLanguage:(NSString*)language
{
    static dispatch_once_t onceToken;
    dispatch_once(&onceToken, ^{
        object_setClass([NSBundle mainBundle],[PrivateBundle class]);
    });

    objc_setAssociatedObject([NSBundle mainBundle], &associatedLanguageBundle, language ?
                             [NSBundle bundleWithPath:[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:language ofType:@"lproj"]] : nil, OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN_NONATOMIC);
}
@end

---

AppDelegate.swift

import UIKit

@UIApplicationMain
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {

    var window: UIWindow?


    func application(application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [NSObject: AnyObject]?) -> Bool {

        NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: "languageWillChange:", name: "LANGUAGE_WILL_CHANGE", object: nil)

        let targetLang = NSUserDefaults.standardUserDefaults().objectForKey("selectedLanguage") as? String

        NSBundle.setLanguage((targetLang != nil) ? targetLang : "en")
        return true
    }

    func languageWillChange(notification:NSNotification){
        let targetLang = notification.object as! String
        NSUserDefaults.standardUserDefaults().setObject(targetLang, forKey: "selectedLanguage")
        NSBundle.setLanguage(targetLang)
        NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().postNotificationName("LANGUAGE_DID_CHANGE", object: targetLang)
    }    
}

---

BaseViewController.swift

import UIKit



class BaseViewController: UIViewController {

    @IBOutlet weak var englishButton: UIButton!
    @IBOutlet weak var spanishButton: UIButton!

    deinit{
        NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().removeObserver(self)
    }
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: "languageDidChangeNotification:", name: "LANGUAGE_DID_CHANGE", object: nil)
        languageDidChange()

    }

    override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
        super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
        // Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
    }

    @IBAction func switchLanguage(sender: UIButton) {

        var localeString:String?
        switch sender {
        case englishButton: localeString = "en"
        case spanishButton: localeString = "es"
        default: localeString = nil
        }


        if localeString != nil {
            NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().postNotificationName("LANGUAGE_WILL_CHANGE", object: localeString)
        }
    }


    func languageDidChangeNotification(notification:NSNotification){
        languageDidChange()
    }

    func languageDidChange(){

    }


}

---

ViewController.swift

import UIKit

class ViewController: BaseViewController {

    @IBOutlet weak var helloLabel: UILabel!
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
    }

    override func languageDidChange() {
        super.languageDidChange()
        self.helloLabel.text = NSLocalizedString("Hello", comment: "")

    }
}

---

instead of using subclasses of BaseViewController, your viewcontrollers could also post "LANGUAGE_WILL_CHANGE" and listen for "LANGUAGE_DID_CHANGE"

I pushed the complete project here: ImmediateLanguageSwitchSwift