Help:Multilingual support for Android
If you're trying to view other alphabets on Android, you may find that you've taken a significant step back. Most Android devices do not come with a complete set of Unicode fonts.
A Galaxy Tab p1000, sold for the European market has built in support for inputting a number of European languages in the Latin, Cyrillic, Greek and Greek alphabets, and Korean, and for reading, but not inputting Thai, Japanese and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional).
If you wish to install fonts other than the seven supported scripts, you will likely need to root your device.
Contents
Check
This will let you check, to see what scripts are installed properly on your computer
Alphabets
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Latin: If you're reading this, you already have Latin installed on your device.
| Script | Correct rendering | Your computer |
|---|---|---|
| Cyrillic | 110px | Кирилица |
| Greek | 110px | Ελληνικό |
| Georgian | 110px | ქართული |
| Armenian | 110px | Հայերեն |
| Arabic | 110px | أبجدية عربية |
| Hebrew | 110px | אלפבית עברי |
Other
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| Script | Correct rendering | Your computer |
|---|---|---|
| Ethiopic | 110px | ግዕዝ ፊደል |
| Thaana | 110px | ތާނަ އަލިފުބާގެ ތަރުތީބު |
Indic
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| Script | ||
|---|---|---|
| Correct rendering | Your computer | |
| Devanagari |  |
क + ि → कि |
| Tamil |  |
க + ே → கே |
| Gujarati |  |
ક + િ → કિ |
| Gurmukhi |  |
ਕ + ਿ → ਕਿ |
| Kannada |  |
ಕ + ಿ → ಕಿ |
| Telugu |  |
య + ీ → యీ |
| Bengali, Assamese |
File:Examples.of.complex.text.rendering.Bengali.png | ক + ি → কি |
| Malayalam |  |
ക + െ → കെ |
| Tibetan |  |
ར + ྐ + ྱ → རྐྱ |
| Sinhala |  |
ඵ + ේ → ඵේ |
| Oriya |  |
କ + େ → କେ |
| Thai |  |
ฐ + ู → ฐู |
| Lao | 150px | ລ + າ + ວ → ລາວ |
| Khmer |  |
ម + ្ + ស + ៅ → ម្សៅ |
| Burmese |  |
ဃ + ြ → ဃြ |
| Javanese |  |
ꦧ + ꦾ + ꦺ + ꦴ + ꦂ → ꦧꦾꦺꦴꦂ |
| Balinese |  |
ᬩ + ᭄ + ᬬ + ᬾ + ᬵ + ᬃ → ᬩ᭄ᬬᭀᬃ |
| Sundanese |  |
ᮘ + ᮡ + ᮧ + ᮁ → ᮘᮡᮧᮁ |
East Asian
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| Script | Correct rendering | Your computer |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese |  |
人人生來自由， |
| Simplified Chinese |  |
人人生来自由， |
| Japanese |  |
すべての人間は、生まれながらにして自由であり、 |
| Korean |  |
모든 인간은 태어날 때부터 |
Keyboards
If you plan to use multiple languages in Android, or to edit articles on Wikipedia on foreign languages that require scripts, chances are you will need to install a new keyboard, that can easily switch between settings without forcing you to return to settings. Fortunately, there are several free keyboards available for Android which will allow you to do this.
- EazyType Keyboard by SRC Technosoft Pvt. Ltd.
- AnySoft Keyboard by Menny Even Danan
- Go Keyboard by Go Dev Team
- MultiLing Keyboard by Han Honso
- MultiLingual Keyboard by Amidos
There are also several other free multilingual keyboards which come with experimental input methods:
- Adaptxt Beta by KeyPoint Technologies
- Hacker's Keyboard by Klaus Weidner
- Slide IT Soft Keyboard by Dasur Ltd. (Lite version)
- TouchPal Keyboard Tablet by CooTek
Comparison
Comparison of native support and available plugins for each keyboard. Not that not all plugins may work without installing a suitable font.
| Alphabet | EazyType | Language | AnySoft | Go | Han Honso ML | Amidos ML | Adaptxt | Hacker's | Slide IT | TouchPal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latin | Azerbaijani | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native | --- | --- | --- | --- | |
| French | Plugin | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native | --- | --- | Plugin | --- | ||
| German | Plugin | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native | --- | --- | Plugin | --- | ||
| Spanish | Plugin | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native | --- | --- | Plugin | --- | ||
| Indonesian | --- | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native | --- | --- | Plugin | --- | ||
| Turkish | --- | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native | --- | --- | Plugin | --- | ||
| Vietnamese | --- | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Cyrillic | Russian | Plugin | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native | --- | --- | Plugin | --- | |
| Bulgarian | Plugin | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | Plugin | --- | ||
| Ukrainian | Plugin | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native | --- | --- | Plugin | --- | ||
| Greek | Plugin | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | Plugin | --- | ||
| Georgian | Plugin Requires font |
Native Keyboard Requires font Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Requires font Dictionary plugin |
Native Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Armenian | Plugin Requires font |
--- | Native Keyboard Requires font Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Arabic | Plugin | --- | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | Plugin | --- | |
| Farsi | Plugin | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Requires font Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | Plugin | --- | ||
| Urdu | --- | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Requires font Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | Plugin | --- | ||
| Hebrew | Hebrew | --- | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | |
| Yiddish | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Ethiopic | Amharic | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | |
| Thaana | Dhivehi | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | |
| Korean | --- | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Japanese | --- | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Chinese (Simplified) | --- | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Chinese (Traditional) | --- | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Yi | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Devangari | Hindi | Plugin Requires font |
Native Keyboard Requires font Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Requires font Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | |
| Marathi | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Bengali | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Gujarati | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font Dictionary plugin |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Gurmukhi | Punjabi | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | |
| Oriya | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Sinhala | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Kannada | Plugin Requires font |
--- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Malayalam | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Tamil | Plugin Requires font |
--- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Telugu | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Tibetan | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Burmese | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Khmer | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Lao | Plugin Requires font |
--- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Thai | Plugin | Native Keyboard Dictionary plugin |
Native Keyboard Dictionary Plugin |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
| Canadian Aboriginal | --- | --- | Native Keyboard Requires font |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ||
Fonts
Chances are that your Android device will include Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic and most East-Asian fonts (except Yi), as well as Greek, Thai and Hebrew, meaning that you will be able to read, and once you have a proper keyboard, to write, languages spoken by a majority of the world's population.
However the large majority of the world's scripts are unsupported, including all Indic scripts except Thai (collectively covering India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, and Laos as well as Yi, Ge'ez, Thaana, Georgian, Armenian, and Canadian Aboriginal. While all of these alphabets except Burmese have keyboards available, they won't work unless you have the correct fonts.
And many Android devices (such as the Galaxy Tab mentioned above) do not allow you to install fonts, which will make things difficult for you. To install fonts on such devices, you will have to root them, before installing fonts. Detailed rooting instructions can be found here. Keep in mind that rooting your phone will format it, which means that it is very important to back-up your data prior to rooting.
Once your device is open, you will be able to install true-type fonts directly on your device, or use an installer from Android, such as this one for Georgian.
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