NSLocale always returns en_US

Question

I want to get current selected iphone language. If using "NSLocale" it returns always the same language. It seems that this is not the one you choose inside iphone settings.

NSLocale * locale = [NSLocale currentLocale];
NSString * localLanguage = [locale objectForKey:NSLocaleLanguageCode];
NSLog (@"Language : %@", localLanguage); // Returns always : "en_US"

How to obtain the current language?

I'm also having same problem as yours. Tried all kinds of methods, even delete Xcode and simulators and reinstall, but not work. This happens to me after using Xcode 6.1. Before that, everything works well. Have you fixed this? What's the reason behind it? — S1U, Oct 26 '14 at 18:41

score 16 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 04 '10 at 10:08

16

The answer is to check the preferred language :

NSString *preferredLang = [[NSLocale preferredLanguages] objectAtIndex:0];

answered Aug 04 '10 at 10:08

hhamm

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score 8 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:08

8

This question is old, but the reason is new since upgrading to Xcode 6.1
Due to a bug, the iOS8 simulator's [NSLocale currentLocale] always returns "en_US". It is alright on the device though. Hence, I recommend doing a test on a real device before bashing your head against a wall in frustration.

Sources: https://stackoverflow.com/a/26510914/3099609
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/releasenotes/DeveloperTools/RN-Xcode/Chapters/xc6_release_notes.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40001051-CH4-DontLinkElementID_23

edited May 23 '17 at 12:08

Community

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answered Nov 04 '14 at 09:37

user3099609

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Thank you! My head is only partially damaged. – chockenberry Feb 25 '15 at 23:14

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 07 '13 at 10:01

Locales encapsulate information about linguistic, cultural, and technological conventions and standards. Your code returns the "Region Format" information, if set "China", it will return "zh". Settings | General | International | Region Format

See “NSLocale Class Reference” for more information.

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered May 13 '14 at 18:42

To add to what SteamTrout suggested:

To get your language to respond to changes in iPhone settings you're going to want to use autoupdatingCurrentLocale: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/cocoa/reference/foundation/classes/NSLocale_Class/Reference/Reference.html#//apple_ref/occ/clm/NSLocale/autoupdatingCurrentLocale

If you read closely in the currentLocale reference you'll see that this value will not update from the settings panel: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/cocoa/reference/foundation/classes/NSLocale_Class/Reference/Reference.html#//apple_ref/occ/clm/NSLocale/currentLocale

score -1 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 02 '10 at 11:18

-1

Try [[NSLocale autoupdatingCurrentLocale] objectForKey:NSLocaleLanguageCode]

answered Aug 02 '10 at 11:18

SteamTrout

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this is also not working - it returns "en_US". It seems that Apple always returns the iphone initial language but not the one the user selected. – hhamm Aug 03 '10 at 14:07
The thing is, NSLocaleLanguageCode should not be even returning en_US but en only. - [NSLocale localeIdentifier] would be the one to return en_US. This is kinda odd. Maybe try CFLocale API? Sadly I don't have iDevice at hand to test it myself. Maybe anyone else can see if it works on theirs? – SteamTrout Aug 03 '10 at 15:26

NSLocale always returns en_US

5 Answers5