Allow app_name to be localized

Some languages (eg. Serbian) use Cyrillic script, so anything left in Latin is considered incomplete localization. So, please allow app_name to be localised.

Status changed to closed

Thanks for the bug report. I think most people agree that everything should be internationalized. This includes app descriptions, and other things such as anti features and everything else that is specified in the metadata of each app.

However this is a large task, and primarily a job for the server which publishes the metadata. In fact, there is an issue already dedicated to it: https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroidserver/issues/35 (though you'll note there is no work on it yet, mainly because it is such a large task and we are a small team).

So I'm going to close this issue, but not because it is a bad idea. Rather, because it is more appropriate to address in fdroidserver first. Of course, it will require some work in the client too, but we can create a more specific issue here if work is ever started on this.

In the specific case of the app name, this actually comes from the compiled apk, and regardless of what we built on top of that, it would still use that same original name once installed. So the first question here ought to be "does Android support this?"

Please allow me to explain further. If application name is localized in Cyrillic script, it looks like this: http://a.pomf.se/xmempi.png

Untranslated apps look like this: http://a.pomf.se/lscckg.png

Note that apps: F-Droid, Amaze and AFWall+ are in fact translated, but their name is not localized, so at first sight you can never tell whether or not they are translated. THIS is what I've requested: allow app_name string to be localized.

Furthermore, app_name string is used in F-Droid in main activity, so there too it isn't translated/localized: http://a.pomf.se/hwlsen.png

There are other apps with the same problem, so the translators constantly get in argue with their authors. Here are my reports regarding these issues:

https://github.com/open-keychain/open-keychain/issues/932 (resolved)

https://github.com/geecko86/QuickLyric/issues/34 (resolved)

https://github.com/siacs/Conversations/issues/1063 (in progress)

Please note that most of free apps allow localization of its name.

@pejakm oh, I understand. To clarify, are you requesting that every app in F-Droid has its name localized, or are you just requesting F-Droid have this? I can see why it makes sense in the examples you have given and the links you have shared. That is, I didn't previously realise that proper names could be localized like that.

However, if you are requesting every app in F-Droid be localized, then that relates to @CiaranG and my comments above.

No, no, just the F-Droid, the app/client. I have no idea how you imagined to make this for all apps from F-Droid repo, other than contacting all of their authors and requesting it. :D

Status changed to reopened

Okay, sorry for the confusion. I'm going to reopen this, and we'll have to look into it. Should be a matter of moving "app_name" from res/values/no_trans.xml to res/values/strings.xml.

The only thing to consider is if there should be some sort of oversight. I understand that translators have the freedom to change strings at will now, I'll leave it up to @CiaranG as to whether they should also have the freedom to choose an appropriate name for the project.

If there's a way to force this string for Serbian language (ie, add manually app_name to /values-sr/strings.xml), I'll settle with that. :)

@CiaranG ping. Do you mind if we move app_name to values/strings.xml so that any language which doesn't like latin characters can benefit from what @pejakm is discussing?

We'll have a review/permissions system in the translation system soon, which will be safer so that F-Droid is not called in other languages.

Let's wait until then to do the movement. Granted that this can already happen with other strings, but this one is more delicate.

Milestone changed to next-stable

Reassigned to @CiaranG

I think we should definitely allow app_name to be localized. It should be easy enough to check whether the sounds are the same, since online translators give pronounciation in latin letters also.

Milestone changed to working-translations

Status changed to closed by commit cf0ab748703f71e46b51363b94b9285acafabdcd