New iOS String Initializer can't get correct localized String for specific locale

You could try to specify the Bundle:

extension String {
    func localized(for lanCode: String) -> String {
        guard
            let bundlePath = Bundle.main.path(forResource: lanCode, ofType: "lproj"),
            let bundle = Bundle(path: bundlePath)
        else { return "" }
        
        return NSLocalizedString(
            self,
            bundle: bundle,
            value: " ",
            comment: ""
        )
    }
}

And call:

"hello".localized(for: "cn")

CRedit: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28634428/ios-get-localized-version-of-a-string-for-a-specific-language

treats it as beta.

You’re seeing the beta tag because this API is also new in macOS 12 and that system is still in the process of being released; it’ll go away when that’s fully complete.

still declares No overview available

Indeed. I encourage you to file a bug about that.

Please post your bug number, just for the record.

Do you have a question about its behaviour? It seems pretty straightforward to me but perhaps I’ve missed some subtlety?

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Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
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As of macOS 14 and iOS 17 String(localized:defaultValue:table:bundle:locale:comment:) still has no documentation and the original poster's assumption that specifying a locale would retrieve the string localized for the locale specified seems, to me at least, the most plausible assumption of how this API works.

Additionally, I do have a use-case where being able to retrieve particular strings, including complicated interpolated ones with pluralization, for a locale other than the user's current one easily would be beneficial:

I'm building a simple language learning app in which the user can switch the language being studied. The languages being studied are independent of the UI locale. Accordingly I keep the localized UI strings and the content strings in a separate tables. The UI is localized via SwiftUI and occasionally simple String(localized:) calls. I was hoping I could get at the language learning content with the String(localized:defaultValue:table:bundle:locale:comment:) initializer - but no.

In the past I have implemented my own content localization in bigger apps that needed this kind of separation but this seems excessive here.

Maybe the ship on this API has sailed. If not I would be willing to go into detail and file a bug.

Did you find a solution for how to force return a string localized for a specific language regardless to the system language when you use String Catalog ? check out my question here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/77544177/xcode-15s-string-catalog-always-return-system-language-translations?noredirect=1#comment136706101_77544177

somebody in this thread is asking for the case in which we need to ignore system language and localize strings for a specific language, we offer the user to choose a language from a list of languages in the app's settings page while their own iPhone's system language is English.

Use case: I'm using the following String extension to change the language/locale in the Swift UI environment, I then pass the locale through to the function to get a localised string. I've made a little Swift UI preview container with an editor panel so we can toggle values in the environment (dark mode, layout direction, locale/language etc) on previews and also within a playbook app - without needing to select a drop-down in the Xcode scheme editor and restarting the app, or needing to change the device settings (although we have to do that when running on iOS 15.)

    func localized(_ locale: Locale, bundle: Bundle = .module) -> String {
        if #available(iOS 16, *) {
            String(
                localized: LocalizedStringResource(
                    String.LocalizationValue(self),
                    locale: locale,
                    bundle: .atURL(bundle.bundleURL)
                )
            )
        } else {
            String(localized: String.LocalizationValue(self), bundle: bundle)
        }
    }