Help Can't install other system languages

[Member1981123]

Hi team, I have a ZTE axon phone with lollipop 5.1.1. I'm trying to install other system languages but there is no option available to do so. I just checked for system updates and rebooted my phone but there are no new system updates. The only languages available are English, French and 2 other languages that appear to be Chinese and Japanese. There is no option to search for new languages. I have seen screenshots about there being a plus button to install more but I don't have it on my phone. Any suggestions?

 

[dontpanicbobby]

This tip from inbox.com might help. Welcome to the Android Forums Pizzaholic81!

 

[mikedt]

Is that a China version Axon you've got there, bought online and imported, that's what it looks like, and why it's only got Chinese(simplified) for mainland, Chinese(traditional) for Hong Kong, English, French, and nothing else. Doing what @dontpanicbobby suggested should work.

 

[Member1981123]

I was thinking the same thing, imported from China! But I bought it in Toronto at a phone service provider, and there's an extremely large per-capita Asian population so I think the languages were added by the manufacturer to target this region's Chinese population as well. If the language packs are actually already installed in the phone and are just waiting to be unlocked then it's pretty stupid that they would be purposefully made unavailable.

@dontpanicbobby 's suggestion for that website takes me to a Google Play page to download an app. Once I install it it says it can't change my settings and that my phone needs to be rooted. I don't suppose there is a straightforward way to unlock my languages without rooting the phone? The URL that the app recommends after it fails to unlock my language says that I can open some sort of command prompt to grant access to the app to make the changes. Does this process seem normal to you guys?

 

[mikedt]

I was thinking the same thing, imported from China! But I bought it in Toronto at a phone service provider, and there's an extremely large per-capita Asian population so I think the languages were added by the manufacturer to target this region's Chinese population as well. If the language packs are actually already installed in the phone and are just waiting to be unlocked then it's pretty stupid that they would be purposefully made unavailable.

OK, that does sound like a specific country version for Canada, and that's probably why it's got French in it as well, for Canadian francophones. Most devices intended for Western markets should have many languages in them, and this is something ZTE has done for whatever reasons.

And no, other language packs and files are not in the phone. Android devices intended for China, usually just have Chinese and English, or sometimes Chinese only.

@dontpanicbobby 's suggestion for that website takes me to a Google Play page to download an app. Once I install it it says it can't change my settings and that my phone needs to be rooted. I don't suppose there is a straightforward way to unlock my languages without rooting the phone? The URL that the app recommends after it fails to unlock my language says that I can open some sort of command prompt to grant access to the app to make the changes. Does this process seem normal to you guys?

That sounds like additional languages must be installed in system, as root. I seem to remember that issue has come up before. So only things you can really do is to root it, or try and find a more international ROM for it, if that's actually possible. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!

AF does have a couple of fora for ZTE Axon series devices, but there's not a lot in there. XDA Devs might be worth a look.

 

[Member1981123]

OK, that does sound like a specific country version for Canada, and that's probably why it's got French in it as well, for Canadian francophones. Most devices intended for Western markets should have many languages in them, and this is something ZTE has done for whatever reasons.

And no, other language packs and files are not in the phone. Android devices intended for China, usually just have Chinese and English, or sometimes Chinese only.

That sounds like additional languages must be installed in system, as root. I seem to remember that issue has come up before. So only things you can really do is to root it, or try and find a more international ROM for it, if that's actually possible. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!

AF does have a couple of fora for ZTE Axon series devices, but there's not a lot in there. XDA Devs might be worth a look.

Thanks, I'll see if I can wind a way to root this.

 

[PurrsSW]

This is an old thread but I have what might seem elementary questions for you, OP, only because your own question is unclear for new learners, as I am.
Do you want to enable more languages or change your entire user interface?
Why would you need to root in order to change it back and forth as much as you like? Can a 3rd party app not be of help here?
What language(s) are you trying to add?

Maybe I just don't know enough to ask the right questions here but I thought knowing a little more about what you're trying to accomplish would make some difference in the answers. I use a multitude of languages myself, most of which my Samsung device allows, but there are a few it doesn't include - for no good reason I can see, for they are not obscure - and I have to install different apps to be able to display or write them properly.
I'm very interested in any more advice you may get here from knowledgeable posters, for I too would like to gain more flexibility with my own system.

 

[Member1981123]

Hi PurrSW, I wanted to switch my phone's user interface to another language (in my case, Spanish). It seems that any apps that claim to be able to change your system language require root access, and as far as I know my phone has a locked bootloader (if I would have known this fact I would have bought a different phone but I'll keep that in mind for my next purchase).

 

[andMego]

Hi PurrSW, I wanted to switch my phone's user interface to another language (in my case, Spanish). It seems that any apps that claim to be able to change your system language require root access, and as far as I know my phone has a locked bootloader (if I would have known this fact I would have bought a different phone but I'll keep that in mind for my next purchase).

Why don't you get a keyboard from the play store with more languages? I did it on my friends phone and it worked fine.

 

[andMego]

I think this is what you need https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kl.ime.oh

 

[PurrsSW]

Samsung will let me have a Spanish interface; I just have to change it back if I don't want to keep it there. I do not have to root - I'm on a Verizon contract and couldn't without voiding my warranty. Spanish is our most widely-used second language in the USA, so it's never a problem getting that one. Changing only your keyboard is as simple as going to 'language and input' and enabling as many different languages as you want, as long as they are on the list.

I did have to get another app to write Lao. Samsung includes Thai but discriminates against Lao and the Lao alphabet is different - prettier, simpler to read and far older than Thai, by the way. Thai itself is but a dialect of Lao but it was a waste of time pointing that out to Samsung, which I did. Oddly, I had the same problem with Welsh and that has the Roman alphabet and only a few accented letters (but vital ones) that I couldn't borrow from other languages in order to write it properly.
Since you have Android, see if this article helps any:
http://www.wikihow.tech/Change-the-Language-in-Android

 

[dontpanicbobby]

There is Root available for ZTE Axon. It's complicated though.

 

[PurrsSW]

There is Root available for ZTE Axon. It's complicated though.

Everything about Root sounds complicated to me; I've never tried it. Would you recommend a 'Root' thread or section here for a beginner to read? If I can learn about why anyone would do it, it'll be easier to absorb the details of how to do it.