Language settings for UI and new items across Andoid and Windows clients

uwe_baumann

Hello folks,
I'm new to 1Password and have just now started using the latest Android (6.5.1) and Windows (6.5.401d) clients. My native language is German, and in the Android client on my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge SM-G935FD (Android 7.0) the user interface is displayed in German as well, which is nice. Hoewever, on Windows (Win 8.1 Enterprise, German Version), I only get the English interface. Also, when I create items on Android, the fields have German labels - but when I create items in windows the labels are in English, which creates a mixture of English and German entries.
So my questions are:

• I don't mind English, so can I force the Android client to use English?
• Alternatively, is there some other way of forcing a constent language for new items across platforms?
  Cheers, Uwe

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1Password Version: 6.5.401d (Win), 6.5.1 (Android)
Extension Version: n/a
OS Version: Windows 8.1 Enterprise
Sync Type: 1Password Account

AGAlumB

@uwe_baumann: Thanks for reaching out. I’m sorry for the confusion! I hope you don't mind, but I've moved your post to the Windows category for two reasons: this is a limitation of the new Windows app (not Android), and our Windows team also has the benefit of an actual German — so once we have all of the structure in place, we'll be able to have it in German for you. /cc @AlexHoffmann

There isn't a way to "sync" language settings between platforms, as they're fundamentally different. The new 1Password 6 Windows desktop app doesn't yet have localization, but it's something we're working to add in a future update. In order to use the Android version in English, you'd need to set that as the system language.

It hasn't really come up before, but you're absolutely right that creating new items in one language would mean that the whole template remains in that language when the item syncs between devices. I'm really sorry for the experience there. We're working toward having full localizations across all apps, but with he newer ones (including web) we're not there yet, so I don't have a goos solution for you today. Thanks for letting us know that this is affecting you.

uwe_baumann

Hello Alex and brenty,

wow, first of all thanks for the instant reply, that's really impressive! Also thanks for the explanation, I know that localizing apps for global use is a really hard problem (I'm a software consultant myself). Don't worry about moving the post to a different section, I wasn't really sure where to put it.

I think the current situation is a bit confusing just because some apps haven't been localized yet. As soon as you have localized versions across devices and platforms, people will actually choose one language and stick to it. For me, it's not a problem, because I rarely create new items on my mobile device, so I will just create them in the Windows client for now, where the English item template will be used.

That's okay as long I will be able to keep on creating English items in the Windows client - if, however, in the future the Windows app forces me to use German, I'll have a mixed language database again! In that case, as a crude workaround, could it possible to overwrite the template files that define new items?

Apart form a hack (like overwriting templates) there's two solutions that I can see:

• Make language a user defined setting, and don't just use the system language. Of course, you can always default to the system language, but don't make it mandatory to use it. Setting a different system language just because you want a differnt language in a single app just is never an option, on any platform.
• In our localized projects at work, we do use language-independent primary-key IDs for fields, and a lookup table for the localized field display names. That way, everything is really language independent. Of course, that would probably require a complete redesign of both the file storage format and the apps, and probable cuase security problems as well, so I it's probably not going to happen ;-)

All in all, I really do like 1Password - I've just tried out all the major competitors and I have used LasstPass and KeePass in the past, but I think I'm going to stick with you guys. There's some minor things I noticed (for example, when defining tags, multiple different clients need different separator characters ), so with a bit of polishing this could become a perfect password management solution!

Cheers from Munich,
Uwe

AlexHoffmann

Hey Uwe,

Thanks for your thoughtful critique and your insight.
I have good news, pretty good news, and "Naja, ok." news.

The good news:
We're using language-independent string IDs across our apps, too. While English is the base language, we can define any language we wish once a localisation is in place and the app is set to accept them. That kind of system makes localising software very easy and consistent, especially if you have more than one platform and can reuse strings.

The pretty good news:
Localisation is coming to 1Password 6 for Windows in the not too distant future. We're reworking a few "Innereien" that govern both localisation and accessibility in the application and once they're done, our translators (of which I am one) will be able to finalise the translations.

The "Naja, ok." news:
There's one issue with the sections and field descriptions in each item that has to be fixed server-side before these can appear in the language the user chooses. Implementing this will still take a while but once that's done, you'll start seeing the field descriptions inside the items change to the right language. This will most likely happen alongside the localisation of the 1Password.com account website.

As a side note:
Ich werde bei nächster Gelegenheit die Übersetzung der Android-App überarbeiten, denn diese hat in letzter Zeit zu wenig Beachtung gefunden. Mac und iOS wurden schon völlig überarbeitet.

If you have more feedback, keep it coming.

Grüße aus Trier,

Alex

JMcClane72

Hi, I'm pretty new to 1Password and have just startet my 30 day test period some days ago.
I'm using Windows and iOS, and I have to say, that syncing devices works pretty good.
Also the licensing, which allows me to install 1Password on as many devices I use, is pretty fair.

I'm a German guy as well, and have to disagree at some Points to Alex.
Within the iOS App, there are parts, which are not localized today.
If I create a new entry in the iOS app, the categories are still english.
Also the most field labels are english too.
If you create a new Credit Card entry for example, most fields are labeled english.

I would be really glad, if 1Password would be completely and consistendly localised on all platforms, because than I would change to a family account and advice my kids and wife to use it.

Today even Kids at the age of 9 have to handle multiple Passwords for school accounts, Apple or Google ID's and so on.
And a password vault, which syncs over platforms and supports family sharing would be a greate relieve for everybody.
But Kids at this age need an app, which speaks their language.

Kind regards,
Rolf

AGAlumB

@JMcClane72: As Alex mentioned, 1Password.com is not yet localized, so that would explain why you're seeing English there: that's where the data is coming from, so you should see the same thing in the web interface as well. You're absolutely right that this is needed, and it's something we're working toward. I'm sorry I don't have more to offer you right now, but this is very important to us as well, as not all of us use English as our primary, day-to-day language. :blush:

JMcClane72

@brenty: That's good to hear about. I'm really looking forward to a fully localized version of 1Password.
This will be the point, when 1Password will become the family password vault :-)

AGAlumB

Likewise, thanks for your patience, but also for giving us a nudge on this. Looking forward to making 1Password family-ready for even more people around the world. :)