Having an iPhone as a gift or buying it in another country or state can be convenient. However, the biggest challenge when setting up or using it is the language. Thankfully, you can change your iPhone's native language without worrying about losing any data.
One of the easiest ways to learn new words is to change the default language on your iPhone. This will teach you a couple of basic phrases, as well as help you learn commonly used words.
If you're going to change the language on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, it's very simple. However, it should be remembered that this change will apply to the whole system and also to the automatic correction and word prediction functions.
How to change language on iPhone
To change the default language on your iPhone, you'll need to go into settings. The process is pretty straightforward; all you need to do is follow the steps below.
- Open the Settings app.
- Go to General.
- Scroll down to Language and Region and click on this option.
- At the top you will see a tab called iPhone Language. Select this.
- When the list of languages appears, choose the one you like.
- At the bottom of the screen, you will be prompted to change your language with a message saying “Change to [Language]”. Choose this option.
After confirming that you want to change the language, your iPhone will take a few seconds to switch to the one you have chosen. You don't need to turn off your phone for these changes to take effect.
It is worth noting that even after changing the default language of the device, some apps may still load in your language or in English. If this happens to you, it's probably because its developers haven't optimized the app for your chosen language.
How to change the primary language of a single app
In addition to changing the default language on your phone, you can also change the language of even just one app. Follow the steps below to do that.
- Go to Settings.
- Click on the app whose language you want to change.
- In the app settings, you will see a header called "Preferred language". Below that will be a tab called Language; choose this option.
- The next screen will show you the list of languages in which you can edit your app. If you see what you are looking for, select it.
Once a new language is chosen, the effects should happen immediately. Open the app to check if the language has been changed; if you see the same language as before, try resetting the phone.
How to add a new language to the iPhone keyboard
If you want to change the language on your iPhone as you type on the keyboard, adding a new keyboard to your device is a brilliant idea. The steps to do this are not too dissimilar from changing the default language; below you will find the detailed procedure on how to do it.
- Go back into Settings and, as you did when you changed the default language, choose General.
- Instead of going to Language and Region, choose Keyboard.
- The first option is called Keyboards. Click on this.
- At the bottom, you'll find an option titled Add New Keyboard - you'll need to select it.
- Search for the keyboard you want to add.
In some cases, the phone will ask you to add a keyboard type and confirm by pressing Done. However, you probably won't see it, unless you've added a different keyboard for the same dialect.
Adding a keyboard to iPhone is especially useful if you want to speak in different forms of a language. For example, while you can only set your iPhone's default language to German, you can choose German Austrian or Swiss keyboards.
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Learning a new language can be easy
Changing your iPhone's default language is a great way to learn new words and become familiar with a language you may not know much about. Furthermore, there is no risk of losing data. Even if you're not looking to learn a new language, it's a fun way to make your phone look a little more interesting.
If you want to override your decision, changing the language to your native language is easy, although you may need to use Apple Translate!
Now you know how to change the default language on your iPhone, why not go ahead and give it a try?
