Apertium Android

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CURRENTLY BANNED FROM PLAY STORE[edit]

This app (and presumably others based on it) is currently banned from the Play Store because it downloads code from non-Play servers.)

The goal of the 'official' Apertium Android app is to provide example code on how to integrate Apertium offline translation into an Android app.

It requires internet permission to enable users to download language pairs (and developers to showcase their work from a phone).

If you want a more fully-featured app, try Mitzuli.



The current version can be downloaded here.

The source code is available at https://github.com/apertium/apertium-android.

Ideas for further improvements:

  • theme/colors doesent provide correct visual feedback (you can't see if you press buttons)
  • language detection - for example using https://code.google.com/p/language-detection/
  • factor unused stuff from Arink's original work into 'Apertium extended' app


Stuff can go in the 'basic Apertium app' if 1) it doesent require scary permissions and 2) it doesent make the app harder to understand as example code on how to integrate Apertium offline translation into other apps.


Developers: Integrating Apertium into your own Android app[edit]

Here are the recommended places to store stuff. We recommend that you use the ApertiumInstallation utility class included in the demo app.

    File packagesDir = new File(getFilesDir(), "packages"); // where packages' data are installed
    File bytecodeDir = new File(getFilesDir(), "bytecode"); // where packages' bytecode are installed. Must be private
    File bytecodeCacheDir = new File(getCacheDir(), "bytecodecache"); // where bytecode cache is kept. Must be private
    IOUtils.cacheDir = new File(getCacheDir(), "apertium-index-cache"); // where cached transducerindexes are kept
    ai = new ApertiumInstallation(packagesDir, bytecodeDir, bytecodeCacheDir);
    ai.rescanForPackages();


And then use apertiumInstallation.installJar(tmpjarfilelocation, pkg); to install pairs.

To do a translation, use

	String mode = ai.titleToMode.get(currentModeTitle);
	String pkg = ai.modeToPackage.get(mode);
	Translator.setBase(ai.getBasedirForPackage(pkg), ai.getClassLoaderForPackage(pkg));
	Translator.setMode(mode);


And lastly.... Translator.translate() to translate :-)


Apertium extended[edit]

Apertium extended Android app would be a full-feature app with:

  • store pairs in SD card (requires permission to read SD card)
  • load pairs from SD card (for example experimental pairs or pairs not hosted in Apertium regi)
  • a cool Android 4 interface using loads of cool visual libraries
  • OCR,
  • SMS translation,
  • TTS, STT
  • and a zillion of scary permissions (internet + read SMS + read SD card should scare you off unless you really trust the source of the app).
  • option to use online translation API(s?)
  • mind reading?

History[edit]