iOS: How to set language of app independent of iphone/ipad language

More & more apps try setting their language automatically, based upon the language of your iPad, then the list of chosen languages.

Unfortunately, as do a lot of people, my preferred iOS/OSX system language is English, but certain apps (notably the new TomTom Go Mobile) need Dutch to be much of use (at least in Flanders, Belgium).

At the same time, the new WW (Weight Watchers mobile app) has poorly implemented localisation as well. Result: when my iPhone is in English, it loads the French version (go figure) even if french is only the third preferred language (behind english & dutch)

These apps should receive a warning in the app store, get banned altogether until their localisation performs as advertised, or its settings should get set from the settings menu, imho.

Is there a way to set the language independent from the main iOS language?

This problem pops up regularly (notably in bi-lingual countries or international, cosmopolitan people whose preferences and language capacities vary greatly).

If anyone at Apple is reading this; please help!

Solution 1:

Starting with iOS 13, there is now a way to set an individual language for each app. In the Apple Settings app, open the settings of the specific app, and select the language under "Preferred Language". You can select from the languages that the app supports.

Solution 2:

The way iOS works is that when an app is launched, the operating system tries to match up your preferred device language(s), in order, with the language(s) supported by the app.

As an example, suppose you have your device language preferences set to French, then English, and that the app supports French and Dutch, with Dutch as its "default" language.

When your device is set to French then the app will display text in French because it has a French localization.

Next you switch the device language to English. The app doesn't have an English localization so iOS uses Dutch as the app's display language. (It would also do the same thing for any other non-French and non-Dutch language.)

There is nothing that Apple can do to "fix" this since both iOS and the app are working as expected. Perhaps the app "should" be available in a particular language. If you think so then you should be having a conversation with the developer, not Apple.