expo-translate-text

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expo-translate-text

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An expo module used to handle translating text in an app.

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# expo-translate-text 🌍

`expo-translate-text` is a React Native module for translating text using platform-specific translation APIs. It leverages Apple's **[iOS Translation API](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/translation)** (with **Translation Sheet** available in **iOS 17.4+**) and **[Google ML Kit](https://developers.google.com/ml-kit/language/translation/overview)** on Android for seamless text translation.

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## Demo 💫

![Demo GIF](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TomAtterton/expo-translate-text/main/resources/Translate_iOS.gif)

## Installation 📦

```sh
expo install expo-translate-text
```

## Platform Support 📱

| Platform | Translation Task       | Prepare Translation    | Translation Sheet        |
| -------- | ---------------------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------ |
| iOS      | ✅ Supported (iOS 18+) | ✅ Supported (iOS 18+) | ✅ Supported (iOS 17.4+) |
| Android  | ✅ Supported           | ❌ Not Supported       | ❌ Not Supported         |

## Usage 🚀

### Basic Text Translation

```tsx
import { onTranslateTask } from 'expo-translate-text';

### Translation Strategy (iOS Only)

`preferredStrategy` lets iOS choose between faster translation and higher-quality translation when the device supports that choice. It is optional and safe to omit.

- `lowLatency` prefers speed.
- `highFidelity` prefers more fluent wording when available.

Apple's strategy API is available on iOS 26.4 and newer. On older iOS versions, this module accepts the option but falls back to the normal Apple translation behavior. See Apple's [`TranslationSession.Strategy`](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/translation/translationsession/strategy) documentation for the platform details.

### Prepare Translation Models (iOS Only)

```tsx
import { onPrepareTranslation } from 'expo-translate-text';
import { Platform } from 'react-native';

const prepareTranslation = async () => {
  if (Platform.OS !== 'ios') {
    return;
  }

const result = await onPrepareTranslation({
    sourceLangCode: 'en',
    targetLangCode: 'es',
    preferredStrategy: 'highFidelity',
  });

if (result.status === 'prepared') {
    console.log('Languages are ready.');
  }

if (result.status === 'cancelled') {
    console.log('Preparation was cancelled.');
  }
};
```

### Translation Sheet (iOS Only)

```tsx
import { onTranslateSheet } from 'expo-translate-text';
import { Platform } from 'react-native';

const translateSheet = async () => {
  if (Platform.OS === 'android') {
    console.warn('Sheet translation is not supported on Android.');
    return;
  }

try {
    const translatedText = await onTranslateSheet({
      input: 'Bonjour tout le monde',
    });
    console.log(translatedText);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
  }
};
```

## API Reference 📖

### onTranslateTask

Translates a given text or batch of text.

**Request:**

| Parameter            | Type                                                              | Description                                                                                      |
| -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `input`              | `string` \| `string[]` \| `{ [key: string]: string \| string[] }` | Text to be translated.                                                                           |
| `sourceLangCode?`    | `string`                                                          | Source language code (e.g., 'en'). If omitted, the source language is auto-detected.             |
| `targetLangCode?`    | `string`                                                          | Target language code (e.g., 'es'). Defaults to `'en'`.                                           |
| `preferredStrategy?` | `'lowLatency' \| 'highFidelity'`                                  | Preferred Apple translation strategy on iOS 26.4+. Falls back on older iOS versions and Android. |
| `requireCharging?`   | `boolean`                                                         | Requires device to be charging (Android only).                                                   |
| `requiresWifi?`      | `boolean`                                                         | Requires WiFi for translation (Android only).                                                    |

**Response:**

| Key               | Type                                                              | Description                                                              |
| ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `translatedTexts` | `string` \| `string[]` \| `{ [key: string]: string \| string[] }` | The translated text(s).                                                  |
| `sourceLanguage`  | `string` \| `null`                                                | The detected or provided source language, or `null` if detection failed. |
| `targetLanguage`  | `string`                                                          | The requested target language.                                           |

---

### onPrepareTranslation (iOS 18+)

⚠️ **Not supported on Android or Web**

Asks the system to prepare/download translation resources before translating.

**Request:**

| Parameter            | Type                             | Description                                                                                       |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `sourceLangCode`     | `string`                         | Source language code (e.g., 'en'). Required because preparation has no input text to auto-detect. |
| `targetLangCode?`    | `string`                         | Target language code (e.g., 'es'). Defaults to `'en'`.                                            |
| `preferredStrategy?` | `'lowLatency' \| 'highFidelity'` | Preferred Apple translation strategy on iOS 26.4+. Falls back on older iOS versions.              |

**Response:**

`Promise<{ status: 'prepared' } | { status: 'cancelled' }>`

`cancelled` means the preparation flow ended before the language pair was prepared. Errors such as unsupported platform, invalid parameters, or Apple failing to prepare translation are thrown as `TranslationError`.

---

### onTranslateSheet (iOS 17.4+)

⚠️ **Not supported on Android or Web**

Translates text using the Translation Sheet API.

**Request:**

| Parameter | Type     | Description                |
| --------- | -------- | -------------------------- |
| `input`   | `string` | The text to be translated. |

**Response:** `string | null` — The translated text, or `null` if the sheet was dismissed without translating.

---

### Error Handling

The public functions throw a `TranslationError` on failure:

```tsx
import { TranslationError } from 'expo-translate-text';

try {
  const result = await onTranslateTask({ input: 'Hello', targetLangCode: 'es' });
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof TranslationError) {
    console.error(error.message); // Human-readable error message
    console.error(error.code); // Error code (see table below)
  }
}
```

**Error codes:**

| Code                      | Description                                                           |
| ------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `INVALID_PARAMETER`       | Missing or invalid input / language code                              |
| `MODEL_DOWNLOAD_FAILED`   | Translation model could not be downloaded (Android)                   |
| `TEXT_TRANSLATE_FAILED`   | Translation of a specific text failed (Android)                       |
| `LANGUAGE_ID_FAILED`      | Language auto-detection failed (Android)                              |
| `TRANSLATION_IN_PROGRESS` | A translation is already running — concurrent calls are not supported |
| `UNSUPPORTED_PLATFORM`    | Called on an unsupported platform                                      |

## Contributing 🙌

See the [contributing guide](CONTRIBUTING.md) to learn how to contribute.

## License 📜

MIT

Enjoy translating with `expo-translate-text`! 🌎

expo-translate-text

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