Hi everyone — i’m building a bubble app where swedish needs to be the default language.
I’m trying to avoid bubble’s built-in language settings approach because it would require manually adding translations for 1000+ words (and maintaining them) which isn’t practical.
I’m looking for a more scalable solution that others have used successfully, like:
-
plugin-based translation (google translate / deepl / etc.)
-
a “translation dictionary” in the database with a helper function (key → sv text)
-
any best-practice pattern for multi-language apps at scale
Questions:
-
what’s the best way to make swedish default without manually translating every label/text?
-
any plugin you’d recommend (or warn against)?
Appreciate any pointers / examples.
@sethiamehul14 Hey! For something like this, the easiest way is to store all your text keys in the database and have a field for each language, so for Swedish, you just pull the sv field. That way you don’t have to manually update every label in the editor.
Another option is a plugin that calls Google Translate or DeepL on the fly, but those can slow down your app and cost money if you have lots of text.
For a scalable approach, the DB-driven dictionary is usually best: keep one field for the key, one for Swedish, and any other languages you add later. Then use a small helper function or workflow to fetch the right text for each label.
Hey @connect10 ,
Thanks, this is super helpful.
I actually implemented a DB-driven dictionary setup this morning along similar lines (App text + translated value, defaulting to Swedish), and it’s working well so far.
If you’re open to it, I’d love to sanity-check the approach with you quickly and make sure I’m not missing any edge cases before scaling it across the app.
Would you be up for a quick 15-min Zoom/Meet today? You can grab a slot here at your convenience:
Mehul Sethia | Cal.com
Would really appreciate it, thanks again!