# Can't change input language on Android tablet **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 24, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250 "2013-05-24T18:08:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/1 "2013-05-24T18:08:43Z")
Device: Intenso Tab 814 Os: Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean) When e. g. posting here, I need to change the input language from German to English. Under Settings-Language and Input-Keyboard and Input methods, I chose both languages. As I understand from googling the issue, I should be able to change the input language by wiping the space bar. But that doesn’t work for me, the only available language is the general system language. To work around the annoying German auto correct when typing in English, I disabled the spell checker, but that doesn’t work either (it keeps on auto-correcting). What’s happening here? I don’t have any explanation, and Google didn’t help me. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/2 "2013-05-25T01:41:30Z")
Update: I figured out how to turn off autocorrect (had nothing to do with the spell checker). But still that’s just a workaround. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/3 "2013-05-25T02:22:54Z")
On my Toshiba Thrive I can change the language directly from the on screen keyboard. In the top left corner there is a Jerry (next to the Q) with a works symbol on it. Clicking it rotated through the available languages. I ran into the same problem add you and couldn’t figure out how to change it back to English. This does it for me, but I don’t know if the Android keyboard is the same across devices. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/4 "2013-05-25T03:02:07Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > In the top left corner there is a Jerry (next to the Q) with a works symbol on it. . Jerry = key. Stupid auto-correct. English, German or Spanish it’s all the same. Conspiring against me to make me look like a moron (like I need much help there!). I’ve said it before, if I ever meet the programmer who designed this auto correct I’ll be: “Hi, nice to meet you…” BAM! SWIFT WELL DESERVED KICK RIGHT IN THE YAMSACK! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/5 "2013-05-25T12:29:20Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > On my Toshiba Thrive I can change the language directly from the on screen keyboard. In the top left corner there is a Jerry (next to the Q) with a works symbol on it. Clicking it rotated through the available languages. I ran into the same problem add you and couldn’t figure out how to change it back to English. This does it for me, but I don’t know if the Android keyboard is the same across devices. No, I don’t have that key on my keyboard. When googling, I also saw keyboards with a globe symbol key for toggling languages, but I don’t have that either. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/6 "2013-05-25T12:40:25Z")
Try long pressing on the text box where you’re typing and see if the box that pops up has an option for input method. Or, when you have the keyboard up, pull down the notification bar at the top of the screen. Is there anything there about the keyboard? Mine allows me to change the input method from there. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/7 "2013-05-25T13:03:02Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > Try long pressing on the text box where you’re typing and see if the box that pops up has an option for input method. Doesn’t work, there’s no box popping up. > [@](#): > > Or, when you have the keyboard up, pull down the notification bar at the top of the screen. Is there anything there about the keyboard? Mine allows me to change the input method from there. I’m not sure which notification bar you mean, but I have a key with the “settings” symbol in the lower left corner. This only brings me to the input options dialog where I can set input methods, but not change them. It’s frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/8 "2013-05-27T03:00:37Z")
I wanted German on my phone but in factory condition it offered only English, Spanish, and several East Asian languages, those being the only languages in this market with large populations of speakers. I got around this by rooting the device and flashing CyanogenMod 10.1, and now I have not only the choice of several dozen languages for the menus, but also the option of any or all of them with respect to the keyboard\*. There’s a little globe symbol next to the space bar that lets you toggle through all the languages you have chosen for your keyboard. I had other reasons for modifying my phone, though, and I’m not sure I would have done it just to have more language choices. \*Software keyboard image on the screen; not sure if this would work with an actual hardware keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/9 "2013-05-27T05:51:40Z")
ETA: Earlier I missed where the OP said it’s a tablet, not a phone. In the United States, IIRC, it is now illegal to root Android driven tablets and I apologize for suggesting anything illegal even if the law in question doesn’t apply to the OP. I have no idea what laws Germany has concerning this subject. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/10 "2013-05-27T16:57:11Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > ETA: Earlier I missed where the OP said it’s a tablet, not a phone. In the United States, IIRC, it is now illegal to root Android driven tablets and I apologize for suggesting anything illegal even if the law in question doesn’t apply to the OP. > > I have no idea what laws Germany has concerning this subject. While I don’t know the legality of rooting an android device in Germany, I can’t imagine that it’s illegal. The crux is that you lose your warranty for the device after rooting it, and I don’t want to risk that for enabling a simple feature that ought to work without having root access. As I said before, I’m able to set different input methods for all the languages I need, but just not change them, since toggling with the space bar is greyed out, and there’s no other button like the globe symbol on the keyboard to do it. Since I found out how to turn off auto-correct, the main annoyance about not being able to change languages is gone, and I can live with that. But it would be nice to be able to use different languages. Maybe it’s a special quirk of the Intenso Tab 814 (I don’t even know if this device is available in the U.S. in the first place). ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/11 "2013-05-27T23:28:58Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > While I don’t know the legality of rooting an android device in Germany, I can’t imagine that it’s illegal. The crux is that you lose your warranty for the device after rooting it, and I don’t want to risk that for enabling a simple feature that ought to work without having root access. I should mention that my Android experience is limited to phones and might not be applicable to tablets, at least not entirely so. But with the phones, it’s generally (always?) possible to restore it to factory condition if need be, and I would expect that it’s possible with tablets too. There are apps that will do the factory reset for you, although you need to be careful as they don’t work on all devices and, in some cases, may brick the device. > [@](#): > > As I said before, I’m able to set different input methods for all the languages I need, but just not change them, since toggling with the space bar is greyed out, and there’s no other button like the globe symbol on the keyboard to do it. Since I found out how to turn off auto-correct, the main annoyance about not being able to change languages is gone, and I can live with that. But it would be nice to be able to use different languages. Maybe it’s a special quirk of the Intenso Tab 814 (I don’t even know if this device is available in the U.S. in the first place). Your device may be available in this country under some other name, but I haven’t been able to find out what it is. I was going to tell you about a couple of excellent English-language Android forum communities with subforums for dozens of different brands and models, but I can’t find yours in either of them. But you could check out the Android PIT community, which is more focused on the German-speaking countries. The Intenso tablet forum is [here](http://www.androidpit.de/de/android/forum/category/2003206/Intenso-Tab-Forum). ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/12 "2013-05-27T23:56:52Z")
Why don’t you just download another free keyboard app from the Google Play market? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-change-input-language-on-android-tablet/659250/13 "2013-05-28T02:13:21Z")
Just downloaded SwiftKey Trial. I’ll see if I like it enough to spend 3.99 € after the trial period. \*\* Spectre\*\*, thanks for the forum link.