My iPhone is sending texts in Spanish
November 18, 2024 9:09 AM Subscribe
So when I react with a gif to a text, the recipient is getting something like "Reaccionó con [emoji] a [text message]" I cannot for the life of me figure out why.
I do have Spanish as a preferred language in settings, but English is first. There is no language setting for the Messages app that I can find. I have looked at each language setting that I can find and nothing seems to be the culprit. What the hell is going on, and how do I fix this?
I do have Spanish as a preferred language in settings, but English is first. There is no language setting for the Messages app that I can find. I have looked at each language setting that I can find and nothing seems to be the culprit. What the hell is going on, and how do I fix this?
Are these happening in imessage chats (blue windows) or SMS / RCS chats (blue bubbles)? This happens for me on SMS/RCS because I have my phone and iPad in Spanish. Some newer non-android phones will process the message and show the emoji (including iphones, where reactions seem to work almost as well as in imessage).
Language support on phones can be weird as hell. When I was canvassing, MiniVAN showed me some questions in Spanish and some in English, even after I changed my primary language back to English—though which questions were in which language changed.
The first step is probably a classic "turn it off and back on again": force the Messages app to close, and if that doesn't fix it, reboot the whole phone.
It also might be worth checking if the user's phone is up to date—generic emoji reaction support is pretty new on iPhones, I think, compared to the six default reactions that were introduced a few years ago. (I was used to seeing "A thecaddy le gustó [text message]" or "le encanta", rather than "Reaccionó".)
posted by thecaddy at 9:25 AM on November 18
Language support on phones can be weird as hell. When I was canvassing, MiniVAN showed me some questions in Spanish and some in English, even after I changed my primary language back to English—though which questions were in which language changed.
The first step is probably a classic "turn it off and back on again": force the Messages app to close, and if that doesn't fix it, reboot the whole phone.
It also might be worth checking if the user's phone is up to date—generic emoji reaction support is pretty new on iPhones, I think, compared to the six default reactions that were introduced a few years ago. (I was used to seeing "A thecaddy le gustó [text message]" or "le encanta", rather than "Reaccionó".)
posted by thecaddy at 9:25 AM on November 18
Best answer: If you press and hold on the "planet" button, is your keyboard set to Spanish? That might be what is triggering only in messages.
posted by Khazk at 9:29 AM on November 18 [3 favorites]
posted by Khazk at 9:29 AM on November 18 [3 favorites]
when you "react" to a message with an iPhone, and you're in an SMS chat with a not-an-iPhone, your phone just sends a text message along the lines of "X reacted to your message with Y", because SMS doesn't support these sorts of things.
Why your iPhone decided to do this in Spanish I don't know, but that's what's generating these texts. As an Android user they're kind of annoying in English anyway.
posted by BungaDunga at 9:29 AM on November 18
Why your iPhone decided to do this in Spanish I don't know, but that's what's generating these texts. As an Android user they're kind of annoying in English anyway.
posted by BungaDunga at 9:29 AM on November 18
Response by poster: If you press and hold on the "planet" button, is your keyboard set to Spanish? That might be what is triggering only in messages.
THIS WAS IT I COULD KISS YOU THANK YOU
posted by rhymedirective at 9:46 AM on November 18 [1 favorite]
THIS WAS IT I COULD KISS YOU THANK YOU
posted by rhymedirective at 9:46 AM on November 18 [1 favorite]
If you have keyboards for multiple languages installed thanks to, say, duolingo, you might also have your keyboard set to the Spanish side of the English/Spanish dual keyboard after a duolingo session, which also tweaks the autocompletions and might be tweaking the language used in the tapback-to-SMS translations. The only way I notice when things start getting weird is that "return" has changed to "retour" and I have to tap the globe a few times to get back to English QWERTY instead of French QWERTY.
posted by Kyol at 9:48 AM on November 18
posted by Kyol at 9:48 AM on November 18
Oh man, thanks for the tip Khazk!
I use my phone in both French and English and was never sure what setting determined the language of the reaction texts — this will make my life a little easier.
posted by mekily at 9:59 AM on November 18
I use my phone in both French and English and was never sure what setting determined the language of the reaction texts — this will make my life a little easier.
posted by mekily at 9:59 AM on November 18
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posted by rhymedirective at 9:11 AM on November 18