How to use google translator app

Question

I coded program about dictionary sentence and I want to have function to go to "google translator" application in my app

How can I use it , Should I import anything?

Jeramyjerba

Answer 1

From what I can tell, the Google Translate Android app does not expose any standard Intents that you could use (it's a pitty, but it's weird at the same time. You'd think Google would encourage this type of interaction between apps.. anyway).

However, it seems Google have opened up the translate API via a web service. This way, you can do the translation yourself and show it within your app. It's a bit more work, but it should do the job.

You could look at google-api-translate-java if you want to spare yourself from writing an API wrapper.

Shirring

Google Translate is now a paid service... so to be able to "call" the translate app's service would be good... – Anticholinergic

Answer 2

I have the same problem. Initially, I tried to use Google Translate Ajax API, but since Google have deprecated API version 1 and make version 2 as paid service, my code stops working. Then, I decompiled Google Translate App, looked into the Smali code and got some hint about the logic inside it. Use this code, it works for me:

private void callGoogleTranslateApps(String word, String fromLang, String toLang) {
    Intent i = new Intent();

    i.setAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
    i.putExtra("key_text_input", word);
    i.putExtra("key_text_output", "");
    i.putExtra("key_language_from", fromLang);
    i.putExtra("key_language_to", toLang);
    i.putExtra("key_suggest_translation", "");
    i.putExtra("key_from_floating_window", false);

    i.setComponent(new ComponentName("com.google.android.apps.translate", "com.google.android.apps.translate.TranslateActivity"));
    startActivity(i);
}

Conlin

Thanks! Is there any functionality to do this silently (i.e. without starting the Google Translate activity)? Maybe a content provider? – Adon

Doesn't work on 4.0, basically the error says " Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: uriString". Any hint? – Merriemerrielle

Answer 3

Phi Van Ngoc's answer was fantastic, thanks for that.

However it didn't work initially for me and after investigating the Translate apk, it looks like they've modified their file structure slightly, so the intent ComponentName should now be:

i.setComponent(
    new ComponentName(
        "com.google.android.apps.translate",
        "com.google.android.apps.translate.translation.TranslateActivity"));

The difference is that "translation" has been added before "TranslateActivity"

So my final version, including hard-coded translation from Spanish to English, is:

Intent i = new Intent();
i.setAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
i.putExtra("key_text_input", "Me gusta la cerveza");
i.putExtra("key_text_output", "");
i.putExtra("key_language_from", "es");
i.putExtra("key_language_to", "en");
i.putExtra("key_suggest_translation", "");
i.putExtra("key_from_floating_window", false);
i.setComponent(
    new ComponentName(
        "com.google.android.apps.translate",
        "com.google.android.apps.translate.translation.TranslateActivity"));
startActivity(i);

Protium

I am assuming that there is no way to get the translated text back from the Intent, correct? – Deserving

Answer 4

OMG! They have changed it once again! They have made it look more reasonable, but not compatible with the previous version.

Intent i = new Intent();
i.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
i.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, "What is going on?");
i.putExtra("key_text_input", "Oh my God!");
i.putExtra("from", "en");
i.putExtra("to", "zh-CN");
i.setComponent(new ComponentName("com.google.android.apps.translate",
                "com.google.android.apps.translate.HomeActivity"));

Looks like this is a SEND intent with two additional (BTW, optional) parameters, "to" and "from".

There's a gotcha: "key_text_input" takes preference over Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, and "to" and "from" work only with "key_text_input".

For people that change the API with each new version it may look only reasonable to rename "key_text_input" to, say, just "text_input", so we will look forward to the next release...

To be on the safe side, I'd propose to set both Intent.EXTRA_TEXT and "key_text_input" to the same value.

Madaih

Answer 5

The Google Translate activity names tend to change over time which makes the code fragile if you hardcode them.

Here is an approach that works with the current version of google translate and will likely keep working with future updates (as long as the package name stays the same):

if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.M) {
    for (ResolveInfo resolveInfo : getPackageManager().queryIntentActivities(new Intent().setAction(Intent.ACTION_PROCESS_TEXT).setType("text/plain"), 0)) {
        if (resolveInfo.activityInfo.packageName.equals("com.google.android.apps.translate")) {
            String activityName = resolveInfo.activityInfo.name;
            String packageName = resolveInfo.activityInfo.packageName;

            Intent intent = new Intent().setPackage(packageName)
                    .setClassName(packageName, activityName)
                    .setAction(Intent.ACTION_PROCESS_TEXT)
                    .setType("text/plain")
                    .putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_PROCESS_TEXT, "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!")
                    .putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_PROCESS_TEXT_READONLY, true);

            startActivity(intent);
        }
    }
} else {
    // >>> deprecated code from other answers goes here <<<
}

Mauro

Answer 6

To add the above answers:

it is important that you pass two-letter language codes. With 3-letter codes, it may look like the google translate app does not receive any data.

In addition, if Intent.ACTION_VIEW does not work, you can use Intent.ACTION_SEND.

        intent = new Intent();
        //intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW); // this did not work for me initially
        intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
        intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, m_text);
        intent.putExtra("key_text_input", m_text);
        intent.putExtra("key_text_output", "");
        intent.putExtra("key_language_from", m_language);
        intent.putExtra("key_language_to", lang_to);
        intent.putExtra("key_suggest_translation", "");
        intent.putExtra("key_from_floating_window", false);
        intent.setComponent(
            new ComponentName(
                "com.google.android.apps.translate",
                "com.google.android.apps.translate.HomeActivity"
                ));
    //try {
        startActivityForResult(intent, REQUEST_CODE_TRANSLATE);
    //...

Madaih