feat(i18n): add support for additional languages to expand WhatsApp user coverage
Summary
The application currently supports pt-BR, en, and es, which covers a strong base in Brazil, English-speaking markets, and Latin America. However, analysis of the top 20 countries by WhatsApp user concentration reveals significant untapped audiences speaking other languages. This issue proposes a prioritized roadmap for adding new locales to maximize reach among the platform's actual user base.
Context & motivation
WhatsApp has over 3.3 billion monthly active users across 180+ countries. Our current three locales address approximately 500–530 million potential users. By adding the languages below — ranked by estimated WhatsApp speaker population — we could expand addressable coverage to well over 1.5 billion users.
The table below summarizes the opportunity by language, derived from WhatsApp user counts in the top 20 countries crossed with speaker distribution data:
| Priority |
Locale |
Language |
Est. WhatsApp speakers |
Key countries |
| 🔴 High |
hi |
Hindi |
~215M |
India |
| 🔴 High |
id |
Indonesian |
~100M |
Indonesia |
| 🔴 High |
ru |
Russian |
~66M |
Russia |
| 🔴 High |
tr |
Turkish |
~60M |
Turkey |
| 🟡 Medium |
ar |
Arabic ⚠️ RTL |
~58M+ |
Egypt + Gulf countries |
| 🟡 Medium |
de |
German |
~42M |
Germany |
| 🟡 Medium |
ur |
Urdu ⚠️ RTL |
~42M |
Pakistan |
| 🟡 Medium |
bn |
Bengali |
~55M |
India |
| 🟡 Medium |
it |
Italian |
~38M |
Italy |
| 🟢 Lower |
fr |
French |
~22M |
France + Francophone Africa |
| 🟢 Lower |
te |
Telugu |
~37M |
India |
| 🟢 Lower |
mr |
Marathi |
~37M |
India |
| 🟢 Lower |
ta |
Tamil |
~32M |
India |
Numbers are estimates based on WhatsApp country user counts × speaker share per country (2024–2025 data). Arabic and Urdu figures exclude Gulf countries not in the top-20 dataset, so real totals are likely higher.
Proposed implementation approach
Phase 1 — High-priority, Latin-script languages (hi, id, ru, tr)
These add massive coverage with no layout engine changes required (all use Latin or Cyrillic/Devanagari scripts rendered LTR).
Phase 2 — RTL languages (ar, ur)
Arabic and Urdu require right-to-left layout support. Before adding translation files, the app's layout system must handle RTL direction correctly.
Phase 3 — Remaining Indian languages and French (bn, it, fr, te, mr, ta)
Translation strategy
A few options to consider for sourcing translations:
- Community contributions — open a call for native-speaker contributors via a dedicated discussion thread. Works well for widely spoken languages like Hindi and Arabic.
- Professional translation service — recommended for Phase 1 and RTL languages where accuracy is critical.
- Machine translation + native review — faster to bootstrap, but requires a review pass before shipping.
Whichever approach is chosen, a translation review checklist per locale would help maintain quality:
Acceptance criteria
References
feat(i18n): add support for additional languages to expand WhatsApp user coverage
Summary
The application currently supports
pt-BR,en, andes, which covers a strong base in Brazil, English-speaking markets, and Latin America. However, analysis of the top 20 countries by WhatsApp user concentration reveals significant untapped audiences speaking other languages. This issue proposes a prioritized roadmap for adding new locales to maximize reach among the platform's actual user base.Context & motivation
WhatsApp has over 3.3 billion monthly active users across 180+ countries. Our current three locales address approximately 500–530 million potential users. By adding the languages below — ranked by estimated WhatsApp speaker population — we could expand addressable coverage to well over 1.5 billion users.
The table below summarizes the opportunity by language, derived from WhatsApp user counts in the top 20 countries crossed with speaker distribution data:
hiidrutrardeurbnitfrtemrtaProposed implementation approach
Phase 1 — High-priority, Latin-script languages (hi, id, ru, tr)
These add massive coverage with no layout engine changes required (all use Latin or Cyrillic/Devanagari scripts rendered LTR).
hi.jsontranslation file (Devanagari script, LTR)id.jsontranslation file (Latin script, LTR)ru.jsontranslation file (Cyrillic script, LTR)tr.jsontranslation file (Latin script, LTR)i18nconfiguration to register new localesPhase 2 — RTL languages (ar, ur)
Arabic and Urdu require right-to-left layout support. Before adding translation files, the app's layout system must handle RTL direction correctly.
flex-direction,text-align,margin/paddingdirectional values)dir="rtl"switching to the root<html>element based on active localemargin-inline-startinstead ofmargin-left, etc.) for cleaner RTL supportar.jsontranslation fileur.jsontranslation filePhase 3 — Remaining Indian languages and French (bn, it, fr, te, mr, ta)
bn,it,fr,te,mr,taTranslation strategy
A few options to consider for sourcing translations:
Whichever approach is chosen, a translation review checklist per locale would help maintain quality:
IntlAPI where possible)Acceptance criteria
ar,ur) render the layout correctly mirroredREADMEor contributing guide is updated to document how to add a new localeReferences