[peterhi]

But the flag was useful to show in the ui where the language setting was. This is especially useful when the language has been set to something I cannot read. I don't know which of 语言设定 and 重置设备 will allow me to set the language back to English. Also flags in the menu means that I can find English easier than 英语

[quadhome]

Wikipedia uses a “文Ａ” icon; IMHO far better than a flag. What flag would you expect to see?

As for finding the language in the menu, listening a language in the foreign language seems like bad design too. The menu should list “English” as an option!

See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language#/languages

[mik1998]

I personally had no idea that icon let you change the language of articles (a concept I explicitly looked for before). Still confused at what the icon is actually supposed to mean.

[david_allison]

* Use 文Ａ, and ensure you can navigate to the menu only via symbols

* The first element should be "use default/system language"

* Language names should be displayed untranslated: "Deutsch, English, français"

* Optionally display the language in the currently selected language

[thaumasiotes]

> Wikipedia uses a “文Ａ” icon; IMHO far better than a flag.

It's not exactly suggestive of a language selector. 文 means "text". "A" doesn't mean anything at all.

[WirelessGigabit]

The 文 also appears in the Google Translate icon on iOS [0], which is why I always attributed it to a machine translation, not a version of the article written in another language by a human.

[0] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/google-translate/id414706506

[nitwit005]

Salesforce translates (or did when I last used it) all the language and time zone options. If you switched to Japanese by accident, switching back was a bit of a challenge.

[jimbobthrowawy]

I have also seen this icon on google translate, used to denote text. I wonder who came up with it first. Any time I've seen it, I have immediately guessed what it meant.

[Nullabillity]

The flag representing the currently active language, typically.

[ReleaseCandidat]

Both versions is the correct answer, like in the screenshot in the article.

[mam2]

this is one of the most horrible design. there's at least 10 times where I had to look more than once to actually find this button

[ReleaseCandidat]

> I don't know which of 语言设定 and 重置设备 will allow me to set the language back to English.

That's why the languages should be presented in their "own" native form (name and alphabet), at least additionally. Which - using the native form and the translation in the current active locale - Apple does, btw., so at least on MacOS your problem does not exist.

[greenish_shores]

The should be presented mainly, mostly and primarily in their native form. The form for currently set language should be additional. It's a no-brainer which makes demand for using flags unnecessary, almost making it absurd to use them.

But, wait. 语言设定 is "Language settings" and 重置设备 is "Reset device". So the problem here is a bit different, right?

[huygens6363]

Agreed. Some flag, US, Chinese, I don’t care, signifies “language” in the context of software. That is an easy, universal UI pattern.

I don’t see the need to upend this for some notion of offense or other type of PCness.

[lolinder]

> some notion of offense or other type of PCness

As just one example of what we're talking about, let's take Ireland: after generations of cultural oppression England caused a famine in Ireland that reduced the population by at least 20% between millions of deaths and millions of immigrants. Ireland still hasn't recovered its population to the pre-famine levels.

The Irish are literally still recovering from their abuse at the hands of England. They speak English because England made it so through generations of deliberate cultural extermination. It's unreasonable for you to dismiss their desire to not identify themselves with the British flag as some "type of PCness".

[wongarsu]

Typically the flag of the current language setting

[Ekaros]

Hmm, there are counter example Japanese flag on white background would signify nothing...

[metafunctor]

A commonly used icon or symbol for language selection seems to be the globe symbol (U+1F310). HN seems to filter it away, though, so cannot use it in this comment.

[siva7]

You solve this by displaying the language in its original writing. So it's not swiss but Schwitzerisch!

[sparky_z]

That doesn't help you figure out where to go to change the setting, unless you want to list all the available language options at the top of every single page.