Apple supports over 200 languages on the iPhone, but doing so takes years of continual effort and consultation with indigenous cultures around the world. As far back as 2010, Apple has partnered with members of indigenous cultures to ensure their languages are correctly supported on the iPhone. Apple even documented some of this process earlier in 2026.
As a new report in *Wired* details, the work involves far more than adding a translation dictionary. "It's about making sure that the best choice for representing someone's language is being made on our platform," said Apple software engineer Chirasree Mandal, "so they feel good about using it."
The process begins with getting a language's written characters included in the Unicode set, the standards body that annually approves new emoji and that all technology firms follow. Beyond individual letters, Apple liaises with communities to reach consensus on how characters should look and behave, and it designs keyboard layouts to fit each language. Some languages, such as Nez Perce, do not use capital letters, so Apple changed the shift key to offer accented characters instead. In Cherokee, the bottom row of keys changes as the user types. In iOS 27, Apple added more Native American languages, including Blackfoot, Comanche, and Northern East Cree.
Cherokee is among the endangered languages the work aims to preserve. Cherokee Nation principal chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. described the historical threats the nation has faced, including colonization, economic and geographic displacement, and boarding schools. "But it's nothing compared to the mathematics we're up against now," he said, adding that the nation is eager to find partners like Apple to accelerate its efforts.
Source: AppleInsider · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing