Google Translator and MicroG services

Apps & Core Settings
1

I would like to use Google Translator on IodéOS 7.5. I noticed that when I try to translate, the app throws an error saying there is no connection. Due to owning many degoogled phones, I know that the app works on other degoogled platforms. I suspect this to be a problem with the implementation of MicroG services. For example, on VollaOS there is a similar problem, but in Settings there is a switch that enables or disables MicroG services. This did help in many cases.

Does someone know whether MicroG can be disabled on IodéOS 7.5?

2

Settings → apps → preinstalled apps → Services MicroG

3

Well, yes, but that seems to hide the services. Can I easily reactivate Them later? I would rather Like to switch back and forth, if possible.

4

Try Deepl

5

I tried but there is no voice to text feature - so it is unuseable in real life.

6

When deleting from “Preinstalled Apps”, at reboot the app is actually removed and replaced with an empty “stub” (this is needed so that future system updates that include the app since it is a default don’t keep re-installing it).

To re-activate, again enable in “Preinstalled Apps” and reboot (to install actual app not the stub).

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7

The real DeepL-App from Play Store has voice input: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.deepl.mobiletranslator Never used that.

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8

I’ve had this problem sometimes before. Then I installed the Google Translator from the Aptoide Store and it always worked.
To protect privacy, however, I only use the app in offline mode. (Download the desired languages.)

Your own language and (sensitive) content from texts does not belong on third-party servers.

In offline mode, however, direct voice input in Google translator does not work. I use Futo Voice input for this.
With that you can also speak with it in every app, in every text field.
This is also the case in Google Translator and translate directly. Everything offline. (The quality of Futo, of course, depends on the desired languages and the available languages).

There are also free alternatives for translation, for example TranslateYou from You-Apps or the Monocles Translator. (But most of them have a character limit with 5,000 characters, for example. Well suited for shorter texts, not for longer ones. That’s the advantage of the Google translator, even in offline mode. You don’t have any limitations.)

Edit:

For example, I spoke this text in my own language in a notes app with Futo Voice input, made some corrections and then copied it to the Google translator and had it translated.
(A disadvantage of Google Translator is that it discards all formatting, i.e. paragraphs and so on. Then you have to reformat them). For example, “translate you” retains the formatting.

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9

Really cool how-to! Will try it for my next visit in South America.

I really think, we should open up some kind of best-practises-corner, where different apps can be found including data sensitive approaches to use them, just like your description for speech to text translators.

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10

Yes, I’ve thought of that too. A good idea, an area where users can show solutions that work.
The forum is there first to report problems.
But a corner where there are solutions would be good.

Sorted by topics where different users can show their - working- solutions. with configuration details, and Pro/Cons.

Ideas would be there:
Speech-to-Text
Text-to-Speech
Find-My-Device
Backup Solutions
Sync Solutions
Restore Solutions
Shelter/Private Store
…

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11

Let me see what the team thinks of this. There will be so much overlap I would like to see this forum be able to tag it or something like that to pull it out of the thread and put it in a sort of “how to” rather than create another location, but not sure if Discourse can do this just yet or not.

UPDATE: I looked around at Discourse admin settings but I think just plucking a single reply out of a discussion isn’t really set for that: adding a “tag” is for the entire thread, and granting a “badge” is for the user not the single post.

I would suggest we make a new forum category that would be for user submitted “how tos” or something (a better name sounds like “job 1”). Then these can be a basis for our team to create into official documentation as necessary.

BTW things like APN setup, how to migrate away from Apple iMessage, etc. would be good additions too. But again as new “how to” post seems best rather than a reply in a thread that goes here and there (??) Thoughts?

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12

Wiki pages are very good for stuff like that

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13

Yes, agreed that is the format that is good, then they can be revised and discussed so they stand better than a post that will need corrections but maybe the original author stops updating it, etc.

But where to put them? “Yet another location” for iodé documentation I think would be less than ideal, it would be nice to keep it all here in Discourse (my opinion at least) if we can make it work.

Or do you mean convert the posts to “wiki” so can be edited by others? Possibly if in a “how to” category, then the top post keeps getting edited by original author (or converted to wiki not sure how much headache it is to do that). Replies would be for adjustment submissions from others(?)

14

I’ve seen it as a category “tutorials” on other discourse boards. The tutorials can be edited by everyone (at least members who have a certain trust level, IIRC). So it is not dependent on the user who opened the tutorial/wiki post.

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15

A new main category for example “Solutions“ and under that subcategories by themes?

Maybe this is easy to realize In the existing structure?

And above a pinned message about what is expected here, for example: a short description of the goal of this solution. Detailed descriptions, Pro & Cons, if required screenshots, are there conditions for this solution to work,on which Android version was the solution developed? …

Android Auto and GSI, heliboard .. may be other topics.

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16

Definitely separate wiki pages, not Discourse posts converted to Wiki format. A forum such as this is not the place for documentation that is meant to last, and to be easily searched and navigated..

Documentation - which doesn’t change very often - should should have it’s own place where it doesn’t get swamped by the traffic that you get in the Forum.

For example, look at /e/OS. They have their community forum (with thousands of posts, many of them either out-of-date, or just wrong) and completely separate Documentation pages, including the ‘Support Topics’ page with FAQs, How-tos, Devoce-specific guides, and Tips.

Or for another example, look at LineageOS for microG :wink: Support and discussion is in the XDA Forum thread (which is far from ideal - too long, not searchable, not owned by the current maintainers - but it just about does the job), and documentation is in the various wiki pages: for the project and for the Docker image.

For both of those projects, if people are looking for information (rather than discussion, or asking a question) they can be guided to the relevant documentation page(s) (web, wiki, whatever) not told to search hundreds of pages of forum posts.

Most serious, well-resourced FOSS projects have separate documentation pages or sites. And the successful ones that I remember seem to be community-maintained wiki pages, with maybe some form of moderation.

But of course none of this comes for free. Doing documentation properly has a cost - often a significant cost. And it is one of those things that it is easy to ignore, at lease unti the point when you realise that your project really needs some, but doesn’t have any :smiley:

</rant>

2 Likes
17

We already have an official documentation site (also available directly in the iodé news app). But this largely applies to software we ship as part of the main image or in how iodé things work (blocker, for example). As it is part of the website it isn’t publicly editable (or part of a git repo as it just lives inside wordpress), however.

But there is a lot of gray area / slippery slope still on what to put where as a guide on how to use voice input and send through offline Google Translate is probably not going to be an official documentation article. Often as you note these are user generated “how I get around doing this thing or that thing” that others really would benefit from.

I am still inclined to try first to see if we can stretch Discourse a bit… if it is in a “tutorial section” as @MissPiggy notes may be possible (where non-authors can edit) then the outdated ones can get updated or axed if not relevant anymore, etc.

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18

Then make that into Wiki pages, hosted in a repo on a public git forge (where anyone can have an account - not a private, ‘only developers welcome here’ gitlab instance),and allow users to submit changes / corrections / new pages via pull requests and patches.

You could also add an issue tracker so that users can report issues and track their progress. That would make life easier for the person who has to act as am interface between forum users and devlopers :wink: