Change the app's language
Tavala is in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese and German. Pick one in Settings, or keep System to follow your device.
On this page
Tavala is available in seven languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese and German. It starts in your device's language, and SettingsDeviceLanguage sets a different one for the app alone.
Change the language
- Open Settings. On a phone, tap the round person icon at the top right. On an iPad, a Mac or the web, tap or click Settings at the foot of the rail or the sidebar.
- Under Device, tap Language. The row shows the language in use.
- The Language sheet opens: "Applies on this device only." Tap a language, or tap System to follow your device.
The app changes language at once, with no restart, and stays on the page you were on.
The seven languages
The sheet lists each language by its own name, so you can find yours whatever language the app is in now.
| Language | In the sheet |
|---|---|
| German | Deutsch |
| English | English |
| Spanish | Español |
| French | Français |
| Italian | Italiano |
| Japanese | 日本語 |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Português (Brasil) |
How System works
System is the first choice in the sheet, followed by the language it uses now, for example "System (English)". It is the setting a new install starts with.
- Your device's language, when Tavala has it. A phone set to Italian shows Tavala in Italian. On the web, the browser's language counts.
- A regional variant gets its language. Portuguese from Portugal gets Português (Brasil), Spanish from Mexico or Argentina gets Español, British English gets English.
- Any other language gets English. A phone set to Dutch shows Tavala in English. Choose another of the seven in the sheet if you prefer it.
- It follows a change. If you change the device's language, Tavala follows it.
If you cannot read the current language
The row and the sheet have the same place in every language. The Language row has a translation icon (a character and an "A").
| App language | Route |
|---|---|
| English | SettingsDeviceLanguage |
| Spanish | AjustesDispositivoIdioma |
| French | RéglagesAppareilLangue |
| Italian | ImpostazioniDispositivoLingua |
| Japanese | 設定デバイス言語 |
| Portuguese | AjustesDispositivoIdioma |
| German | EinstellungenGerätSprache |
What the language changes
- Every screen, sheet and message of the app, and the reminders it sends.
- How amounts are written. €1,234.56 in English reads 1.234,56 € in German and 1 234,56 € in French. The currency still decides the decimals.
- The names Tavala gives things. The starter categories (such as "Food & Dining"), the first space ("Personal") and the notes Tavala writes itself ("Money lent") read in your language. Once you rename one, it shows your name in every language.
- Ask Tavala's answers. It answers in the app's language, or in the language you ask in. See ask a question.
What stays as it is
- Your own words. Wallet, category and trip names, and notes, stay as you typed them.
- Your region. Your device's region still decides regional habits, such as whether a typed date
like
10/4is read month first. - Exports. A CSV keeps a machine format (a point before the decimals, dates as 2026-10-29) in every language, and names the starter categories in English, so a spreadsheet reads it the same way.
- This help center and the legal pages (the privacy policy and the terms) are in English.
Good to know
- The choice stays on this device. It is not synced, so your phone and your Mac can use different languages, and people who share a space can each use their own. Signing out keeps it.
- The capture bar is not limited to the app's language. It reads lines in several languages on any setting. See add an expense in one line.
- A reminder already scheduled may arrive once in the earlier language. The next ones follow the new language after you open the app.
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