If you have been building with Bubble.io for a while, you know how exciting it is when the platform rolls out something new for the mobile experience. The Mobile Builder has been receiving more attention recently, and now there is a fresh update that will not only make your apps look better but also feel smarter for your users.
We are talking about two big features here – native device language support and rich text in Bubble’s Mobile Builder. On the surface, these may seem like small tweaks, but in practice, they open up a lot of creative and functional possibilities. Let’s take a walk through what these updates mean, why they matter, and how you can put them to good use right away.
What is Native Device Language Support?
Think about the apps you use every day on your phone. Whether you are scrolling through your favorite social app or checking your bank balance, you probably never notice that the text and interface match your preferred language automatically. That is because most modern mobile apps detect your device’s language and adapt accordingly.
Until now, if you were building with Bubble’s Mobile Builder, you had to manually set up language preferences inside your app. You might have needed a custom workflow to detect the language or forced the user to pick it on the first launch. That worked, but it was never quite as seamless as the native experience people are used to.
Now, Bubble’s Mobile Builder can tap directly into the device’s language settings. This means that if someone has their phone set to Spanish, French, Japanese, or any other supported language, your app will greet them in that language without them lifting a finger.
Why This Is Such a Big Deal
Language might seem like a small detail, but it plays a huge role in how users connect with your app. If the first thing a new user sees is content in their own language, it builds instant trust and comfort. It feels like the app was designed with them in mind, rather than being a one-size-fits-all product.
For anyone building an app intended for a global audience, this feature is a lifesaver. You no longer have to guess which language someone prefers based on their IP address or ask them to choose from a list the moment they open the app. Those extra steps can cause friction, and friction is the enemy of user retention.
Even if your app is targeted to one main language, native language support makes it more accessible to international users who might stumble across it. This is especially useful for niche products that unexpectedly gain traction in other countries. You never know when a new market will find your app, and now you will be ready for them.
Setting It Up in Your App
The best part is that this is not a complicated feature to implement. In Bubble’s Mobile Builder, you now have the ability to link your app’s language display directly to the device’s settings. You can still provide a manual language selector if you want, but you will not need it for the default experience.
All you need to do is make sure your app’s text elements have translations available for the languages you want to support. The device will handle the rest. It is as close to ‘set it and forget it’ as you can get in app localization.
Now, Let’s Talk About Rich Text in the Mobile Builder
If you have been using Bubble for web apps, you are probably familiar with the power of rich text. It lets you add formatting like bold, italics, colors, links, and lists to your text. It is the difference between a flat, monotone block of text and something that feels alive and engaging.
On the web side of things, rich text has been part of Bubble for a while. But in the Mobile Builder, it was more limited. You could display text, but it lacked the flexibility to make that text pop. That meant mobile apps built with Bubble.io often had to use creative workarounds to achieve more visually interesting layouts.
Now, those workarounds are history. With rich text support in the Mobile Builder, you can bring the same polished formatting to your mobile app that you already enjoy on the web.
What Rich Text Unlocks for Your Mobile Designs
The possibilities here are bigger than they might appear at first glance. Imagine you are building an educational app. Instead of showing plain paragraphs of information, you can now highlight important terms in bold, italicize key points, and use color to draw attention to calls to action.
If you are creating a content-heavy app like a blog reader or a recipe app, you can format headings, break content into easy-to-read sections, and embed clickable links directly in the text. The reading experience becomes smoother and more visually appealing, which keeps users engaged longer.
Even in apps that are not content-heavy, rich text can be a subtle but powerful upgrade. For example, a welcome message can now have a friendly bold greeting at the top, followed by a lighter subheading, and maybe even a colorful ‘Get Started’ link right in the text. It is a small design change that can make your app feel more intentional and well-crafted.
Bringing These Features Together
Native device language support and rich text formatting may seem like separate updates, but they actually complement each other perfectly. Imagine your app greeting a new user in their preferred language, with that greeting styled beautifully using rich text. It is not just functional, it is personal and aesthetically pleasing.
When you combine automatic localization with better text presentation, you elevate the overall user experience. It is the difference between simply delivering information and making your app feel like a polished product that cares about the details.
The Impact on User Experience
In app development, the small things add up. A single update, like native device language support, removes a moment of potential confusion for users. Rich text, meanwhile, makes your app feel warmer and more professional.
Together, these updates can subtly improve retention rates. When users feel at home in an app and enjoy interacting with its content, they are far more likely to come back. And since both features are baked into Bubble’s Mobile Builder, you do not have to fight with complex code to make it happen.
Thinking About Accessibility
Another angle worth mentioning is accessibility. Language detection makes your app more inclusive for non-native speakers right out of the box. And rich text can improve readability for everyone by letting you emphasize important information, break up long paragraphs, and use visual cues.
It is worth taking some time to think about how you can use these tools to make your app friendlier for all kinds of users. For example, you could use rich text to create clear headings in a help section or to make buttons stand out in instructional text. You could also provide translations for your most important navigation and instructional content so that your app is usable across a wider range of languages.
Getting Creative
While these features clearly have practical uses, they also open the door to more creative ideas. With rich text, you can experiment with playful formatting in certain areas of your app, like achievement messages or onboarding screens. You can add personality with colored text in notifications or stylized quotes in a community feed.
And with native language support, you can think beyond basic translation. You could design region-specific greetings, culturally relevant welcome messages, or even seasonal content that changes based on the user’s location and language.
A Win for No-Code Developers
One of the best things about Bubble.io has always been its ability to give no-code developers the same kinds of tools and features that traditionally required a development team. This update is another step in that direction.
Without writing a single line of code, you can now give your users a more personalized and visually appealing experience on mobile.
Final Thoughts
It is easy to overlook updates like this if you just skim the release notes, but native device language support and rich text in the Mobile Builder are worth paying attention to. They might not be flashy at first glance, but their impact on the user experience is real.
By automatically speaking the user’s language and giving you the tools to make your text look great, Bubble.io is helping you build apps that feel more polished and professional without adding extra complexity.
If you are already building with the Mobile Builder, take a little time to explore these features. Try greeting users in their preferred language, then use rich text to make that greeting feel warm and personal. You may also play around with formatting in your content-heavy pages and see how it changes the feel of the app.
These are the kinds of changes that make users feel like you put real thought into their experience. And in the world of app development, that thoughtfulness is often what separates a good app from a great one.