🌍 Equipment Tracker Now Speaks Your Language

Why This Took Real Work

Translating an app for the trades is not the same as translating a shopping app. Almost every word that matters has an everyday meaning and a completely different one on a roof.

A belt is not something that holds up your trousers — it is the drive belt on a blower motor, and the wrong word makes a parts list read like a clothing order. Charge is not something on an invoice; it is the refrigerant charge in a system. A unit is not a measurement and not an apartment — it is the machine you are standing in front of. Get any of those wrong and the app stops sounding like it was built by someone who has done the work.

So the translation was done against the vocabulary a technician in each language actually uses, then audited a second time specifically for those trade terms. Where a word had a plausible wrong reading, it was checked against where it appears in the app before being translated at all.

What Deliberately Stays in English

Some things must never be translated, because they are printed on the equipment itself. If a nameplate says R-410A, the app says R-410A, in every language. The same goes for:

• ▸ Refrigerant designations — R-410A, R-22, R-134a, R-407C, R-32, R-454B
• ▸ Belt codes — A32, AX32, BX74, 4L340, 5VX810
• ▸ Filter sizes and MERV ratings — 16x20x2, MERV 8
• ▸ Regulatory references — EPA, EPA 608, F-Gas, ASHRAE, NATE
• ▸ Units and abbreviations — PSI, CFM, BTU, RPM, kW, HP, MFD, FLA, MCA
• ▸ Every model number, part number and serial number you have entered

Your Data Does Not Change

Switching languages changes the app's labels and buttons. It does not touch a single thing you have entered. Your equipment names, service history, technician notes and vendor names stay exactly as you wrote them, because those are your records — not the app's wording.

The AI nameplate scanner is unaffected too. It reads the physical plate and returns the specs printed on it, the same way regardless of what language your phone is set to.

How to Use It

There is nothing to turn on. If your phone is set to Spanish, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese or Italian, the app follows it the next time you open it. If your phone is set to English, nothing changes at all.

Spanish is split into Latin American and European variants, because the vocabulary genuinely differs — and a technician should read the words used where they work.

Why We Did It

Roughly a quarter of HVAC and refrigeration technicians in the United States are Hispanic or Latino, and the trade is international by nature — the same rooftop units, the same compressors and the same filter sizes turn up in every country.

A technician should not have to work around an app in a second language while standing on a roof in the heat trying to record a serial number. If the tool is worth using, it is worth using in the language you think in.

This is the first release. If a term reads wrong in your language, or something on a screen is still in English, tell us — the wording was reviewed by machine and by audit, but the people who will catch the last mistakes are the ones using it on real equipment.

Which languages are supported?

Spanish (Latin America), Spanish (Spain), French, German, Brazilian Portuguese and Italian, in addition to English.

How do I change the language?

You do not need to. The app follows your phone's own language setting. Change it in your phone settings and reopen the app.

Will translating change my saved data?

No. Only the app's own labels and buttons change. Your equipment names, service history, notes and vendor names stay exactly as you entered them.

Are refrigerant and belt codes translated?

No, and deliberately so. R-410A, AX32, MERV 8, EPA 608 and every model, part and serial number appear exactly as printed on the equipment, in every language.

Does the AI nameplate scanner still work in other languages?

Yes. The scanner reads the physical nameplate and returns the specs printed on it, independently of your phone's language.

Is this a Pro feature?

No. The languages are available to everyone, on both iPhone and Android.

Jonathan Curtis

HVAC Technician & Founder · Equipment Tracker Pro

Jonathan Curtis is an HVAC technician and the founder of Equipment Tracker Pro. He built the app to solve real-world property handoff challenges — including the absolute nightmare of losing years of maintenance histories and having to reprint physical asset tags.