Grand S v988 all apps in Mandarin

[The Loon Dawg]

Baseband Version: V988B01
Kernel Version: 3.4.0
Build number: UNI_CN_V988V1.0.0b18

I am an Westerner living in Southeast Asia. I received a ZTE Grand S as a promotional gift.

Everything on the phone was in Mandarin, after much searching I found the language tab and switched to English. However, almost all of the apps still interface in Mandarin, including all browser applications. Google play does not exist on the phone, and cannot be installed.

Can someone please suggest a method by which I could remedy this?

The phone is powerful and beautiful and I would very much like to make use of it.

Can someone suggest a method/app for rooting the device?

 

[Rukbat]

Kingo for rooting. As far as the apps are concerned, contact the developer of each app and ask if there's an English version available. Changing the phone's language doesn't change the apps unless an app is written to use the default language of the phone (which isn't common). You may be able to install Google play - Play Store Install but the country you're in might block connections to the Play store.

 

[The Loon Dawg]

Hey Rukbat,

Thanks for the information. The problem is that the device is running a chinese version of Android. I used a VPN to try to install google play but google still told me that the OS is not eligible for google play, and therefore I have no way of getting any apps other than what has come stock, all of which is chinese.

I have jailbroken and unlocked a few iPhones in my day but this is my first Android experience.

I have no need to keep any of these apps, even if english versions were available.

Is it possible on an android phone to reformat and install a new version of android? This problem seems uncommon so I have not been able to find many forum postings about it. It sounds like rooting would not be enough to trick google regarding the eligibility of the OS.

What do you think?

Thanks for the time man, appreciated