App Localization Services

App localization

Mobile app localization, from the store listing to the last error message

An app store page in the wrong language loses the download before anyone has seen the app, and an app that feels foreign gets uninstalled. We are a leading provider of app localization services: we localize and translate any mobile app for virtually any market and device, we help you decide how far to localize it, and we manage the whole app localization process.

Localizing an app is one of the practices successful companies and developers follow. Developers and app owners can reach new markets by localizing their app without changing the underlying code, and grow their brand by improving the experience of new and existing users.

How far to localize

The store listing. Title, subtitle, description, keywords and screenshots. It is the cheapest way to test demand in a new market before you commit to more.

The app itself. Every screen, message, notification and email, so the whole experience is in the user's language.

Full localization. Help and support content, in-app purchases priced for the market, local payment and legal text, and marketing.

We help you decide how far to go in each market, and we manage the process from the first string to the published listing.

App store optimization in every language

The store listing is where localization pays for itself. Research the keywords people in each market actually use, rather than translating your English ones. Work within the limits: on the App Store, 30 characters each for the app name and subtitle and a hidden keyword field of 100 characters; on Google Play, a 30-character title, an 80-character short description and up to 4,000 characters for the full description. And translate the text on your screenshots, because most people look at the pictures before they read a word.

Files and platforms

We work in the files your developers use: .strings and .stringsdict files or String Catalogs (.xcstrings) on iOS, strings.xml with its plurals on Android, .arb files for Flutter, and JSON for React Native and web views. Placeholders such as %@, %d and {count} are protected, so they come back exactly as they went out.

Internationalization

App localization used to be done only after internationalization, the engineering work that prepares an app for other languages. Now, by choosing the right localization partner, like us, you can significantly reduce or even eliminate the need for internationalization, and you can increase your app's downloads with our localization services.

Details users notice

• Right-to-left layouts for Arabic and Hebrew
• Buttons with room for longer languages
• Dates, times and numbers in local formats
• Currencies and in-app purchase prices
• Push notifications written for the market
• Privacy policy and consent in the user's language

Testing before release

Check every screen in every language before release, on real devices or at least from screenshots. Truncated buttons, wrapped labels and missing characters are easy to fix before launch and embarrassing afterwards, when the reviews are already coming in.

Languages

We localize apps into more than 350 languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, Turkish and Hindi.

Questions about app localization

Do we need to change our code?

Usually not. Apps can be localized without changing the underlying code, working from the resource files your developers already have.

Can you localize our App Store and Google Play listings?

Yes, including the keywords and the text on your screenshots.

How do updates work?

Send the new and changed strings with each release, and they come back translated in the same files, ready to build. For desktop and web software, see software localization.