Last Updated on January 22, 2024 by Asfa Rasheed
The App Store offers more than 1.4 million applications that may be downloaded in up to 155 different countries. Despite Apple’s store supporting up to 40 languages, the majority of applications are created largely in English. But what is the average English competence among App Store users? Wouldn’t it be more pleasant for non-native English users if applications were just tailored in their language?
These elements influence how easily people may find your software in the software Store and, in turn, how much it sells. You should focus on app store localization, which is the process of adapting an app for a certain nation, area, or place via a number of stages. An app development agency, acting as the architects of the digital world, coordinates creative solutions and skillfully blends creativity and technological know-how to create experiences that are focused on the needs of users across the wide range of digital possibilities.
Examine the following guidelines to ensure successful app store localization:
Table of Contents
#1 – Examine the app’s market potential.
Investigate your app’s business possibilities first in other nations. Do some market research to ascertain which nations, or more precisely, which areas, you should target. If your app is well-liked in, say, Russia or Japan, concentrate on these two markets and localize it to fit their unique cultural backgrounds. This is much preferable than having to spend time and money localizing your app for every country.
#2: Assemble the top group to translate your application.
Assemble a competent team that includes, among other things, quality analysts, professional translators, and top software engineers or app developers. They will optimize the code for localization, do the best translation, and perform comprehensive bug testing. If you are the developer, then assemble a team of experts to collaborate with you to localize the application. Just make sure they’ve all worked on projects comparable to yours in the past, then use their expertise to localize your software.
Additionally, keep your localization team for all of your applications. Because they will already be acquainted with your app, the team will find it simple to make the necessary modifications when your applications need to be updated.
#3: Take text strings out of the code of your application
The code for your app must also be ready for localization. Text strings are extracted from the code in this stage. These text passages will be translated by the translators. It should come as no surprise that this phase is rather laborious. The good news is that, if you are successful, you may translate the app into any language you want, at any moment, using the same text strings. And what do you know? It’s simpler to incorporate translation techniques later on (when the code is too complicated to manage) if you prepare these strings for localization early in the app development process.
#4: Get your app translated
One important stage in App Store localization is translation, which calls for a thorough explanation. It’s a common misconception among developers that localization is merely another word for translation. Additionally, they believe that the only course of action they should take is to use a program like Google Translate to translate every word in an app.
What then is required for a good translation of your app?
Glossary of translations: A glossary of translations mostly concentrates on a few essential phrases used in your app. It aids translators in recognizing a vocabulary that is exclusive to your particular app. It acquaints translators with vocabulary that has a special meaning related to your application. Facebook serves as an intriguing example, where a user’s interactive area on their profile page is referred to as their “wall.” Provide as many examples as possible to help your translators.
Some of the words that you may include in your translation glossary are listed below:
1. Terms unique to a particular brand
2. Common abbreviations and acronyms
3. Names of goods or services
4. Terminology unique to the app category
5. Any content you want to preserve in its original form
Tools for translation: The market offers a variety of both paid and free translation tools. You may use other tools to translate the content in your app, but they won’t be as reliable as a translator in every situation. Professional translators will be able to utilize these technologies much more effectively and will know more about cultural settings.
Style guides for translation – A translation style guide outlines the proper way to translate with voice, tone, and style appropriately established. It also has to do with how the content of your app is presented. Establish the ideal guide by determining the demographics of your target users and the tone that will resonate with them.
Expert translator: Rather of using tools, an expert translator will use their extensive knowledge to translate words and phrases accurately. Select a specialist who has worked on App Store localization projects and has extensive experience speaking the language.
To translate the text in your app, make use of all these resources. Start with the title of your app and translate it so that local communities will find it appealing. Modify your app’s tagline, but only if it makes sense. If not, don’t change the slogan.
Translate the keywords, descriptions, and text found in the icons, graphics, and screenshots after working on the app’s title and slogan. For perfect localization, also consider the local address formats, measurements, currencies, and time and date formats. Remember to translate the audio as well, if it’s included in your app.
Please keep in mind that nothing ought to be “lost in translation.”
#5: Add additional functionality to your app
It takes effort to add new features and capabilities to your software. If it’s a gaming app, you may add fresh backdrops, extra arcades, seasonal or festival themes, etc. The target area must be compatible with these new features.
Consider St. Patrick’s Day, a day that is widely observed in Ireland. Therefore, you may make a special version of your game app with a St. Patrick’s Day theme and a collection of green backdrops if you’re seeking to break into the Irish market. In a similar vein, if your app offers users recipes, you may release new recipes only for special occasions like Chinese New Year or festivals.
Change the icon of the app to signify the event and add a “new” badge to it. Edit the description as well as the keyword of your app after having included any new update in an app. These new modifications will undoubtedly catch the attention of your target audience and boost your app’s discoverability on the App Store.
If you are going to publish or re-launch your software on the software Store after localization, comply with the App Store review requirements. This will pave your way to release/update your software in the store without any issue. A wearable app development company is a vanguard in the field of technological devices, deftly navigating a line between innovation as well as utility to produce mobile applications that hopelessly mesh with the fast-paced cycles today’s living.
The Importance of Mobile App Localization
#6 – Test your app translation on iOS devices
Testing your app on iOS devices rather than simply app emulators is the next step after localizing it. Even though you may be very confident in your software Store translation efforts, failing to test your translated software on devices might result in a variety of UI and visual problems. Thus, ensure that your app is perfect in every manner by properly testing it on both the newest and older devices that are compatible with it.
#7: Continue developing your app
Localization is an ongoing endeavor. It’s not the end of the journey to make your software appropriate for your target audience on the software Store. To guarantee the highest number of views from the audience, many additional tactics are needed, particularly in the area of marketing. Using in-app purchases that are region-specific and starting marketing campaigns are two approaches to do this.
If this is the first time you are releasing your premium software in a new market, research local app store prices for comparable applications and set your pricing appropriately. If you have more money, you may advertise your app in local media outlets.
In conclusion
It is obvious that it is better to leave App Store localization to the professionals. At Linkitsoft, It is an ongoing process that calls for putting these and several more suggestions into practice, all of which increase the exposure of your software.
