Mobile App Localization: 5 Strategies to Consider

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When you create your own app, one of your key priorities is to make your app more visible and well-known. This leads to more people using the app and, as a result, more money for the company.

To get the most out of your app, you want to make it unique for people in different places and with different tastes, which can be done through mobile app localization.

Mobile app localization enables you to expand your reach beyond your current users and enter a worldwide market. Let’s go through various localization strategies to help you achieve this.

But What Is Localization Exactly?

There can be many different spoken versions of a single language when it comes to localization. These are called locales in the context of translation. For instance, English spoken in the United States is different from English spoken in Canada.

Localization means adapting your content to the location where your target audience lives. Let’s take a look below and learn how you can localize your app.

1. Create an XML file

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The very first step in any localization process is to have your text professionally translated by a competent service.

In order to ensure that everything runs smoothly, you’ll need to build an XML file that contains all of the strings that are present in your app and that can be quickly translated into another language.

Once you’ve submitted your content for translation, the actual translation process could take several days, depending on the size of your app and the number of strings it contains.

You can leave comments next to complex strings to ensure that there is no mistake regarding the context of what will be written in the future. Translation of a text when you have no prior understanding of the product might be difficult, so be patient during the process.

2. Take Care of Non-string Content

Localization involves more than just changing the language of the strings in your software to match the language of the target audience.

You’ll also want to make sure that all of the other text that appears in your app is translated. Text, photos, video, audio, dates, numbers, and currencies are all included in this category.

Some of these pieces may cause difficulties in translation and may even necessitate the modification of some aspects of the app’s functioning in order for them to work well together.

Make certain, however, that you don’t omit any steps along the road. The use of half measurements will only make your users see your company as non-professional.

3. Translate the Actual Content

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Don’t forget to localize the material that appears on your app’s Google Play or App Store page. This is just as crucial as the actual strings in your application.

As part of their first engagement with your product, you want consumers to be able to interact with the material in their local language as much as possible. Failure to do so may result in user confusion and a lack of downloads if you don’t take the necessary precautions.

4. Implement the Content

The finished translation from the translation provider you’ve chosen should be picked up after it’s finished. Make sure to double-check all of the translations before putting them into action, as errors are possible.

You should ensure that all of the string translations make sense and have the appropriate width this way. Once this is completed, it is simply a question of inserting the freshly translated XML file into your application, and you are prepared for testing.

5. Test and Publish

When it comes to evaluating freshly introduced localized strings, the most prevalent method is known as smoke testing.

It consists of a functional test in which the person performing the test doesn’t need to be fluent in the language being tested. Nonetheless, a certain level of knowledge of the app is required for their task, which is to test the functionality of the application.

Such a test is carried out in order to identify whether or not the localization had any detrimental effects on the overall performance of the program.

You should put the new translation through its pages once you have completed an internal evaluation of its quality. Release it to users who are fluent in the language in question and be sure to collect the necessary feedback.

Final Words

Your return on investment and the performance of your mobile app localization process will need to be evaluated once the app has been deployed.

In the same way that app analytics data can be used to determine which locales to support, you will need to check them on a regular basis to see if the localization process has improved or adversely affected your target markets in any way.

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