What is app localizaiton?
Mobile app usage worldwide is increasing which makes localizing your app especially important. App localization is the process of adapting an app’s functionality, interface, and marketing to suit foreign domains.
Localization helps broaden your net and reduce friction across geos. For example, if you’re targeting a French audience, bear in mind French people generally have low English proficiency relative to other European countries and so you should include a French description of your app in the stores, a French version of your app itself, and ad creatives translated to French.
How to localize your app advertising
- App content: Update your app to fit the country’s tastes, especially if there is a relevant cultural gap. Translate all text into local languages and remember that culturalization goes beyond the written word and includes images and feel.
- Local SEO: Mobile app localization is not confined to the app itself. Make sure potential customers can find you easily and keep in mind which search engines are popular in the geo you are localizing in. For example, Google is banned in China.
- App file size matters: Much of the world does not have access to stable Wi-Fi or powerful cellular data. If the app file is too large, people in some geos will simply not be able to download your app.
- App store local optimization: The app stores ecosystem can have a lot of fragmentation because there are tons of different store options. For example, Google Play is not available in China. Know the store that’s right for the geo you are targeting.
- IP protection: Check in on your trademarks and copyrights and make sure they can be extended to the country you are targeting.
Mobile app localizaiton for iOS and Android
iOS app localization: You can change the Xcode, default state, to whatever language you want. The “Base.lproj” is the localized directory inside your project for your base language and as you add new languages, more of these folders are created.
Android app localization: For Android apps, you will change the string into different languages. Make a new folder under “res” with name, “values-local,” where local is replaced with the region you are localizing to. Once that folder is made, you can copy the “strings.xml” to the folder you have created and change its contents to the language you are localizing to.
App localization services
ironSource’s Aura will work with you to localize your app marketing and set it up for success in whatever geo you’ll be in. Aura connects app developers with more than 130 million users across more than 45 countries and localizes the device experience with country-specific apps, content and interfaces and gets support for more than 80 languages.