Whether you’re looking to launch a brand new app or are preparing to launch your existing app into a new market, there’s already bound to be a million stories and tasks to work through as your team sprints towards the finish line.
And that’s before you even start to think about everything that needs to go into translating your app to the local language.
The localization process can often feel extremely time-consuming and frustrating as a developer. But, if you want to give your app the best chance for success, you need to translate it.
In this guide, we’ll guide you through why mobile application translation is important, how it works, and the steps you need to take to speed up translation time and make your app localization a success.
How does translating your mobile application affect its success?
The reality is that most apps are going to fail.
But that doesn’t mean yours has to.
One strategy to improve the odds your app succeeds is by expanding into new markets to grow the audience your app has the potential to reach. But all the potential users in the world won’t mean much if the language barrier is blocking adoption.
You can build a technical wonder of an app with all the features anyone could ever ask for, but if your adoption metrics aren’t where they need to be, you’re going to be in trouble — Especially if your app relies on a critical mass of users.
Retention rates for mobile apps are already abysmally low as it is; Of all the users that install an app, 26% delete the app before using it, and an average of only about 3% of users stick around longer than 30 days.
And if the users download the app only to realize it doesn’t come in their language? I’m sure you can imagine how this additional language barrier adds downward pressure on these metrics as well.
This is why app translation can be so valuable. Translating the text of your mobile app into a foreign language, allows you to increase the odds that your audiences that speak different languages will use, and continue using, your app.
What do you need to know before you begin translating your mobile application?
Mobile application translation is the process of translating application interface text from one language to another.
This may seem obvious, but what might not be so obvious is that translating your app is just one part of a bigger process: App localization.
When you’re preparing your app for rollout in a new market, of course you need to consider translating the text in the information and interface to ensure the audience can understand and interact with the app.
But you also need to take into consideration other cultural and language differences, and this is where we go from translation to localization.
For example, if you’re intending to launch your English-language app into a Spanish-speaking market, you’ll need to do more than simply change the text from ‘log in’ to ‘iniciar sessión’.
You’ll also need to make sure your forms and databases are set up for a culture where the users’ names might follow a First Name/First Surname/Second Surname format rather than the First Name/Middle Name/Surname tradition we’re familiar with (not to mention the additional accented letters that don’t even exist in English).
And if you want to translate your English app into Japanese, you won’t just need to adjust the words used; you’ll also need to optimize the design of the app since traditional Japanese is a vertical language that reads top to bottom rather than left to right.
As you can see, It’s not enough to simply translate a mobile app that you’re developing. You also need to localize it to best optimize the user experience.
Localization requires updating several elements
Translating your app ensures the text content within the app is available in multiple languages. But, localization analyzes a variety of elements and tweaks them for each localized market.
A few examples of localization elements include:
- Interface elements– The most obvious thing you will need to update is the app’s interface. After all, if the user can’t understand how to navigate the menu or what the buttons do, having the rest of the app translated won’t do much good.
Of course, when translating the interface texts, you should be prepared to dust off those style files and adjust some button widths and font sizes because you’re bound to run into translations that don’t quite fit the same space as their English counterparts. And it’s not just obscure and uncommon words; The three-letter ‘FAQ’ that appears in so many apps and websites translates into the decidedly longer ‘Preguntas Frequentes’ in Spanish. - Database elements – It’s important to translate the information you are sharing with your users, but it’s equally important to make sure you’re able to collect the information you need from your users.
The English alphabet is pretty straightforward; 26 letters and not a lot of variations or accents to worry about. Once you open up your app to other regions, you also have to consider how your database might handle entries containing Æ, ñ, ç, ß, or ú (or any of the dozens of languages that don’t use any of the Latin characters we’re used to.
But even more than that, you need to make sure the fields you are asking users to fill in are actually possible to fill in. Does your required ‘phone number’ field on your registration form refuse any entry that doesn’t follow the US-standard 10-digit number? Well, good luck getting any users to sign up in Europe where many telephone numbers have only 9 digits. - Date and time formats – There are plenty of local preferences for how dates and times are structured, and if you aren’t using the format your users are accustomed to, you may end up with some very confused individuals wondering whether 04/08 is April 08th or August 4th.
- Units of measurement – Localizing for units of measurement is pretty straightforward, right? Some places use pounds, others use kilograms. But, some use stone, and some use pounds AND kilograms. And some places use pints while other places use pints, but a different size pint. And a ton of bricks in Texas is NOT the same thing as a tonne of bricks in France.
And if your app has an ecommerce store with shoes or shirts on sale, don’t forget to update the size charts because the same pair of shoes could be a size 11.5 in the US, size 45 in Europe, or size 29 in Japan.
- Currency and fees – No surprises on this one. International users of your app will expect to be able to pay in their local currency and via a payment gateway that seems familiar and that they can trust. You may have to decide if you’re willing to take a hit on fees as well as there’s nothing worse for a consumer than an app that appears to let them pay in their local currency (as that’s the cost that’s advertised) but then they get stung for making an “international payment”.
Name and surname structure – This is the type of cultural difference that diminishes the user experience if handled incorrectly. During user sign-up, you have to provide identifying information like your name and email address. But how should the fields be organized?
In Anglophone cultures, it’s usual to have the field ordered by First Name, Middle Name, Surname. In Hispanic cultures, it would be more normal to find Given Name, Paternal Surname, Maternal Surname. And in some Asian cultures it’s more normal for the Surname to be found first, followed by the Given Name.
Now, it’s probably not a big deal if the app you’ve signed up for continuously refers to you as Smith John rather than John Smith, but getting it right goes a long way to a frictionless experience.
There are different levels of app translation and localization
Not all forms of localization are the same; and not all apps require the same level of localization.
You’re probably not going to need to invest as much time and resources into translating a to-do list or sudoku app as you would to translate an app for a healthcare provider or a bank.
Luckily, there are a a few different levels of localization you can choose from:
- Minimum Viable Localization (MVL) is the simplest form of localization. It’s where you localize only the most essential features or content within your app. It’s a decent starting place for early-stage startups looking for a MVL to go with their minimum viable product (MVP) and simply need to move to market quickly.
- Full App Localization is when you offer a robust localization of your app, where the entirety of an app’s content is localized like images, text, times, dates, cultural content, and units of measurement. When you’re wanting to make the biggest impact with your app and get the highest user adoption, you should go with full app localization.
Hybrid Localization, as you may have guessed, combines MVL with full app localization. It’s where you ensure essential elements of your app are localized while some elements are localized only for the largest markets you’re targeting. It’s a decent option if you’re a developer who wants great localization while still balancing time and cost.
How to translate your mobile app (step-by-step)
Translation is no easy process. It can be quite technical and complicated, and there are several localization challenges you need to overcome as a developer. But that doesn’t mean it has to be difficult.
Here’s how to get started:
1. Plan your translation strategy at the beginning
Don’t wait until the end of your app development process to “fit in” translation. The first step in translating your mobile app is to start planning it from the start.
If you fail to incorporate translation and localization into your app until later on, you’ll have to do a ton of backtracking and reversing large amounts of coding work.
Instead, start planning the design of your app with translation and localization from the start. While you may think it’ll save you time to add it on later, it will actually make the entire localization process faster (and smoother) when you begin your design with translation in mind at the beginning.
Make sure you also decide what “good” looks like. Create performance metrics based on your goals so that you have an objective way to measure the success of your translation strategy.
2. Leverage a translation management system (TMS)
Don’t guess what you should do with translation. While many developers who have to translate their app think it’s as simple as switching a couple words here and there, it’s not that simple.
Translation errors and cultural differences can cause a wide range of problems both for your development team and your user base.
To simplify and streamline the translation process, you should leverage a translation management system (TMS) like Lokalise to help guide and manage the entire process.
A TMS will help you:
- Speed up your translation and localization in the development process
- Improve the accuracy of your translations
- Get to market faster
3. Set up integrations and automations from the beginning
One key to creating a smooth app development process when you know you need to translate it is to set up automations and integrations from day one.
This means integrating GitHub, GitLab, or any other coding software to streamline your translation and development operations.
Plus, you should begin integrating design tools like Figma into your translation process when you’re at the design stage.
Translation management systems like Lokalise enable you to use translation memory (TM) so you don’t have to keep repeating the same translations manually over and over again.
A TMS can help you establish different rules for different languages so you can automate your translation process.
And, using an over-the-air (OTA) software development kit (SDK), like Lokalise offers, you can publish translation changes directly into production apps without having to wait for app store approvals. This works with both Android localization and iOS localization.
4. Translate the app
Now that your automations and integrations are set up, it’s time to actually translate the app in its entirety.
Remember to segment translatable resources like text, images, videos.
Also, consider text expansion where text size may vary based on language (i.e. Japanese will take up more vertical space compared to English or French which will take up space horizontally).
Don’t forget to provide content to translators through Figma or by sending screenshots.
5. Create a process to ensure translation accuracy
Remember to create smooth processes to ensure your translations are done quickly (and accurately).
Ask your marketing team for your company style guide so you understand how the different languages will work within the style and design of your app.
Establish a head of reviewers within your development team to go over the accuracy of the translations and keep your team accountable.
Remember to do a proofreading review and linguistic review through each stage of the translation process.
6. Conduct quality assurance checks
Finally, you need to ensure you put in place quality assurance checks to ensure you don’t have any hiccups with your translations through the app development stage as well as the post-launch stage. You’ll also need to regularly deliver updated translations to mobile app users.
You need to put a strong focus on translation quality assurance as one small mistake could lead to a poor user experience on the adoption side of things.
In addition to your translations, you also need to do localization quality assurance (LQA). This means checking language, but also cultural relevance, technical compatibility, and regional variations.
You can use LQA testers from different regions to test your app in different targeted localized areas before you launch your mobile app.
Translate your mobile app with Lokalise today
Do you have to translate your next mobile app?
Well, to ensure your app translation is successful, remember to:
- Integrate a translation strategy from the start
- Incorporate localization in addition to translation
- Leverage a TMS to streamline the translation process
Ready to make your next app a success?
Sign up for Lokalise’s 14-day free trial today.
