Common App Localization Mistakes

Less than 10% of the world speaks fluent English. The market is local, and software developers must opt for app localization for easy entrance into the global market. App localization means translating the software and presenting it in multiple languages and integrating the Country’s cultural conventions in view.

Also, app localization is not just translating your software from English. It is a complex process that involves localizing the app contents, user interface, date and time formats, currency, and images on the application. Therefore, it is essential to work with a localization company to better market your application in the international markets.

However, the following are a few of the common app localization mistakes encountered by developers, marketers, and linguists.

Place More Emphasis on Culture and not just the language

Localization goes beyond just translation, so, in mobile app localization, there is a need to understudy the people you are targeting. This study would often include their cultural background, choice of colors, tax, and legal requirements.

For instance, the word “auto” is used for cars in the UK, while the word “car” is used in the united states. Therefore, running a car rental business would require a different version for the two countries.

Embedding Text in the Code

Embedding text to the code will affect the way linguists carry out the localization process. They might end up being confused about what to translate, which part is the code. Therefore, a different resource file is needed to avoid this.

With this, the text available in the software can be seen with each file having a unique identification name. So, these files are sent to the localization company to work with to target the market to increase user experience.

Unavailability of Unicode Support

The use of Unicode is important, especially when creating an app that is meant for the global market because it supports multiple languages. During the localization process, special characters would be needed, which can only function with the right Unicode, thereby preventing characters from being corrupted during translation.

So, software developers recommend the UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format 8-bit) for translating special characters while UTF-16 is recommended when translating Asian languages. These mistakes are fatal during mobile app localization and can only be avoided by choosing the appropriate app localization company.

Hard-coding of date and time formats, images, and texts

In the software, it is not only the texts that need to be translated as there are images, dates, units, currencies, and other parameters that need to be localized based on the global audience.

Hard-coded date and time formats, or currency format will bring about some trouble when translating because countries and languages differ in time and date formats. In Australia, Cuba, and Austria, the date is written as (DD.MM.YYYY) while it is written as (MM.DD.YYYY) in Canada, the US, and the Philippines. So, it is important to work with a company that has a good knowledge of the target market and takes care during your mobile app localization.

Other localization mistakes are; the post-translation phase, images having texts, and dealing with languages that read from right to left.

Expand your business to global markets and reach global audience by avoiding all these common app localization mistakes, for more info contact us.