App Localization for Multilingual Communications
If your business is global, you already know that partnering with a language services company (LSC) is mandatory for all of your document and content translation needs. But what about your apps? Here is where you need localization. Around 3 billion people globally depend on some type of phone to conduct their daily lives. Because cell phones are so ubiquitous, apps are increasing in popularity. However, more and more people are primarily consuming content in their native language, so how do you reach them?
What Is Localization?
Localization is the process of customizing your app so that it works in multiple languages and not just the default language. This can include variations of the same language, called locales. Locales are a combination of the country and the language. For example: United States – English, United Kingdom – English and Canada – English. Each is slightly different from the others, but all the same language.
Why Should I Localize My App?
There are many reasons why you should localize, but the best and most important is this: increased profit. According to research, the number of mobile phone users in 2017 was 4.93 billion worldwide, as opposed to only 237.72 million in the United States. 55% of consumers buy only from websites and apps in their native language, and over 52% said that being able to buy in their native language was more important to them than price. That’s a huge market that could go untapped simply for lack of localization. Another study shows that, in China, time spent on mobile apps and revenue received drastically exceeds that from all other countries. India falls into second place and the US is third. Surely you want to tap into that revenue. Something else to consider: of the top 5-10 apps in both the iOS App store and Google Play, 50-80% come from non-English speaking countries, primarily Europe and East Asia.
Internationalization
Internationalization is the process of customizing your code so that it is ready for localization. It is not the same thing as localization, merely the vital starting point of the process. This process could include, for example, modifying your code to allow for formatting with character languages like Cantonese and Japanese. Once your app has been internationalized, it’s ready to be modified and released in multiple languages. Internationalization obviously needs to come before localization so that your code is ready to handle the localized content you have created.
Localization
Once the app has been internationalized, your localized content can be added. Before localizing you’ll want to do market research to determine which regions and countries you want to expand to. Another idea is to check your established user base, if your app is already released. You can see where most of your users come from, and you’ll be able to cater to them and increase your market base in that area. Once you’ve decided on the areas of your expansion, you will need to localize your app to cover the languages and locales of the areas.
When you need to localize an app, contact the experts at TrueLanguage. Not only can we translate the content for your app for localization, we can work directly with the native software files. We also handle every other type of marketing translation and localization, from brochures and magazines, to websites and interfaces. Ready to learn more on how our language services can help your business? Request a FREE quote or call us now at 1-888-926-9245
