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App Localization — Mobile Game and Application Localization
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App localization adapts your mobile game or application for specific markets — translating UI strings, adjusting layouts for text expansion and RTL languages, configuring font systems for CJK characters, and verifying the localized build functions correctly on target devices. Mobile games are the fastest-growing segment of global gaming: the Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, and Brazilian markets together represent the majority of global mobile game revenue outside the US. SandVox localizes mobile games and apps for iOS, Android, and cross-platform frameworks, from initial string export through in-build LocQA.
What App Localization Involves
App localization covers the full adaptation stack for a mobile product. String localization — all localizable text (UI labels, onboarding copy, push notification text, error messages, in-app purchase descriptions) is translated using Translation Memory and a game-specific terminology glossary. App Store localization — title, subtitle, description, keyword field, and screenshots are localized per market; App Store metadata localization directly affects organic discovery in non-English markets. Font and rendering — CJK character rendering on iOS and Android requires font fallback configuration; Arabic and Hebrew require RTL text layout support, which behaves differently on iOS UIKit vs. Android Views vs. Unity’s uGUI. Device-specific LocQA — testing on representative iOS and Android devices in each target locale to verify layout, font rendering, locale-sensitive formatting (dates, numbers, currency), and dynamic text sizing behavior.
iOS App Localization
iOS localization uses .strings files (Localizable.strings per locale), .stringsdict for plural forms, and Xcode’s Localization Catalog (.xcloc) for export/import workflows. SwiftUI and UIKit both support dynamic layout through Auto Layout and SwiftUI’s flexible stacks — but font size variations and text expansion in languages like German (30–40% longer) and Thai (character stacking) can still break rigid UI components. App Store Connect supports localization of metadata per storefront — the Japanese App Store, German App Store, and Brazilian App Store each have separate listing text, screenshots, and preview videos. iOS system locale detection and fallback behavior must be verified during LocQA: a user with a device set to Simplified Chinese must see the correct zh-Hans strings, not the Traditional Chinese (zh-Hant) fallback.
Android App Localization
Android localization uses resource directories (res/values-de/, res/values-ja/, etc.) with strings.xml per locale and plurals.xml for plural form handling. Android’s resource qualifier system handles locale fallback automatically, but configuration must be verified — especially for regional variants (pt-BR vs pt-PT, zh-rCN vs zh-rTW, es-rMX vs es). Google Play supports per-locale store listings (Play Console → Store presence → Main store listing → Manage translations) with localized titles, short and long descriptions, and screenshots. For games using Unity or Unreal on Android, the same engine-level localization pipeline applies as on iOS — device testing should cover representative Android OEM devices in key markets, as rendering behavior varies between Samsung, Xiaomi, and other OEM implementations.
App Store Localization and ASO
App Store Optimization (ASO) for international markets requires localized metadata, not just translated metadata. The distinction: a translated App Store description transfers the English copy into the target language; a localized description rewrites the copy using the natural search queries and phrasing used by players in that market. Japanese players search differently than German players — keyword strategies for App Store (iOS uses keywords field, Google Play indexes description body) require market-specific research. Localized screenshots and preview videos are among the highest-impact ASO elements: an App Store screenshot with a UI in the player’s language converts meaningfully better than an English screenshot in non-English markets.
Frequently Asked Questions
What file formats does SandVox accept for app localization?
iOS: .strings, .stringsdict, .xcloc. Android: strings.xml, plurals.xml, and resource directory structures. Unity: .po, .xliff (Localization Package), .csv. React Native: i18next JSON format, .po. Flutter: ARB (Application Resource Bundle). We return translated files in the same format and structure you send — no conversion required.
Does SandVox localize App Store metadata as well as in-app text?
Yes. App Store and Google Play store listing localization (title, subtitle, description, keywords) is available as a standalone service or combined with in-app text translation. App Store metadata is localized with ASO intent — not just translated, but adapted for natural search behavior in each target market.
Can you do LocQA on iOS and Android devices for CJK languages?
Yes. We verify CJK rendering (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) on representative iOS and Android devices — font coverage, text layout, dynamic text sizing, and locale fallback behavior. For iOS we test on current generation iPhones; for Android we test on devices representing the OEM mix in your target market.
How long does app localization take?
A typical mobile game with 3,000–8,000 words of in-app text in one language takes 1–2 weeks for translation and file-level QA. Add 3–5 business days for in-build LocQA after files are imported. Projects with multiple languages run language pairs in parallel where possible. App Store metadata localization adds 2–3 business days per language. Contact us with your word count and language list for a specific timeline.
Start Your App Localization Project
Tell us your word count, target languages, and platform. We return translated files ready for import — with Translation Memory and terminology glossary included. Free quote in one business day.