One Hour Translation Blog

French > 40% of Internet users. It means that many of the potential customers of the apps you developed do not speak English.

Those users prefer buying apps in their native languages. Some apps even became a single-country “hit” (see here) thanks to a wise decision of their developer to localize them.

Here’s a short guide. Some of the tips are ours, some from our customers experience and some were gathered on the Internet.

1. Use translators who translate to their native language only. Mobile apps are used for daily tasks, so a translation made by a translator who isn’t familiar with the small nuances of his native language will effect negatively the chances of viral marketing of the app in the target country.
2. Supply the translator as much information as possible about your app functionality. Be very descriptive. Translators are most probably not a users of your app. Insert a note or a description tag for every phrase. It is a lot of work – but you only need to do it one time for all your local versions.
3. The next tip is true for all types of software / websites localization processes: try reusing the same phrases whenever possible. It will save you money and the result will be much better.
4. This is not a tip. This is a warning: do not use machine translation for your apps. The result may ruin your app and brand reputation. Machine translation tools are good for general understanding of meaning, not for real life uses.
5. Use translators with rich knowledge in technology, software and mobile apps. They will be fluent with the precise translation of the terms you used. They will be fine with the code that surrounds your source phrases.
6. Do not put markup code inside the source phrases. Especially not behavior tags. Simply split such code into two different phrases. If possible, use CSS instead of markup.
7. Do not skip translating the help files, the marketing content and your website. Your customers will not buy the app without reading and exploring it first.
8. Use TLD (Top Level Domains) if possible for your website. It will increase your odds in the target countries to appear in higher positions in search engines.
9. Split long paragraphs into smaller strings, preferably full sentences.
10. Use expandable layouts, as the translations may be shorter or longer than the source.