App Store Localization: Languages, Metadata and Screenshots

TL;DR: App Store localization means adapting your product page (name, subtitle, keywords, description, screenshots and previews) for each of the 50 languages and locales App Store Connect supports. Start with markets where you already get traffic, research keywords natively instead of translating them, localize at least your first three screenshots, and use each storefront's additional supported languages before going wide.

App Store Connect treats each language as a separate copy of your metadata. App name and privacy policy URL live under App Information and are shared across platforms; description, keywords, screenshots and the rest live in each platform version.

In-app purchase display names and descriptions can be localized too, and they show up on your product page. You need the Account Holder, Admin, App Manager or Marketing role to manage languages, and you can only add or remove them while the app status is editable.

Localization only pays off if you understand Apple's fallback rules, documented in App Store Connect Help:

• If English is your primary language and the only one you provide, your metadata appears in English in every country or region.
• If you add French, it displays to people whose language setting is French, and in countries or regions where the App Store supports French but not English.
• If no localization matches someone's language setting, the next most relevant one is used; otherwise they see your primary language.
• When you add a language, its screenshots and most properties start as copies of the primary language, except description and keywords, which you must write.

Each storefront also has a default language and, often, additional supported languages. Apple's App Store localizations reference lists them. A few examples:

Many ASO practitioners report that metadata in a storefront's additional languages can also count toward search in that storefront, which is why US apps often fill in Spanish (Mexico). Apple doesn't document how keywords from several localizations are combined, so treat this as an experiment, and only publish metadata that real speakers of that language would find useful.

You don't need all 50 on day one. Rank candidates by evidence, not by population:

1. Your own data. App Store Connect Analytics shows impressions, product page views and downloads by territory. Countries that already find you in English are the cheapest wins.
2. Cheap English variants. English (U.K.), English (Canada) and English (Australia) each get their own keywords field. Adjusting spelling ("color" vs "colour") and local terms takes an hour.
3. Large storefronts with a non-English default. Japanese, German, French, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Mexico) and Chinese are common second steps.
4. Your category's fit. A local-transport app needs the languages of the cities it covers; a game with little text can go wide sooner.
5. Your support capacity. Localized pages bring localized reviews and emails. Make sure you can answer them.

The full list of supported languages, with codes, is in our App Store localization languages list.

Translating your English keywords word by word is the most common localization mistake. People in each market search with their own phrases, and the literal translation is often not what they type.

Take a to-do app. Candidate keywords per locale might look like this:

Validate every candidate with a native speaker and with real search data, such as App Store search suggestions in that storefront and the popularity scores Apple Ads shows when you set up a campaign. Then apply the same rules as in English: separate words with commas, don't repeat words already in your name or subtitle, and never use competitor trademarks. Our guides to the App Store keywords field and ASO keyword research go deeper.

Write the name and subtitle with the same care. A subtitle that works in English can run past 30 characters in German or lose its pun in Japanese, so treat each one as new copy, not a translation.

Screenshots are what people actually look at, and the first three appear in search results. If you don't upload localized screenshots, a new localization simply reuses the primary language's set, so a fully translated page can still show English captions.

What good screenshot localization covers:

• Captions. Translate headlines for meaning and keep them short. Expect German and French captions to run longer than English.
• App UI. Show the app in the target language if it's localized. If it isn't, don't fake it; screenshots must reflect the real app.
• Right-to-left layouts. Arabic, Hebrew and Urdu read right to left. Mirror text alignment, arrows and the order of elements.
• Scripts and fonts. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and the Indian scripts need fonts that include those characters, plus larger sizes to stay legible at thumbnail size.
• Local details. Currencies, dates, names and examples in the screenshots should look local, not like a US demo account.

Workflows that copy text between dozens of artboards break quickly. How to localize App Store screenshots covers the design side, and how to translate App Store screenshots into 40+ languages covers the production pipeline.

Google Play follows the same idea with different fields and rules:

• Text per language: app name (30 characters), short description (80) and full description (4,000). Play has no keywords field; your title and descriptions do that work.
• More languages: Play Console currently accepts listing translations in more than 80 languages and locales, including some App Store Connect doesn't offer, such as Spanish (Latin America), Afrikaans and Swahili.
• Graphics per language: you can add localized graphic assets, including screenshots and the feature graphic. Without them, Play shows your default-language graphics.
• Automatic fallback: if you don't translate, users can choose to view an automated translation of your listing.
• Translation help: Play Console offers free machine translation for a short list of languages and a paid translation service.

Custom store listings also let you target specific countries with their own copy and graphics. See Google Play ASO for how ranking differs.

1. Pick three to five locales using analytics, English variants and storefront fit.
2. Research keywords natively for each locale and write the name, subtitle and keywords as fresh copy.
3. Translate the description, promotional text and release notes, ideally reviewed by a native speaker.
4. Localize the captions on at least your first three screenshots, then the rest.
5. Check every locale for character limits, text overflow, right-to-left mirroring and untranslated strings.
6. Submit the metadata and screenshots with your next version.
7. After a few weeks, compare impressions, conversion rate and downloads per territory in App Store Connect Analytics, then iterate.

Screenshot sizes don't change by language, so one export matrix of languages × devices covers everything. Our App Store screenshot sizes guide lists the required sizes.