What is App Localization, and Why is It Important?

Now, what’s the fun in staying in the well like a frog who thinks that the world is what it sees? Come out of the thinking that most users speak English. Around the globe, 70% of application users don’t speak English. Hence, you need to penetrate markets by utilizing the benefits of app localization.

When you help audiences speaking different languages access your app easily with a dedicated app, that’s app localization. Just as Google provides language support on the phone, that’s service localization. When an app provides its usability in different locales, it becomes mobile app localization.

The given data is for the locales where an app needs to convert their app for the user’s better experience. Take notes.

It will be useful.

1)English

2)Japanese

3)Korean

4)Chinese

5)German

6)French

7)Brazilian Portuguese

8)Spanish

9)Italian

10)Malay

Given that the audience installing these apps, especially localized for them, even pay. Albeit, it generates revenue for the app owners.

Now that you know what the linguistic differences are, let’s get on the rails and put one more station away. App localization doesn’t just mean changing the language of your content and shooting the app in La La Land to sing a successful melody for you.

When you have to blend into a place and its people, you need to understand the culture of that place. When you decide to localize an app, it is necessary that you get a fine understanding of the culture to put a better version of your app with thoughtful and worked-on contexts in front of the users. This helps you make a personal connection with the users.

Suppose you use the color red with your textual data in-app screenshots; the Koreans don’t like it. They consider it an unlucky color.

Localization doesn’t only mean molding your textual data and the app store listing but you will also have to consider what images you are using (to be precise, the visual data) to deliver your brand identity and app user experience.

You may have heard of Facetune 2. At least at the start of this blog. The Facetune team has done formidable work when it comes to app localization. The models they have used for Locale differences, like Japanese and Russian, are insightful and helpful.

The retouching app for beauty camera users helps them to edit photos and retouch facial features. Putting their base identity aside, they decided to go with the colors, models and languages that would suit those geo-locations better.

Look over these photos to understand how Facetune 2 has made several changes in its app listing pictures.

Photos Put Up on App Listing for US-English Territory

Photos Put Up on App Listing for Russia-Russian Territory

Photos Put Up on App Listing for China-Chinese Territory

Photos Put Up on App Listing for Japan-Japanese Territory

Did you find the differences? Some obvious and some fine ones? If you look closer, you will find that:

• Russia-Russian territory doesn’t have a navigation bar.
• The placement and design of the navigation bar are modified for the Japan-Japanese territory
• The list of filters in US-English territory and China-Chinese territory are different. the languages are different with ideal placement of text or all the app screenshots for respective territories

The above points also apply to customizing all the other Localized mobile apps and games. By incorporating these parameters into your Localization Strategy, you can benefit and grow your audience.

We get it! You already have some idea of what benefits you can get with the localization of mobile applications. We assure you it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Be it increasing your customer base, taking your message or a solution of a problem to a wide range of locales, the users using your app will always feel connected when they see something as their own in their language.

• Growth: App localization and growth are parallel with each other. You get to solidify your presence in 175 countries.
• Reach: You can get touched by more thumbs by making the app accessible and available in more countries/territories.
• Connection: You connect better by delivering your brand message effectively and letting customers know that you respect their locality and preferences.
• Create Community: Localizing your app makes your presence so well that once you hit the success tone, you have your community over various patches on the globe.
• Customer Loyalty: Keep providing value to the audience once you have your community. Your loyal customer/user base will strengthen since 65% of people want the content to be in their language.
• Earn Money: If you need an app in a specific geo-location and you fulfill it, the audience will also buy your app, given the intensity of the task is higher.

The benefits are not limited to what is written above. Things always get better when you connect with the users in their own customs or ways. The world is huge and millions of apps are available. So, which are the most localized categories? What apps are localized the most?

What kind of apps do people usually need to localize? It is a thoughtful question since not everyone needs every app. Let’s see which categories of apps need the most localization.

The world has 4.32 billion people using the mobile internet. This population comes from various countries and languages. Let’s see which languages and countries are used for most mobile app localizations.

Let’s understand in brief when you should be localizing your mobile app.

• When you want to grow globally.
• When your app solves problems that the larger mass has.
• When you want to save the development cost.
• When you want your app to land in the suggested apps category (Most apps get suggested when they are in the native language of the Locale.)
• When you want to go Viral.

So, without a doubt, mobile app localization brings in growth for your app. You can make a place in the audience's heart with effective translation and culturally touching app listings.

Moreover, what is necessary is that your app gets the help and platform like AppsHive which helps you optimize your listings for localization. The platform allows you to list your app on country and city based listings (i.e Best dating apps in the US, Best Stock Trading Apps ) so that you can target your preferable location for your app.

We hope this article was helpful to you in understanding App Localization in detail.