Beginning iOS App Localization
- 1. ! Kyle Davis, Head Geek BigSprocket http://www.flickr.com/photos/56013895@N00/122872445 Beginning iOS Localization
- 2. When Was My Last? My first localized app. ! Currently: Spanish, French, German (and, of course, English) http://whenwasmylast.com
- 3. Example Project - “Events” Small app, unlocalized “Localize” to English Localize to Spanish
- 4. Demo
- 5. Unlocalized Strings are hard-coded, and spread throughout the app System-localizable elements are in English, even when simulator is in Spanish
- 6. Preparing for Localization Use system items (UIBarButtonSystemItem, UIDatePicker, etc) Use Auto Layout Tell Xcode you’ll be localizing the project Use NSLocalizedString
- 7. NSLocalizedString Instead of @“foo”, use NSLocalizedString(@“foo”… Looks for a string with the key “foo” in the file Localizable.strings, in the language folder If it doesn’t exist, it looks in the Base folder If it doesn’t exist there, it returns “foo”
- 8. Demo
- 9. Localized to English ✓Auto Layout ✓Added Localization in Project file ✓Added NSLocalizedString macro ✓Used genstrings to create base localization ✓Ready for Translation
- 10. Personal Design Decisions No NIB localization Strings Factory You may decide to do things differently.
- 11. Language.lproj Any file with localized content .strings, .xib, html, text image, sound, video Standard file loaders understand it imageNamed: pathForResource:ofType:
- 12. Language Resources Friends Google Translate (sparingly, and only if you have to) Third party professional translators AppleGlot
- 13. Third Party Translators Apple maintains a list at http://developer.apple.com/internationalization iCanLocalize.com oneskyapp.com
- 14. AppleGlot http://developer.apple.com/internationalization Reads translation glossaries and substitutes text directly back into nib files Supports incremental translations I did not use it … … but Apple also supplies their glossaries, which are damn handy
- 15. Demo
- 16. Localized to Spanish ✓ Use language glossaries to find translations ✓ Use 3rd parties for things not covered by Apple already ✓ Use date formatter templates for locale differences ✓ Use InfoPlist.strings to localize app name
- 17. Almost There! App Store Metadata Description Screenshots Keywords
- 18. NSLocalizedStringFromTable NSLocalizedStringFromTable(@“key”, @“table”, @“comment”) Reads from table.strings Save time and money No need to have 3rd parties translate Apple’s text Reuse your tables on the next project
- 19. Tools I Didn’t Cover ibtool - localize your nib files .stringsdict - rules-based handling of special cases, like plurals twine - fix some of the broken parts of the process
- 20. Links Apple Internationalization resources http://developer.apple.com/internationalization Florian Kugler on string localization http://www.objc.io/issue-9/string-localization.html Ole Begemann on Automating Strings Extraction from Storyboards/Nibs http://tinyurl.com/mmxaeeq Twine https://github.com/mobiata/twine
- 21. Links Slide deck http://www.slideshare.net/bigsprocket/beginning-iosapp-localization Final project source http://github.com/bigsprocket/Localization When Was My Last? http://whenwasmylast.com/