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ioscocoa-touchlocalizationtranslationlocalizable.strings

iPhone localization at one go


Is there any other way to localize iPhone apps beside the use of Localizable.strings? Can I use Google Translate or something like that?

I have my application written in English, and I have created Localizable.strings files for about twenty languages. I have the English Localizable.strings working perfectly, and I have tried Italian as well. Is there any way to translate these Localizable.strings to the rest of the languages automatically?

I mean is there any program or something to do the job for me?


Solution

  • In short: No, there is no program for that. It's the same problem as translating any text: You need to understand the meaning to give useful translations.

    As a quick fix, you can of course simply take the strings in your Localizable.strings file and copy them into a Spreadsheet, then run one column through Google Translate and copy the result back. Then reverse the procedure and you have a translated Localizable.strings. A regex for doing this would be:

    ^"(.*)"\s*=\s*"(.*)";$
    

    that works fine in eg. TextWranger with grep mode on, then you can replace the text with

    \1\t\2
    

    to create a the tab-delimited file from a strings file.

    I still suggest you invest in a native speaker of each language to double-check the translations, or your app will become a laughing stock. Google Translate just can't replace a real human yet...