How to get better translations for your mobile apps

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Amanda Wong

Researches have shown that apps in most countries are dominated by apps that offer local language support (see our previous blog post on the impact of mobile app localization for more stats). So the first step to get more international users is to speak their languages by translating your apps. Getting better translations for your mobile apps is a start and can help you gain international exposure as well.

But whether localization and translation can help you increase download volumes also depends on the quality of your translations. A poorly translated app might give a bad impression to potential users instead of helping you to gain more downloads.

To get high quality translations for your app, there are a lot more to consider other than simply picking the right translation agency / freelance translators. Below is our number one tip on how to enhance the quality of your mobile app translations.

Tip #1 – Provide an easy-to-handle file format for translators

Not all translators are comfortable with translating code files directly.

Even if the translators or translation agency that you’ve picked are experienced in translating code files, most of them would charge you more if you send them the code files directly to compensate for the added complexity.

One way to solve the above problem is that you could ask your developers to extract the text from your code & convert them into easy-to-handle format, e.g. excel. However, this could be a very time-consuming process if your app contains lots of words (don’t forget you still have to copy & paste the translations back when the translations are done.)

To save time, you could use SaaS like OneSky. Using OneSky cloud-based translation management platform, you simply have to upload your resource files (e.g. .strings for iOS apps, .xml for Android apps) and the system can automatically parse your files to extract the text and convert them into easy-to-read strings on the online translation platform.

Then, translators simply need to translate directly online on OneSky translation platform (you can order professional translation service from OneSky or simply invite your own translators to contribute). And with OneSky’s built-in placeholder validation system, all placeholders would be highlighted for easier identification and translators would not be able to submit a translation if there are any missing / misspelled placeholders.

When the translation is done, you’d be able to download the translation in ready-to-use resource file format.

With the help of OneSky platform, not only translators could work faster and concentrate their effort on the actual translation work instead of dealing with the codes, it also helps to eliminate your risk of getting back a bunch of unusable codes when the translation is done.

“Translation made easy” – the tagline of OneSky translation management platform.

Image Courtesy: Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

China is the Fastest Growing iOS & Android Market

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Amanda Wong

According to a report released by Flurry, between October 2011 and October 2012, China experienced an impressive 293% growth in number of active devices in the country, making it the fastest growing iOS and Android market by active devices.

Flurry predicted that with this impressive growth, China will overtake the U.S. by the end of 2013 Q1 to become the top country with the greatest number of active iOs and Android devices.

China - The fastest growing iOS & Android market by active devices

According to the Oct 2012 figures, although the U.S. is still the top country with the greatest number of active iOS and Android devices with a total of 181 millions of active iOS and Android devices. China is just 14 millions behind and the gap will soon be closed with the impressive growth of active devices in China.

In fact, while there has been 55 millions net active devices added in the U.S. since October 2011, there has been 125 millions net active devices added in China for the same period.

Want to get a share of the thriving market in China?
Localization your app is the key to success!

As mentioned in our previous blog post, users in China demonstrate a very strong preference for local language (Simplified Chinese). According to the statistics by released by Distimo, nearly 70% of all free downloads and closed to 80% of all revenues generated in China are from apps that offer local language support.

Therefore, localizing your apps into Simplified Chinese is a key to success if you want to get a share of the booming app market in China.

Translating your apps can be easy with OneSky, see how.

Ready for the growth of app downloads this year?

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Amanda Wong

According to a report by Flurry, iOS and Android apps generally experience much higher downloads during Christmas, thanks to the massive number of smartphones and tablets given out as christmas gifts. This year, recent releases like iPhone 5, Galaxy Note II and Google Nexus are probably on the christmas wishlist of millions.

According to the statistics released by Flurry, there were 6.8 million new devices activated alone on Christmas Day of last year. This represents a 353% increase when comparing to the average daily device activation of the first 20 days of December.

With the massive increase in device activation during Christmas, there is no doubt that app downloads would skyrocket as well. (wouldn’t you want to download apps right away after getting your new device?)
According to the statistics by Flurry, app downloads experienced a 125% increase on Christmas last year.

Localize your app to reach more users during the Christmas boom

Christmas is a very international festival that is celebrated in many countries around the world. So in order to reach more users globally during the Christmas season for app downloads, localize your app could be a strategy to consider!

As mentioned in our previous blog post, localized apps are often the apps that dominate the top charts of many non-English speaking countries, especially in top countries like Japan, Korea, China, Germany and France. Translate your apps now before it’s too late to capture the gigantic growth in app downloads during the Christmas period!

Translating your apps can be easy with OneSky, see how.

Track Competitors & Your App Localization Stats

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Amanda Wong

Want to capture the booming global apps market, but don’t know which languages to start with first? Want to know what languages your competitors have translated into as a benchmark? Check out OneSky’s free Localization Scorecard for Mobile Apps.

Just type in your app store link (or your competitor’s app store link!), and the tool will return a report detailing what languages that app has translated into with suggestions on what languages to target next. It works for both iOS and Android apps.

To see how the Localization Scorecard works, take the iOS version of the famous app Instagram as an example. Just type in the app store link of Instagram and a report detailing the localization effort of Instagram will be delivered to your mailbox. As you can see from the report, Instagram has localized their iTunes description into 11 languages, including popular languages like Simplified Chinese, Japanese, German, Korean, Italian and Portuguese, etc.

screenshot of onesky localization scorecard of instagram

Don’t forget to translate your app description if you’ve translated your in-app strings!

On the scorecard for Instagram, you can see that some languages are marked with a little red exclamation mark. These are actually the languages that the app has translated its in-app strings (i.e. the user interface) but not the app description.

For example, Instagram has indicated on iTunes that their app is available in French, but the app description for the App Store in France is still in English!

screenshot of current localization progress

The app description is even more important to translate because it’s how people can search for and read about your app before they decide whether to download it or not. Not having a localized app description could mislead users that you have not translated the app itself yet. And some users might simply can’t understand your app description and thus wouldn’t download your app.

Order professional translation service for your apps easily

Other than simply providing statistics, the Localization Scorecard also allows developers to order professional human translation service easily.

screenshot of onesky localization platform

For app descriptions, the scorecard can automatically pull out the text from iTunes / Google Play once you input the app store link, so you just have to pick the languages and you’re good to go. For translating in-app strings, simply upload your .strings / .xml files and OneSky system can automatically extract the text to be translated. When the translation is completed, it’d come back in ready-to-use resource file formats with all the placeholders validated.

Other than supporting the direct uploading and downloading of resource files, OneSky platform also offers lots of features that are tailor made for mobile apps translation. For example, developers have the option to create a list of glossary terms to ensure consistency and they can also attach screenshots to the phrases to let translators understand the context better. There are also cost saving features such as translation memory and auto-detection of duplicate phrases. Learn more

Japan overtakes US for Google Play revenue

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Amanda Wong

According to a report released by App Annie recently, Japan has surpassed the U.S. and is now the number one country in terms of Google Play revenue. This is the first time in history that the U.S. did not rank as the top country on Google Play in terms of revenue. Since January 2012, the Google Play revenue in the U.S. has only grown 2x while the revenue in Japan has increased by 10x!

According to Bertrand Schmitt, CEO of App Annie, Japan has experienced tremendous growth in revenue because the average revenue per user in Japan is significantly higher than that in other countries. In fact, the monthly download volume for Google Play apps in the U.S. is 4 times than the download volume in Japan, but Japan still managed to overtake U.S. in terms of app revenue. This indicates that Japanese are much more willing to pay for apps.

For iOS apps, although U.S. is still ahead of Japan in terms of monthly revenues, Japan is closing up the gap gradually. In the below chart, one can see that the global share of Japan in terms of monthly revenues for iOS apps has risen month by month while all its counterparts are losing their shares, signifying Japan is growing much faster than other countries in terms of iOS revenues.

Want to get a share of the booming market in Japan?
Localization is the key to success!

As mentioned in our previous blog post, Japan has a very strong preference for their local language, i.e. Japanese. In the below chart, one can see that almost 70% of free downloads and nearly 80% of revenues generated in Japan are from apps that offer native language supports.

So if you want to get a share of the thriving app market in Japan, localizing your apps into Japanese might be something that you would want to consider.

Translating your apps can be easy with OneSky, see how.

Freemium Apps are Skyrocketing

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Amanda Wong

App Annie, a mobile app analytics company, has recently published a blog post that highlights the impressive revenue growth experienced by freemium apps worldwide.

According to the research, revenue generated by freemium apps has grown more than 4X during the last 24 months for iOS apps and more than 3.5X in 2012 for Google Play apps. With such a gigantic growth, revenue generated by freemium apps is currently far outpacing the revenue generated by premium apps (i.e. paid apps) for both iOS and Google Play app stores.

Japan & China are the Growth Leaders for Freemium Revenues

And among different countries, Japan and China are the growth leaders for freemium revenues.

For instance, the revenue generated by freemium apps in Japan has risen 16x during the last 24 months for iOS and 24X in 2012 alone for Google Play.

China is also showing impressive growth in freemium revenues, showing a 25X increase during the last 24 months for iOS.

Localization is the Key to Success in Japan and China

As mentioned in a previous blog post, Japan and China both have a strong preference for local language, so if you want your apps to be successful in these 2 countries, localization should definitely be something on your roadmap.

For instance, when looking at free downloads, approximately 70% of free downloads in both China and Japan are from apps that support the native language.

And apps that support the local language show even greater dominance when we consider about revenues. For instance, nearly 80% of revenue generated in both China and Japan are from apps that support the native language.

So you want to get a share of the skyrocketing freemium revenues? But your app still doesn’t support Chinese or Japanese? Localize your apps to see how it can help your app grow!

Translating your app can be easy with OneSky, see how.

Localization Increases Downloads by 128x for iOS Apps

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Amanda Wong

Localization has become a major factor for iPhone apps, that other app developers are jumping on board to having their apps translated asap.

Both the Apple App Store and Google Play currently support over 120 countries and both Apple and Google are providing extensive support for developers to launch their apps in different languages. But still, lots of developers are still struggling with whether to localize their apps, hoping to have more statistics to support their decisions.
Recently, Distimo has released a report that focuses on language localization of iOS apps and offer great insights on the language distribution in top counties and the effect of adding native language support for an app.

All findings are based on a sample group that consists of the top 12 countries with the highest downloads and revenues. They include United States (US), Canada, United Kingdom (UK), Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Korea, China, Brazil and Australia.

Apps that Support the Native Language Dominate the Top Charts

When looking at the language breakdown of the top apps in different countries, one can clearly see that apps that support the native language (the dark blues and the light blues) are dominating the top charts of different countries, especially for Asian countries like China, Japan and Korea.

For instance, around 70% of all free downloads in China are apps that support the native language (i.e. Simplified Chinese). With that percentage being also around 70% for Japan and 60% for South Korea.

For European countries, Germany and France also show the dominance of apps that support the native language, with around 60% of the top apps there supporting the local language.

When looking at revenue, the apps that support the native language show even greater dominance. For examples, close to 80% of total revenue generated in China are from apps that support the local language, with that percentage being close to 80% for Japan as well and 70% for South Korea.

Impact of Translating Apps to Native Language
To further understand the effect of translating an app to the native language, Distimo has analyzed around 200 apps with native language introduced in Aug 2012, including well-known names like Zynga’s Matching With Friends and Rovio Entertainment’s Angry Birds HD Free.

The analysis shows that on average, these applications experienced a 128 percent growth in download volumes during the first week after the native language was added. The growth for revenue is lower, but still at a promising 26 percent. And this is just the increase for A WEEK.

Among all countries, the Asian countries including China, Japan and South Korea again showed the strongest growth after adding the native language. This suggest that users in China, Japan and South Korea have a strong preference for local language when choosing apps.

From the above statistics, one can clearly see the benefits of adding native language support for an app, especially for Asian countries like China, Japan and Korea. Don’t forget that these 3 countries are also the countries that show the strongest growth in iOS apps over the past year (for more stats, read our previous blog post 5 of the Top Ten Fastest Growing iPhone App Markets are in Asia)
So if your your app still isn’t translated in Chinese, Japanese or Korean? Perhaps you should start thinking about localizing your apps into the different Asian languages to grab a share of the booming markets there!

Translating your app can be easy, see how.

Top Languages used on Facebook

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Amanda Wong

Whenever I talk about localization, people often ask me the same question: “Is it true that most people understand English?” My answer is yes, many people DO understand English, but when deciding whether to localize your websites and apps, it’s the PREFERENCE of your potential users that counts.

Especially in today’s world where there are lots of cool websites and apps out there for people to choose from, people are likely to choose the option that they are most comfortable with and for a lot of the time, language preference is a key determining factor.

In this blog post, I am going to use Facebook as an evidence to show that a lot of top countries do have a very strong preference for local language.

To give you more background information, in a previous blog post, we have already analyzed the language breakdown for the top 5 Facebook countries outside the US. Countries discussed include Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and United Kingdom. And from the analysis, one can clearly see the strong preference for local language.

In this blog post, we will continue with the list to discuss about the number of users by language for the remaining top 10 Facebook countries outside the US. And from reading the charts below, you can see how the strong preference for local language continues down the list for the top Facebook countries.

Top Languages on Facebook in Turkey

Turkey, the 6th largest market after the United States, shows a strong preference of local language. Over 30 million (97.1%) users in Turkey have chosen Turkish as their default language to browse Facebook. Although US English is already the second most popular language, it only has roughly 0.5 million (1.6%) users.

Top Languages on Facebook in Philippines

When looking at Philippines, the 7th largest market outside the US, the situation is a bit different. Although Filipino (or Tagalog) is the native language of a lot of people in Philippines, only around 1% of the Facebook population in Philippines has chosen Filipino as their default language. Instead, US English and UK English combined has over 27.7 million (98.3%) users.

Top Languages on Facebook in France

France, the 8th largest market in the list also shows a strong preference for local language like Turkey. Over 22.6 million (93.3%) Facebook users in France are browsing Facebook in French. US English, which is the second most popular language, has roughly 0.7 million (2.8%) users. Other minority languages chosen by users include Spanish (0.5%) and Turkish (0.3%).

Top Languages on Facebook in Germany

Moving down the list to Germany, the preference for local language continues. Over 21.3 million (90.3%) Facebook users in Germany are browsing Facebook in German. Languages that are next on the list include US English (4%), UK English (1.1%) and Turkish (1.1%).

Top Languages on Facebook in Italy

Italy, the 10th largest country after the US, also shows a strong preference for local language. Over 20.2 million (92.7%) Facebook users in Italy prefer to browse Facebook in Italian. Languages that are next on the list include US English (2.7%), UK English (0.9%), Spanish (0.6%), French (0.6%), Romanian (0.6%) and German (0.5%).

Strong Preference for Local Language

From looking at the language breakdown for the top 10 Facebook countries, one can clearly see the strong preference for local language.

As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Facebook App Center is now available worldwide. Any websites or mobile apps that use Facebook Connect are eligible to be listed on the Facebook App Center. So if you are planning to leverage Facebook to grow your websites or mobile apps, you should consider localizing your app into the top languages on Facebook.

Facebook has made it easy for developers to post localized content for their apps. For the detailed process of configuring your apps, go to the tutorial on App Center Internationalization provided by Facebook for developers.

This post is written by OneSky, a translation management platform specifically designed for mobile apps and websites. Find out more.

Language Breakdown for the Top 5 Facebook Outside US

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Amanda Wong

In a previous blog post, we talked about the top countries with the most Facebook users. And the top 10 countries outside US are namely Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, United Kingdom, Turkey, Philippines, France, Germany and Italy.

In this blog post, we will take a closer look at the language breakdown (i.e. number of users per language) for each of the top 5 Facebook countries. So if you’re aiming to expand to those countries, you know what languages you should translate into.

Top Languages on Facebook in Brazil

Brazil, the biggest market after the United States, is relatively homogeneous in terms of language preference. Close to 50 millions (96.4%) Brazilian Facebook users have chosen Brazilian Portuguese as their default language to browse Facebook, indicating a strong preference for local language. Although US English is already the second most popular language, it only has roughly 0.9 millions (1.8%) users.

Top Languages on Facebook in India

When looking at India, the second largest market outside the US, the situation is a bit different. Although Hindi is the native language of a lot of people in India, less than 1% of the Facebook population in India has chosen Hindi as their default language. Instead, US English and UK English combined has over 44.7 millions (99.5%) users.

Top Languages on Facebook in Indonesia

Indonesia, the third largest market in the list also shows a strong preference for local language like Brazil. Over 37.3 millions (85.2%) Facebook users in Indonesia are browsing Facebook in Indonesian. US English, which is the second most popular language, has roughly 5.6 millions (12.9%) users.

Top Languages on Facebook in Mexico

Moving down the list to Mexico, the preference for local language continues. Over 25.7 millions (72.8%) Facebook users in Mexico are browsing Facebook in Spanish. Combining this number with the Spanish (Spain) users, there are a total of over 33.6 millions (95.4%) Spanish users. US English, which is the second most popular language, has only around 1.4 millions (3.9%) users.

Top Languages on Facebook in United Kingdom

For United Kingdom, the fifth largest market outside US, UK English is obviously the top choice among UK Facebook users with over 18.3 millions (59.9%) users. Combining this number with US English, there are over 29.2 millions (95.6%) users browsing Facebook in English. Polish is the top language after English, with approximately 0.3 millions (0.9%) users.

Strong Preference for Local Language

From looking at the language breakdown of for each of the top 5 Facebook countries, one can clearly see the strong preference for local language.

This post is written by OneSky, a translation management platform specifically designed for mobile apps and websites. Find out more.

Upload Screenshots To Your Website & Mobile App

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Amanda Wong

One tricky thing about website & mobile app translation is that it often involves translating strings that contain short phrases. If there aren’t enough context given to the translators, contextual translation errors often arise. For example, does “support” mean “support service” or “showing support like a fan”?

Provide More Context by Attaching Screenshots

OneSky’s translation management enables you to attach screenshots and tag them to specific phrases in order to provide more context for translators.

For example, if the word “support” is from your homepage, you can attach a screenshot of your homepage and you can then tag the phrase to the exact location on your screenshot by highlighting the area where your phrase appears.

What the Translators Would See for the Screenshot Function

If you’ve attached a screenshot for a particular phrase, in the actual translation project on our cloud-based translation platform, a blue button would appear under the phrase to notify translators that you’ve attached a screenshot.

When the translator proceeds to that phrase, the screenshot will pop up and the phrase that needs to be translated would be highlighted in a brighter color than the background for easy identification.

This screenshot function is a great way to reduce contextual errors in order to enhance the quality of your website and mobile app translation.

Other than this screenshot function, OneSky also offers a lot of other features such as placeholder validation and glossary function to enhance the quality of your website and mobile app translation. See our previous blog posts on placeholder validation and glossary to know more.

If you like this feature and would like to experience it yourself, sign-up for a free account at OneSky today to start exploring 🙂 Alternatively, you can also contact us if you’ve any questions regarding the use of our translation platform.