Internationalizing Your App

This talk explores how to make your iOS app global ready and does a brief overview of what internationalization is, some technical tools and tricks you can use to build your app for different languages and cultures, and considers the business side of things if you ever have to sunset your product.

Debuted at UIKonf in Berlin, Germany in May 2019.

Transcript

1. I N T E R N A T I O N A L I Z I N G
   Y O U R A P P
   KRISTINA FOX | SENIOR IOS ENGINEER | INTUIT
   @KRSTNFX
   KRISTINA.IO
   

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2. @KRSTNFX
   KRISTINA.IO
   hi, I’m Kristina
   ⛸
   

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3. @KRSTNFX
   KRISTINA.IO
   itunes.apple.com/us/app/quickbooks-self-employed/id898076976
   

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4. D E F I N I N G
   I N T E R N A T I O N A L I Z A T I O N
   

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5. @KRSTNFX
   KRISTINA.IO
   A means of adapting computer software to
   in·ter·na·tion·al·i·za·tion
   and
   ,
   different languages regional peculiarities
   technical requirements of a target locale
   

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6. @KRSTNFX
   KRISTINA.IO
   different languages
   

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7. @KRSTNFX
   KRISTINA.IO
   https://www.tripsavvy.com/common-temperatures-in-celsius-and-fahrenheit-1481686
   different languages
   

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8. @KRSTNFX
   KRISTINA.IO
   A means of adapting computer software to
   in·ter·na·tion·al·i·za·tion
   and
   ,
   different languages regional peculiarities
   technical requirements of a target locale
   

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9. @KRSTNFX
   KRISTINA.IO
   regional peculiarities
   

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10. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    regional peculiarities
    https://twitter.com/Mantia/status/1112004160998666240
    

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11. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    regional peculiarities
    https://twitter.com/Mantia/status/1112004160998666240
    

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12. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    regional peculiarities
    https://twitter.com/steipete/status/1110247345185308672
    

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13. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    regional peculiarities
    https://twitter.com/MrJre/status/1110248925552881667, https://twitter.com/aldoBonillaG/status/1110253379803074563
    

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14. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    regional peculiarities
    https://sampi.co/successful-china-marketing-lessons-from-evernote/
    

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15. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    A means of adapting computer software to
    in·ter·na·tion·al·i·za·tion
    and
    ,
    different languages regional peculiarities
    technical requirements of a target locale
    

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16. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    technical requirements
    String formatters
    UI constraints
    Currency formatters
    Timezones
    Animations
    Right-to-left languages
    Testing
    Accessibility
    

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17. U S E R R E S E A R C H
    

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18. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    in-depth user studies
    

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19. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    

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20. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    

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21. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    What people say they do and what
    they actually do is usually different
    

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22. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    

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23. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    other alternatives
    Cultural consultants Virtual testers
    

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24. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    tester questionnaire
    - Current vs. new user
    - Demographic (age, gender, etc.)
    - Lifestyle
    - Experience in your field
    

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25. L O C A L I Z A T I O N
    

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26. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    process
    $
    
    
    
    

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27. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    NSLocalizedString(“Hello world!”, comment: “greeting")
    localize your strings
    

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28. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    let str = String.localizedStringWithFormat(
    NSLocalizedString("%d songs played", comment: “[count] songs played“),
    numSongsPlayed)
    localize your plural strings
    

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29. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    localize your plural strings
    NSStringLocalizedFormatKey
    ...
    
    NSStringFormatSpecTypeKey
    NSStringPluralRuleType
    NSStringFormatValueTypeKey
    d
    one
    %d song played
    other
    %d songs played
    
    

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30. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    finding non-localized strings
    

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31. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    string and number formatters
    - Currency
    - Numbers (decimal point and comma markers)
    - Dates (short, medium and long length)
    - Quotes
    - Uppercase, lowercase and capitalization
    

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32. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    changing locales and timezones
    NSLocale.currentLocaleDidChangeNotification
    NSNotification.Name.NSSystemTimeZoneDidChange
    

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33. A R C H I T E C T I N G Y O U R
    C O D E
    

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34. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    simple conditionals
    let localeId = Locale.current.identifier

    if localeId == "en_US" {
    print("Hello America")
    } else if localeId == "de_DE" {
    print("Hallo Deutschland")
    }
    

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35. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    simple conditionals
    Feature 1 Feature 2 Feature 3 Feature 4
    let localeId = Locale.current.identifier

    if localeId == "en_US" {
    print("Hello America")
    } else if localeId == "de_DE" {
    print("Hallo Deutschland")
    }
    let localeId = Locale.current.identifier

    if localeId == "en_US" {
    print("Hello America")
    } else if localeId == "de_DE" {
    print("Hallo Deutschland")
    }
    let localeId = Locale.current.identifier

    if localeId == "en_US" {
    print("Hello America")
    } else if localeId == "de_DE" {
    print("Hallo Deutschland")
    }
    let localeId = Locale.current.identifier

    if localeId == "en_US" {
    print("Hello America")
    } else if localeId == "de_DE" {
    print("Hallo Deutschland")
    }
    

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36. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    global manager
    
    
    
    
    
    

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37. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    global manager
    func getPostalCodeTitle(locale: Locales) -> String {
    switch locale {
    case .US:
    return NSLocalizedString("Zip code", comment: "postal code")
    case .UK , .AU:
    return NSLocalizedString("Postcode", comment: "postal code")
    case .CA:
    return NSLocalizedString("Postal code", comment: "postal code")
    }
    }
    

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38. @KRSTNFX
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    global manager
    
    
    versus
    

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39. H A N D L I N G U I
    

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40. @KRSTNFX
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    https://www.imore.com/ios-9-review
    

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41. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    autolayout constraints
    https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AutolayoutPG/AnatomyofaConstraint.html
    

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42. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    localized images and animations
    

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43. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    localized images and animations
    

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44. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    UIView.transition (
    with: titleLabel,
    duration: 0.5,
    options: .transitionFlipFromTop,
    animations: {
    self.titleLabel.text = self.titleStringArray[self.titleCounter]
    },
    completion: nil
    )
    

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45. T E S T I N G
    

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46. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    // App code
    let button = UIButton()
    button.setTitle(NSLocalizedString("Save", comment: "Save"), for: .normal)
    button.accessibilityIdentifier = "saveButton"
    // UI test code
    let app = XCUIApplication()
    let button = app.buttons["saveButton"]
    XCTAssertTrue(button.exists)
    localized UI tests
    

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47. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    pseudolanguages
    

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48. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    

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49. W E I G H T I N G T H E C O S T S
    A N D B E N E F I T S
    

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50. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    North America
    First market
    Europe
    Low numbers,
    high growth
    Asia
    Low numbers,
    low potential
    app growth
    

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51. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    things to consider
    - Product performance
    - Time and effort spent developing and testing
    in low performing locales
    

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52. @KRSTNFX
    KRISTINA.IO
    things to do
    - Message your users way ahead of time
    - Pull the app out of the App Store first
    - Give users a way to backup their data
    - Shut down backend support
    

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53. 1 2
    3 4
    User research Localization
    Architecting your code Handling UI
    Testing Weighing cost and benefits
    5 6
    internationalization
    

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54. T H A N K Y O U
    @KRSTNFX | KRISTINA.IO
    

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