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Translate Apple .strings files

🔗What are Apple .strings files?

Apple .strings files are language files used by Apple to localize Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch apps. It uses a key-value file specifically formatted for Apple devices.

WebTranslateIt is a software localization platform that can help localize Apple .strings files.

🔗Apple .strings file example

Here’s an example of Apple .strings file. The comments in the strings files will be imported as instructions.

/* Capitalized plural form of the 'kilometer' unit of measure.*/
"Kilometers" = "Kilomètres";

/* Capitalized abbreviation for the 'kilometer' unit of measure.*/
"Km" = "Km";

/* Keep this short.*/
"Last Generated:" = "Géneré:";

/* This is a comment on several lines
  It can take as many lines as you want
*/
"Meters" = "Mètres";

🔗Empty strings

The Apple internationalization framework includes a language fallback. A language fallback is a system that falls back to use the text from the source language if the target text is not present. If a segment is left empty in WebTranslateit we won’t export it in your language files so that the fallback mechanism can work.

However if you proofread an empty translation in the translation interface the file generated by WebTranslateit will contain that empty segment because we consider you intentionally left that segment blank and want a blank text as a translation.

🔗Magic Comments

This file handler support the following magic comments:

Comments containing [MAXCHAR=xx] will set a max character limit to xx. Example: /* [MAXCHAR=20] */
Comments containing [LABEL=xxxx] will assign the label to xxxx. Example: /* [LABEL=new feature] */

🔗How to Translate a Apple .strings File?

It is easy to translate a Apple .strings file with WebTranslateIt. In a project, upload your source Android XML file in the File Manager and translate it on the Translation Interface.

The tools included in WebTranslateIt, such as Batch Operations, the Translation Memory or Machine Translation can help you translate that file automatically, faster and cost effectively.