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Nikolai Tarasov
Nikolai Tarasov

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How I Localized My iOS App to 17 Languages in One Afternoon (Without Losing My Mind)

#ios #androiddev #webdev #showdev

For three years, every app I shipped was English only.

Not because I didn't care about international users. Not because I thought localization was unimportant. Just because every time I opened my Localizable.strings file, looked at the 300+ key-value pairs inside, and thought about translating all of that into multiple languages... I closed the file and moved on.

Maybe you've been there.

The Breaking Point

Last year I was building Cash Compass — a personal finance app for iOS. I decided this time I was actually going to localize it. No more excuses.

I started manually. Here's what that looked like:

  1. Open Localizable.strings
  2. Copy a string value
  3. Paste into Google Translate
  4. Copy the translation back
  5. Paste it into a new .strings file for the target language
  6. Realize the %@ placeholder broke in the translation
  7. Fix it manually
  8. Repeat 300 more times

After two hours, I had one language done. Spanish. Out of the 15+ I wanted to support.

I closed the file. Went to bed.

There Has to Be a Better Way

A few days later I started sketching out what a proper solution would look like. Not just "throw it at Google Translate" — something that actually understood the context of app strings. Something that handled:

  • String interpolation variables (%@, %d, %1$s, %2$d)
  • Pluralization rules (which vary wildly by language)
  • The fact that "Save" in a button means something different than "Save" in a document
  • Multiple file formats — not just .strings but also Android's strings.xml, web's .json, and .xliff

I ended up building it. It's called LocaFlow.

How It Works

The flow is simple:

1. Upload your language file

Drop in your existing file — .strings for iOS, strings.xml for Android, .json for web/React/Vue, or .xliff for any format that uses it.

2. Pick your target languages

LocaFlow supports 100+ languages. Select as many as you need.

3. Choose your AI provider

You can use OpenAI, DeepL, or Anthropic. Each has different strengths depending on the language pair and content type.

4. Download your translated files

You get back properly formatted translation files, ready to drop straight into your project. No reformatting. No broken placeholders. No manual cleanup.

The Result

I used LocaFlow to localize Cash Compass from English into 17 languages in a single afternoon. The same job that had burned me out after two hours (for one language!) was done across 17 languages before dinner.

The translations aren't perfect — no AI translation ever is. But they're genuinely good. Context-aware, not word-for-word. And they're dramatically better than shipping English-only to markets where most of your potential users don't speak English.

Within the first two weeks after publishing the localized version, downloads from non-English markets increased noticeably. The App Store surfaces apps in the user's language — if your app isn't in their language, it's essentially invisible.

What LocaFlow Is (and Isn't)

I want to be honest about this.

LocaFlow is great for:

  • Indie devs and small teams who want to reach international markets without the overhead
  • Getting a high-quality baseline translation fast that you can then review or polish
  • Apps where the UI strings are relatively standard (buttons, labels, error messages, notifications)
  • Prototyping — test whether a market responds before investing in professional translation

LocaFlow is not a replacement for:

  • Professional human translation for legally sensitive or culturally nuanced content
  • Apps in highly regulated industries where translation accuracy is mission-critical
  • Marketing copy that needs to resonate on a native speaker level

If you're building a banking app for the Japanese market, hire a professional translator. If you're an indie dev who wants your task manager or fitness tracker or weather app to stop being invisible to 80% of the world, LocaFlow is for you.

Try It

LocaFlow is free to start. You can upload a file, pick a language, and see the output before committing to anything.

👉 locaflow.dev

I built this because I needed it. If you've ever skipped localization because it felt too painful, I'd love for you to try it and tell me what you think.

Happy to answer questions in the comments — about how it works under the hood, translation quality for specific language pairs, or anything else.

Also building Cash Compass (iOS personal finance app) and ParishSignup (volunteer signup tool for churches). Building in public at @nikotarasov

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