In this article, you will learn how to translate your App Store listing with SimpleLocalize. The integration imports the texts of your app from App Store Connect, keeps them next to your app translations, and uploads the translated texts back to App Store Connect.
Need a one-off translation without an account? Use the free App Store Localizer: paste an App Store link, translate the listing into 39 languages and download it for fastlane.
Features
- Import from App Store Connect: fetch the name, subtitle, keywords, promotional text, description and What's New of your app in every language, also before a version is released.
- Character limits: every key gets the App Store character limit and a description, so translators and AI translations stay within the limits.
- Language mapping: choose which App Store language each project language is imported from and pushed to.
- Push to App Store Connect: upload the translated texts to the editable version of your app. Nothing is submitted for review.
Connect your app
- Open your project, go to Settings, Integrations, and choose App Store. You can also choose App Store on the Import translations screen of a new project.
- Paste the link to your app from the App Store, for example
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/your-app/id123456789, or just the numeric app ID. - Click Connect app.
- Add an App Store Connect API key. The languages, import and push options appear once the key is verified.
App Store Connect API key
SimpleLocalize uses an App Store Connect API key to read and update the texts of your app:
- Open App Store Connect and go to Users and Access, Integrations, App Store Connect API.
- Click Generate API Key (or +), enter a name like "SimpleLocalize" and choose the App Manager role.
- Download the
.p8file. Apple lets you download it only once, so keep it safe. - Copy the Issuer ID shown above the list of keys.
- In SimpleLocalize, go to Settings, App Store, enter the Issuer ID, choose the
.p8file and click Continue. The Key ID is read from the file name (AuthKey_<KEY_ID>.p8); if you renamed the file, enter it yourself.
SimpleLocalize checks the key with Apple before saving it. The key must belong to the team that owns the app. It is stored encrypted and never shown again; you can remove it at any time with Remove key.
Languages
Each project language is mapped to an App Store language. SimpleLocalize detects the mapping from the language key,
for example de becomes de-DE and pl_PL becomes pl, and you can change it in the Languages section. Choose
Not on the App Store to skip a language.
Click Add languages to add App Store languages that the project does not have yet. Languages your app is already available in are selected, so you can add them with one click.
The mapping is stored in the app-store::locale attribute of the language.
Import from App Store
Click Import from App Store to download the texts of every mapped language from App Store Connect: the version in
Prepare for Submission when there is one, otherwise the latest version. They are saved as translation keys in the
app-store namespace:
| Key | App Store field | Character limit |
|---|---|---|
name | Name | 30 |
subtitle | Subtitle | 30 |
keywords | Keywords | 100 |
promotional_text | Promotional Text | 170 |
description | Description | 4000 |
release_notes | What's New | 4000 |
privacy_url | Privacy Policy URL | 255 |
support_url | Support URL | 255 |
marketing_url | Marketing URL | 255 |
Empty fields are created as empty keys in the default language, so you can fill them in and translate them like any other key. Importing again updates the texts from App Store Connect, but never clears texts you added in SimpleLocalize.
Auto-translation skips the privacy_url, support_url and marketing_url keys, because they are addresses. Change
them only for languages that have their own privacy policy, support or website page.
Push to App Store Connect
- In App Store Connect, create a new version of your app, so there is a version in the Prepare for Submission state.
- In SimpleLocalize, click Push to App Store in Settings, App Store, or in the project actions menu.
The name, subtitle and privacy policy URL are saved to the app information, and the description, keywords, promotional text, What's New, support URL and marketing URL to the version. Missing App Store languages are created. Empty keys are skipped, so existing texts in App Store Connect are not cleared. When Apple rejects a language, for example What's New for the first version of an app, the other languages are still uploaded and the error is shown in the activity.
Limitations
- Screenshots and app previews are not yet synchronized.
- In-app purchases, subscriptions and in-app events are not supported yet.
- The integration supports iOS and macOS apps.