Unlocking Global Reach: A Step-by-Step Guide to Mobile App Localization
What is Internationalization and Localization?
Building applications that cater to diverse cultures, regions, and languages is crucial in today’s globalized world. Internationalization (i18n) enables apps to adapt to different locales, while localization (l10n) involves translating content to a specific language or region. By localizing your app, you can tap into a broader user base and provide a seamless experience across the globe.
Getting Started with Localization
To begin, ensure you have Node.js, Watchman (for macOS), and React Native set up on your computer. Additionally, you can use libraries like react-native-localize, but note that it only supports React Native and doesn’t work with Expo apps without ejecting.
Working with Expo-Localization
The expo-localization SDK provides access to a user’s device locale data, including currency codes and time zones. Let’s explore how to localize an Expo app using expo-localization and i18n-js.
Creating an Expo App
Generate an Expo app using the Expo CLI, and select a blank template to get started. Install expo-localization and i18n-js as dependencies, and create a separate file to centralize your app’s text.
Extracting and Centralizing App Text
Create a file in i18n/supportedLanguages.js to store your app’s text, and define key-value pairs for each language you want to support. This will enable conditional rendering of text based on the user’s device locale.
Getting the User’s Device Locale
Use the expo-localization SDK to access the user’s device locale, and add internationalization functionality to your app.
Localizing App Text with i18n-js
Call the i18n.t() function to get the localized text, and pass in the key you want to translate as a string. This will render the text based on the user’s device locale.
Demonstrating Localization
Test your localized app on an iOS simulator or Android emulator by changing the device language settings. You can also manually set the locale using i18n.locale = 'es' to test different languages.
Localizing a Bare React Native App
Generate a new React Native project, install the necessary dependencies, and configure the react-native-unimodules package. Follow the same steps as before to localize your bare React Native app.
Unlocking Global Reach
By using expo-localization and i18n-js, you can easily localize your Expo and bare React Native apps, providing a seamless experience for users worldwide. Explore the full code on GitHub and start localizing your app today!