El Loco Blog
Welcome to the El Loco blog!
Here, you will find what we hope is useful information about iOS app localization, localization industry news, and occasional product updates.
Introducing El Loco Tools
By Kee Nethery — December 5, 2018
El Loco Tools is a free macOS app on the Mac App Store that can quickly make sure every string in your app has been tagged for localization, or not. It’s very simple and very powerful. Select your top level source code directory. It finds every source code file no matter how burried it might. . . Read More
Sell More iPhones with Just 5 words
By Kee Nethery — October 4, 2017
… order by count(languages) descending Android sells more than iPhone in non-English speaking countries because in a world with fewer native language apps, price is the main differentiation. iPhone rules in English speaking countries because people value access to large numbers of safe apps in their native language. For iPhone to. . . Read More
California Voters Sanction Bilingual Education: Smartphone Apps Should Follow Suit
By Kee Nethery — December 12, 2016
This November, 72 percent of California voters said yes to Proposition 58, which overruled a previous ban on bilingual education in California’s public schools. This means that another language besides English is being spoken in California’s public schools. In a state with 41 million native Spanish speakers plus millions of native speakers of Mandarin, Cantonese,. . . Read More
Open Austria launch was multi-lingual
By Kee Nethery — October 5, 2016
Yesterday I experienced an immersive event that reinforces the idea I had when I founded El Loco four years ago. In a room full of tech entrepreneurs, coders, and diplomats at the launch of Open Austria — the first Austrian consul at the Galvanize coworking space in downtown San Francisco this morning — I realized. . . Read More
12 Reasons Software Localization (L10n) Is So Dang Easy
By Kee Nethery — September 15, 2016
App translation has never been easier. I disagree with almost every single one of Oliver Bock’s premises in his recent post, “12 Reasons Why Software Localization (L10n) Is So Dang Hard.” Let’s take on his assertions one by one: 1. There’s a Lot of People in the World Picking additional languages to add into your. . . Read More
What I Want In The Next iPhone
By Kee Nethery — September 10, 2016
Kee Nethery, founder and CEO of El Loco This week a new iPhone was rolled out, without a headphone jack, with a more powerful camera, waterproofed, and the blackest black. Nothing that really changes the world, but just imagine how the next version could do just that: make the world a better place. As a. . . Read More
To Localize Or Not. That Is The Question.
By Kee Nethery — August 18, 2016
To Localize Or Not. That Is The Question. If Hamlet were alive today, he’d probably be running a mobile app startup, not a Danish kingdom. And he might be having this conversation about whether to localize with himself, which is the same conversation we at El Loco, localization providers, have had with some of our. . . Read More
El Loco Updates for May 31, 2016
By Adam Yagiz — May 31, 2016
Here are the latest updates and improvements to the Web Portal and El Loco app. Web Portal [v1.2 (2805)] This update: Fixed overlapping screens and rendering issues with large form factors in Visual Context Editor. Fixed false-positive overrun indicators in Visual Context Editor. Updated reporting for translators and developers. Added the ability to pause/resume El. . . Read More
How Secure Is My Use Of El Loco?
By Kee Nethery — February 9, 2016
How Secure Is My Use Of El Loco? SPOILER ALERT: IT’S VERY SECURE. Let’s start with what El Loco does not do; El Loco does not upload your app, or its source code, into the El Loco servers. Your source code and your compiled app stay on your development machine. What does El Loco upload. . . Read More
Supporting Your App In 13 Languages
By Kee Nethery — January 29, 2016
Supporting Your App In 13 Languages Providing users with localized versions of your app is a good thing. However, the though of offering support to users who don’t speak your language might be a little scary. Here are some tips that can ease those fears and also inspire trust and confidence in your non-English speaking. . . Read More
App Store Says My Non-English App is in English
By Kee Nethery — January 12, 2016
App Store Says My Non-English App is in English The App Store looks in your app for .lproj folders and uses those to see what languages your app supports. It does not matter what you tell the App Store, it looks inside the app to determine which languages your app supports. Without an .lproj folder. . . Read More
Localization vs. Localization
By Kee Nethery — January 5, 2016
Localization vs. Localization The word “localization” gets tossed around in the smart phone app world and it has two quite different meanings. Let’s start with the dictionary definition. According to Merriam-Webster, “localize” is defined as: localize verb | lo·cal·ize | \ˈlō-kə-ˌlīz\ 1. to make local : orient locally 2. to assign to or keep within. . . Read More
Really? Easy App Localization?
By Kee Nethery — December 22, 2015
Really? Easy App Localization? Congratulations. When your app has more than two languages you are in a select group of developers. Roughly 65% of apps are single language, another 15% have two (typically English and the native language of the developer). Three or more languages means you have a localization strategy, it also means you’ve. . . Read More
One App Per Language or One App With All Languages?
By Kee Nethery — September 29, 2015
One App Per Language or One App With All Languages? Because iOS and Android both display in the language selected by the user, it is preferable – and easier – to create one app with multiple language translations. Since the OS selects the display language automatically, a language selector in your app is also unnecessary.. . . Read More
Which Languages Should I Start With?
By Kee Nethery — September 15, 2015
Which Languages Should I Start With? The English market is the largest, supporting it first is smart. The next languages you should support are those known by you and your co-workers. Because the cost of translating to those internally known languages is close to zero, those are good languages to use as you learn about. . . Read More
Why Localize My App?
By Kee Nethery — September 1, 2015
Why Localize My App? If you find yourself asking “why localize my app,” know that the answer depends on your app objectives. When your app is a revenue source, you localize it to make more money. Localizing your app increases your marketplace. When you increase your marketplace, you increase the number of people who will. . . Read More
How Do I Translate My Non-English App?
By Kee Nethery — August 19, 2015
How Do I Translate My Non-English App? Not all iOS developers are fluent in English, and thus not all developers deploy their apps in English. For example, many Asian countries produce apps that are only available in their native language. So then, how do you go about getting your app translated from your native language. . . Read More
Why is my iOS Localization Not Working?
By Kee Nethery — August 4, 2015
Learning how to create an iOS application can be difficult and for most programmers, preparing the code for localization is not a high priority. Like everything else programming related, iOS app localization can be very finicky and therefore it can require more time than a developer has to give. Everything must be done just right. . . Read More
How Does El Loco Display My App?
By Kee Nethery — July 21, 2015
Short answer The El Loco web site never sees or stores your app source code. The El Loco app (Mac) used on your development machine extracts two things from your source code: the strings that need translation, and the definition of the screens that display those strings. The El Loco app then uploads those strings. . . Read More
How Do I Hire A Translator For My iOS App?
By Kee Nethery — July 7, 2015
The process of localizing a mobile app depends largely on the company and the scope of the job at hand. Due to their size and project complexity, Enterprises and larger corporations tend to go with professional translation companies to tackle the challenge of localizing apps. Translation houses have trained translators perform the initial translation, additional. . . Read More
5 Ways to Localize Your iOS App for Free
By Kee Nethery — June 25, 2015
5 Ways to Localize Your iOS App for Free Did you know that English-only iOS apps reach just 8% of the world? There are 4.1 billion people speaking the top 23 languages globally, and out of that 4.1 billion, only 335 million people speak English. You can gain significantly more users and earn more revenue. . . Read More
