How to Localize App Store Screenshots (and Which Languages First)

Which markets to start with, what to translate, and how to avoid the mistakes that make localized listings look cheap.

Updated: October 7, 2026

More than half of App Store and Google Play users don't speak English as their first language. When they find an app whose screenshots and description speak their language, they trust it more and download it more often. Localizing your listing is one of the few growth tactics that costs little and keeps working for years.

What to localize

Screenshot headlines. This is where people look first, so it has the biggest effect on conversion.
App name and subtitle (Google Play: title and short description). Visible in search results and used for search ranking.
Keyword field (App Store). Every language has its own 100 characters; see the keywords guide.
Description and promotional text. Read by fewer people, but they matter for trust and on Google Play also for search.
The screens themselves, if your app is localized. A German headline above an English interface looks unfinished.

Which languages first

Start with the markets where you already have traffic: App Store Connect and Google Play Console show downloads and page views by country. If you are starting from scratch, these languages cover large, high-spending markets and are a common first wave:

Spanish (Spain and Mexico), Portuguese (Brazil), German, French
Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese
Turkish, Italian, Russian, Arabic

The App Store supports 39 localizations, including regional variants such as English (UK), Spanish (Mexico), Portuguese (Portugal) and French (Canada). Regional variants matter: a Mexican user may notice Spain-specific vocabulary, and the reverse.

Translate the meaning, not the words

Literal translation is the most common mistake. Headlines are marketing copy, and what sells in English often sounds stiff elsewhere. A few rules:

Keep the benefit, rewrite the sentence. "Crush your goals" has no natural equivalent in many languages; "Reach your goals faster" does.
Use the words people search for in that market. Keyword research must be done per language; direct translations of your English keywords often miss.
Mind the length. German and Finnish run longer than English; Japanese and Chinese much shorter. Make sure headlines still fit without shrinking the font.
Right-to-left languages such as Arabic and Hebrew need mirrored layouts: the headline aligns right and reading order flips.
Formal or informal? Some languages, like German, French and Turkish, have a formal and an informal "you". Pick one that fits your brand and use it consistently.

Have a native speaker review at least your first three screenshots in each language. That is where a clumsy translation costs the most.

Keep the design, change the text

Each language needs its own set of screenshots in every required size, which multiplies quickly: 10 languages times 4 sizes times 5 screenshots is 200 images. That is why localization usually stalls. The fix is to keep one design and only swap the text, so every language renders automatically.

In StoreAppScreens each project holds the headlines for every language. You write them once in your main language, and Pro translates them into the other languages in a click, in the tone of each store, with right-to-left layout for Arabic and Hebrew. Export then gives you a folder per language and device, ready for upload, or Pro sends them straight to App Store Connect.

Upload and check

In App Store Connect, add the language under App Information first, then upload screenshots for each display size.
On Google Play, add translations in the store listing, then upload the localized graphics for each language.
Search for your app in each storefront after release to check that the right set shows up.
Watch conversion by country for a few weeks and improve the languages that lag.

Common mistakes

Translating headlines but leaving the app name and keywords in English.
Machine translation that nobody reviews.
Text that overflows or is shrunk too small in longer languages.
Screens of an English interface under translated headlines.
Forgetting to update every language when the English set changes.

New to screenshots? Start with how to make App Store screenshots.