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