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How to Localize App Store Metadata: Step-by-Step Guide

To localize App Store metadata, you add a language in App Store Connect and translate each localizable field for that locale: app name (30 chars), subtitle (30), keywords (100), promotional text (170), description (4000), and per-locale screenshots. Apple serves the localization that matches a user's device language and region, so a French user in France sees your fr-FR listing. Do it well and it can lift downloads dramatically; do it literally and you can lose keyword rankings. This guide covers the fields, the order, and how to compress the whole job into minutes.

What App Store metadata localization actually covers

App Store Connect exposes a fixed set of localizable fields per locale, each with a hard character limit that Apple enforces on save. The searchable, high-impact fields are the app name (30 characters), the subtitle (30), and the keywords field (100, comma-separated, not shown to users). The descriptive fields are the description (4000), promotional text (170, editable without a new version), and per-locale screenshots and app previews. What you do not translate here is your in-app UI strings — that is a separate localization job in your codebase. Metadata localization is purely the store listing. Every locale you add is independent: you can localize into 40 languages or just the three markets that matter, and Apple falls back to your primary language for any locale you leave empty.

  • App name — 30 characters, indexed for search, most valuable field
  • Subtitle — 30 characters, indexed, shown under the name
  • Keywords — 100 characters, comma-separated, hidden from users
  • Description — 4000 characters, weakly indexed on iOS but read by users
  • Promotional text — 170 characters, editable without submitting a new version

Which languages to localize first — and why it pays

Apple has reported that localized product pages can drive substantial download lifts in a country, so language choice is a revenue decision, not a formality. Start where your analytics already show traffic: App Store Connect's App Analytics breaks impressions and downloads down by territory, and the countries with impressions but weak conversion are your best localization candidates. If you have no data yet, the high-value defaults are the languages that unlock the most App Store spend: English, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Korean, and Portuguese (Brazil). One nuance many developers miss: some countries default to English even when a local language exists, so localizing into, say, French for France and French for Canada as separate locales lets you tune keywords per market.

  • Use App Analytics by territory to find impressions with weak conversion
  • Prioritize high-spend markets: EN, ZH-Hans, JA, DE, FR, ES, KO, PT-BR
  • Treat regional variants (fr-FR vs fr-CA) as separate keyword opportunities

Step by step: adding localizations in App Store Connect

In App Store Connect, open your app, then the version you are editing under the iOS or macOS app tab. Near the top of the version page is a language selector; open it and choose Add Language. App Store Connect creates an empty localization for that locale, pre-filling nothing — you translate each field manually. Fill the name, subtitle, keywords, description, and promotional text, watching the character counters, then attach localized screenshots for each required device size. Save the version. Repeat for every locale. The friction is real: each locale is a separate page, screenshots upload per device size per locale, and there is no built-in bulk copy, which is exactly why developers localizing to 10+ languages start looking for tooling.

Translating keywords vs descriptions — why literal translation fails

The description can be translated fairly directly because it is prose read by humans. Keywords cannot. The keywords field is a 100-character search index, and the terms real users type in Japanese or German are rarely the literal translation of your English keywords. Run keyword research per locale: what do people in that market actually search for your category? Drop duplicates that Apple already indexes from your name and subtitle (they are wasted characters), skip spaces after commas (they count against your 100), and never repeat words across name, subtitle, and keywords. For the name and subtitle, translate for meaning and search intent, not word-for-word — a literal translation that no one searches for will quietly sink your ranking in that country.

  • Do fresh keyword research per locale — do not translate keywords literally
  • Omit spaces after commas in the keywords field to save characters
  • Never repeat a term across name, subtitle, and keywords in the same locale

Common localization mistakes that hurt rankings

The most common failure is machine-translating everything once and never reviewing it, which produces awkward names and off-target keywords that depress both ranking and conversion. Others: forgetting that promotional text can be updated any time without a new binary (a free marketing lever most teams ignore), leaving screenshots in English for every locale (users scan images before text), and exceeding character limits so App Store Connect silently blocks the save. Regional tone matters too — Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese differ enough that one file for both reads wrong to half your audience. Finally, teams forget to keep localizations in sync when the English listing changes, so old translations drift out of date across a dozen locales at once.

Localize every locale in minutes with MetaFlow

MetaFlow is a native Mac app that turns the per-locale grind into a spreadsheet-style workflow: copy your primary locale to any language, AI-translate with OpenAI, Gemini, or DeepL, review inline against live character counters, and publish through the App Store Connect API.

  1. 1Connect your App Store Connect API key so MetaFlow pulls in every app, version, and locale
  2. 2Open the Bulk Metadata Editor and copy your primary locale into the target languages
  3. 3Run AI Translation with your chosen provider, giving it your app's terminology and tone
  4. 4Review each field inline — the character counters flag anything over Apple's limits
  5. 5Filter by Missing or Too Long to catch gaps before you publish
  6. 6Run validation and publish the localized metadata through the App Store Connect API
Download on App Store

FAQ

Do I have to submit a new app version to localize metadata?

For the name, subtitle, keywords, description, and screenshots, yes — those are tied to a version and go live when it is approved. Promotional text is the exception: you can edit it in any locale at any time without submitting a new build.

What happens to locales I do not translate?

App Store Connect falls back to your primary language for any locale you leave empty, so untranslated markets still see a working listing — just in your default language rather than the local one.

How many languages can an App Store listing support?

The App Store supports around 40 localizations. You do not need all of them; most apps see the best return from localizing the handful of high-spend markets where their analytics already show impressions.

Does localizing metadata actually increase downloads?

Apple has reported significant download lifts from localized product pages in a given country. The gain depends on the market and category, but adding a well-researched localization to a country where you already get impressions is one of the highest-leverage ASO moves available.