Screenshot Localization Checklist Before Store Submission

Run the stages in order, because each one depends on the previous. A translation you approve before fixing the source layout will need a second review, and a pixel-size error found at upload time can force you to re-export every locale.

Assign one owner per stage. In a small team the developer usually owns source prep and technical checks, while a marketer or native-speaking reviewer owns translation review. Keep a simple sheet with one row per locale and one column per stage, and only mark a locale ready when every column is ticked.

Most localization problems start in the English source set. Lock it before you translate anything, so every locale inherits the same structure.

1. Freeze the story order. Decide which benefit each slide sells. Apple notes that the first one to three screenshots can appear in search results (opens in a new tab) when no app preview is available, so put your strongest message first in every locale.
2. Capture from a clean device state. Use realistic demo data, a neutral clock and full battery, and remove personal names, emails and notifications.
3. Separate caption text from in-app UI text. Note which strings are marketing overlays and which are part of the app interface. The caption vs in-app UI guide explains why both matter.
4. Leave room for longer text. Headlines should not fill the full width in English. W3C cites IBM averages for translation into European languages (opens in a new tab): strings of up to 10 characters expand by 200 to 300 percent, and 11 to 20 characters by 180 to 200 percent.
5. Use real strings from your localized build where possible. If the app is already translated, capture the in-app screens in each language instead of translating pixels you could render natively.
6. Name files by slide order. A stable pattern such as 01-onboarding, 02-search keeps sets aligned across locales and makes missing slides obvious.

Pick locales from your own install, revenue and support data, not from a list of every language a store supports. Apple states that the App Store runs in 175 regions and 50 languages (opens in a new tab), which is far more than most teams can review well.

1. Rank markets by evidence. Start with the countries that already bring organic installs, then add markets where your app content is already translated.
2. Map each language to the exact console code. The two stores use different codes for the same language, so keep a mapping table rather than guessing at upload time.
3. Decide on regional variants. Portuguese (Brazil) and Portuguese (Portugal), or Spanish for Spain and Latin America, are separate listings. Choose whether one set of screenshots serves both or each gets its own review.
4. Flag right-to-left locales early. Arabic and Hebrew need layout checks, not only translation, so budget extra review time. See the RTL screenshot guide.
5. Confirm the fallback. On Google Play, if graphic assets are not localized, the assets from your default language are shown (opens in a new tab). Make sure that default set is one you are happy to show everywhere.

Codes are taken from Apple's locale shortcode list (opens in a new tab) and Google's store listing language list (opens in a new tab). The full comparison is in the locale codes guide.

Machine translation gets you a draft; review makes it shippable. Ask a native speaker to check each slide as an image, not as a spreadsheet of strings, because context changes meaning.

1. Terminology matches the app. Button labels and feature names in the screenshot must match the words users will see after install. Keep a short glossary per locale.
2. Brand names stay untranslated. Product names, trademarks and acronyms such as PRO or HD should appear exactly as in the source.
3. No truncation or ellipses. Every word is fully visible. If a German or Finnish headline overflows, shorten the message rather than shrinking the font below readable size.
4. Line breaks are natural. Breaks should fall between phrases, not inside a compound noun. Japanese and Chinese have no spaces, so check that lines do not split in awkward places.
5. CJK width is checked visually. W3C points out that CJK text can need more horizontal space (opens in a new tab) even when it uses fewer characters than English.
6. Numbers, dates and currency are localized. Decimal separators, date order and currency symbols should follow local convention, and prices should be realistic for the market.
7. RTL reads correctly. Arabic and Hebrew text runs right to left, mixed Latin words and numbers keep their correct order, and punctuation sits on the correct side.
8. Tone fits the market. Formal and informal address differ by language. Pick one per locale and use it on every slide.

For language-specific pitfalls, see the pages for Japanese, German, Arabic and Chinese (Simplified).

Visual QA catches problems a translator will not flag. Review every locale at full size and at thumbnail size, because store search shows small previews.

1. Fonts support the script. Check for missing glyphs (empty boxes), wrong fallback fonts and inconsistent weights between slides. Accented Latin, Cyrillic, CJK and Arabic scripts often fail here.
2. Protected elements are untouched. Star ratings, age ratings, format badges such as 4K or HDR, logos, album art and video frames should match the source pixel for pixel.
3. Device frames are consistent. Every locale uses the same frame, orientation and position, and the frame model is appropriate for the store you upload to.
4. Text contrast holds. Longer translated text can spill onto busier parts of the background. Confirm it stays readable.
5. Captions stay proportionate on Google Play. Google advises that taglines should not take up more than 20 percent (opens in a new tab) of the image.
6. No leftover source text. Scan each slide for untranslated strings in small UI elements, tabs and toasts.

Upload errors usually come from dimensions, format or count. Check these per device size and per locale, since each locale is its own set of uploads.

1. Match an accepted size exactly. Apple accepts only listed pixel sizes. The full list is on the screenshot sizes page.
2. Strip the alpha channel. Flatten PNGs onto an opaque background before upload, for both stores.
3. Check the aspect ratio for Google Play. A 1320 × 2868 iPhone file is taller than 2:1, so it cannot be reused on Google Play as is. Export a separate Play set, for example at 1080 × 1920.
4. Rely on Apple's scaling where it fits. Apple says that if your UI is the same across sizes, you can provide only the highest resolution screenshots (opens in a new tab) and they scale down to smaller devices.
5. Count slides per locale. Every locale should have the same number of slides in the same order, unless you deliberately cut one for a market.

1. Upload locale by locale. Select the correct language in each console before adding files, then confirm slide order in the preview.
2. Remember that previews come first on Apple. App previews always appear before screenshots (opens in a new tab) on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV, so your first screenshot may not be the first thing people see.
3. Spot-check the live listing. After approval, view the product page from a device or account set to the target language.
4. Record a baseline. Note conversion rate per country for the weeks before the change, so you can compare like with like.
5. Test deliberately. Apple Product Page Optimization lets each treatment be localized (opens in a new tab) in all or selected languages, and Google Play supports localized experiments in up to five languages (opens in a new tab).
6. Schedule refreshes. Re-run this checklist whenever the app UI changes, since outdated screenshots in one locale are easy to miss.

StoreLocale covers stages 3 and 4, and the iPhone part of stage 5, for teams that translate text inside existing screenshots. Text detection and translation cost no credits, you can edit every string per locale, and rating and format badges are kept untranslated.

Exports are PNG files in one ZIP, organized by platform, locale and size, and a strict export option blocks slides that still have untranslated text. Every export keeps the proportions of the 1320 × 2868 base (a 6.9-inch iPhone screenshot), so prepare Google Play 9:16 sets, iPad sets and landscape sets separately, outside StoreLocale. Uploading to App Store Connect or Play Console is still done by you.