ASO localization
App Store screenshot localization in 39 store languages
One deck holds every caption, in every language. The layout, the device frame, and the palette stay identical across markets — only the words change, which is what makes a localized listing read as the same product rather than a translated one.
Why the same English captions do not work everywhere
A screenshot caption is not a sentence. It is a promise that has to land in a market with its own length limits, its own reading direction, and its own idea of what the product does.
- Length is not the same in every language. A German headline lands around 35% longer than the English one. Japanese and Korean use fewer characters but no spaces, so a line break has to be chosen by hand. Keeping the English line and shrinking the type to fit is the fastest way to make a listing look foreign.
- The label is a keyword slot. The small word above the headline is the one people scan for. In a German listing it should be the German search term, not the English one carried over.
- Some markets read right to left. Arabic and Hebrew flip the text direction, the reading order, and the position of the device frame on the slide.
- Tone does not travel. Direct and imperative copy that works in English can read as blunt in German, and machine translation makes that worse, not better.
- The store expects separate files. Every language in App Store Connect and Play Console carries its own graphics, so a localized listing means a localized export, not a runtime toggle.
39 locales, one deck
Each locale gets its own captions for the headline, the label, and any extra text on the slide. Switch language in the studio and the artwork stays exactly where it was.
- Englishen-US
- English (UK)en-GB
- English (Australia)en-AU
- English (Canada)en-CA
- Françaisfr-FR
- Français (Canada)fr-CA
- Deutschde-DE
- Españoles-ES
- Español (México)es-MX
- Italianoit
- Português (Brasil)pt-BR
- Português (Portugal)pt-PT
- Nederlandsnl-NL
- Svenskasv
- Danskda
- Suomifi
- Norsk bokmålno
- Polskipl
- Češtinacs
- Slovenčinask
- Magyarhu
- Românăro
- Ελληνικάel
- Türkçetr
- Русскийru
- Українськаuk
- العربيةRTL
- עבריתRTL
- हिन्दीhi
- ไทยth
- Tiếng Việtvi
- Bahasa Indonesiaid
- Bahasa Melayums
- 日本語ja
- 한국어ko
- 简体中文zh-Hans
- 繁體中文zh-Hant
- Catalàca
- Hrvatskihr
RTL screenshots for Arabic and Hebrew
Right-to-left is not a mirror image. The text direction flips, and everything the reader scans first moves with it. App Snaps flips the text direction on its own, and keeps the layout rules valid for both directions.
- العربيةArabic · ar-SA · right to left
- עבריתHebrew · he · right to left
The product name stays in Latin script even in an Arabic listing. The rest of the slide flips around it.
Rules for a caption that survives translation
- 01
Write for the shortest headline you can
German and Finnish run 30–40% longer than English. Japanese runs shorter but uses more characters per idea. Set the headline in the target language, then check it still fits in one or two lines instead of shrinking the type.
- 02
Check the overflow before you export
Every caption has a measured box on the slide. When a translation runs past it, the canvas flags it in amber rather than silently clipping the words, so a German headline never ships cut in half.
- 03
Keep the label short, or translate it too
The small label above the headline is a keyword slot, not decoration. A label that says 'SYNC' in English should not stay 'SYNC' in a listing where the search term is 'SYNCHRONISEREN'.
- 04
Read it back before you ship it
Machine translation gives you a starting point, not a final line. Read each headline in the target language, or hand it to someone who speaks it. The studio keeps your manual wording separate from the machine draft, so nothing gets overwritten.
- 05
Do not translate the app name
The product name is a brand. It stays in Latin script even in Arabic and Hebrew listings, and the rest of the layout flips around it.
- 06
Give RTL its own layout pass
Arabic and Hebrew run right to left. The text direction flips automatically, but the safe move is to look at each slide once with the frame on the correct side.
One deck, four languages
The same slide, translated. This is what the export looks like once you have run the deck through English, German, Japanese, and Arabic.
English
en-US
Meet your app.
The source. Shortest possible promise, four words, one line.
German
de-DE
Deine App, im Rahmen.
Runs longer than English. Fits on one line at the same size, but you have to check it.
Japanese
ja
アプリに会う。
Fewer characters, but no spaces to break on. Line breaks are manual here.
Arabic
ar-SA
تعرّف على تطبيقك.
Right to left. The line starts on the other side, and the device frame moves with it.
One project, four exports, one ZIP per language. Nothing to rename by hand — each file is named for the locale it belongs to.
Screenshot localization FAQ
How do you localize App Store screenshots?
Keep one deck and give every caption its own value per language. You translate the headline, label, and any extra text once per locale, then export a separate image set for each language. App Snaps stores the captions per locale inside a single project, so the design is not duplicated.
How many languages can I publish App Store screenshots in?
App Snaps ships with 39 store locales, including English variants, French and French Canadian, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, both Chinese scripts, Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malay, and 20 more. The set matches the locales App Store Connect and Play Console accept for listing graphics.
Do I need to redesign the screenshot for each language?
No. Only the copy changes. The layout, the device frame, and the palette stay identical, which is what makes a localized listing feel like the same product instead of a cheap translation.
What is an RTL app store screenshot?
It is a screenshot for a right-to-left language such as Arabic or Hebrew. The text direction flips, the device frame moves to the opposite side, and the reading order of the slide reverses. App Snaps flips the text direction automatically and keeps the layout rules for both directions.
Can I localize Google Play screenshots too?
Yes. Every Play listing language carries its own graphics, so each language needs its own export. The same project handles both stores, so you translate once and export an App Store set and a Play set per locale.
Does machine translation work for listing screenshots?
It is a starting point. App Snaps can machine-translate the captions, but it keeps your hand-written wording separate, so a manual edit is never overwritten by a later translation run. Store screenshots are short, and short copy is exactly where machine translation sounds wrong.
Should I use the same screenshots for every country?
Usually not. The same English screenshot in forty markets is the cheapest version of a listing, not the best one. Localising the caption into the market's language, and using the local search term in the label, is what makes the listing read as native.
Do I need a different design for RTL languages?
Usually not a different design, but a different check. The text direction flips on its own. What does not flip is your instinct about which side things belong on, so look at the Arabic and Hebrew slides once before you export them.