Supporting multiple languages in a Mac or iOS app is a drag, because as you add new features or tweak existing ones, you need to continually update the strings for every language you support (which can involve waiting on translators, etc).
This tool uses OpenAI's GPT APIs (which are excellent at context-aware translation) to make update all your strings or xloc files for all your supported languages, just by running a single command.
localize-please is a command-line tool that automatically translates the text content of your Mac or iOS app, using OpenAI's GPT language model.
Use localize-please to translate your app into a new language, or update an existing localization whenever you add a new feature.
Supported file types for automatic localization include:
- .strings (Xcode's standard file type for localizable strings)
- .stringsdict (used by Xcode for handling pluralization cases)
- .xcloc (the file type produced when you export your localizations from Xcode)
- .txt (Plain text)
- .md (Markdown)
localize-please is incremental (by default), which means it only translates the strings that appear untranslated, saving you time (and money!).
localize-pleaserequires an OpenAI API Key, which you can get for free from here- OpenAI offers a free quota of API requests for new accounts
The easiest way to install localize-please is via Homebrew.
After installing Homebrew, run the following command:
brew tap soulverteam/localize-please https://github.com/soulverteam/localize-please
brew install localize-pleaseAlternatively, download the binary of the latest version of the localize-please command line tool from the Releases section on this Github page.
Run the set-api-key command with your OpenAI API key (this only needs to be done once):
localize-please set-api-key "sk-EXAMPLE-KEY-1234567890"Run the localize-please command with a path to an Xcode project folder (the folder that contains lproj folders):
localize-please "/Users/zac/Projects/MyCoolApp/"or with a folder contining .xloc files, created by Xcode's Export Localizations… command:
localize-please "/Users/zac/Desktop/Exported Localizations/"localize-please will automatically translate any strings that appear untranslated using OpenAI's GPT language model.
-o, --output-folder <output-folder>: Specify a folder to save translated files into. Without this set, the original localizable files will be edited in place.-l, --language <ISO 639-1 language code (de, fr, ja, etc)>: Limit translation to only the specified language. By default all language folders/files detected will be translated).-q, --quiet: Prevent translations from being printed to the console as the tool runs.-f, --force-translate: Disables incremental localization. All strings in the project will be sent off for re-translation, even if they already appear translated.--api-key <OpenAI API Key>: Specify an API key to be used for this particular localization request.
OpenAI's GPT language model is very good at translating and understands the context that informs an accurate translation.
If OpenAI's GPT language model fails to translate a particular string for any reason, the original translation will be left untouched.
The OpenAI ChatGPT API currently translates about 2 strings/second. So please be patient the first time you run the tool on a completely new language for your project.
localize-please is incremental, and further invocations of the tool will attempt to translate only the strings that appear untranslated.
There are a few reasons:
- ChatGPT can only handle a certain amount of input in a single query, whereas
localize-pleasesplits your files up into chunks - ChatGPT sometimes messes up the translation format.
localize-pleasedoes its best to keep the format of translations correct and not mess up the formatting of your files - Copying and pasting is boring:
localize-pleaseis a single command that works across multiple files and languages from one command
Even though ChatGPT does very good translations, it's still worth checking your translation with native speakers.
It's still more time efficient to first translate a project automatically using a good AI service, and then fix the odd issue, than for a human localizer to translate an entire project from scratch.
Some strings can be ambiguous without further clarification. For instance:
"Empty" = "Empty";
It's not clear whether this string is an imperative verb (like "Empty the trash!") or an adjective "The folder is empty".
To provide a translator (or in this case, ChatGPT) with the required context to deliver an accurate translation, you can add a localizer comment
/* Empty the trash */
"Empty" = "Empty";
If you're using .xcloc files (Xcode's Export Localizations feature), make sure you specify a comment for the localizer when defining your string.
let string = String(localized: "Empty", comment: "Empty the Trash") Text("Empty",
comment: "Empty the trash")Specify the comment under in the "Localizer Hint" property for the label or control.
localize-pleasealso works with plain text and markdown (.md) files. So you can automatically translate your release notes for an update by including arelease-notes.mdfile in your project as a localized file.
A Mac app that offers a nice GUI around this tool is in development. It will be available later this year.
This project is licensed under the terms of the MIT license. See LICENSE for more information.
This project is provided as-is and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and absence of errors or inaccuracies. The author and any contributors to this project shall not be liable for any damages, including but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, arising from the use of this project or from any content or information accessed through this project.