Hour 0: Pick markets, not “all languages”

Localizing forty locales poorly is worse than localizing five well. Choose markets from revenue, not from a language checklist.

A practical indie shortlist:

  • One big European market (often DE or FR).
  • One Spanish locale where you actually sell (es-MX or es-ES).
  • Japan or Korea if your category converts there.
  • Brazil (pt-BR) if you already see organic traffic.
  • Keep en-US as the source of truth.

Write the list down. Everything below uses only those locales — scope is what makes an afternoon finishable.

Hour 1: Import live screenshots from your public URL

Start from the public App Store listing URL, not from design-file archaeology.

  1. Copy the Share link from your App Store page.
  2. Import iPhone (and iPad, if you support it) screenshots into App Store Localizer.
  3. Confirm slot order matches the story you want every locale to tell.
  4. Translate caption overlays for each target locale — keep layout identical so features line up.

Screenshot captions usually convert harder than the long description. Do them first while your energy is high.

Hour 2: Localize metadata with character limits in mind

For each locale, prepare title (30), subtitle (30), keyword field (100), description, and What’s New. The keyword field should use commas with no wasted spaces, and should not repeat title/subtitle terms Apple already indexes.

  • Title: brand plus room for one localized cue if it fits.
  • Subtitle: distinct keywords from the title — your second pitch line.
  • Keywords: comma-separated, locale-specific search intent, ≤100 characters.
  • Description: benefit-led; do not paste a literal English wall of text.
  • What’s New: short and native; users read this on updates.

If a German compound or a Japanese phrase blows the limit, rewrite — do not truncate mid-word.

Hour 3: Push to an editable App Store Connect version

  1. Enable each target language in App Store Connect first.
  2. Open a version you can still edit.
  3. Upload screenshots per locale with matching device sizes.
  4. Paste metadata in the same pass so the locale does not ship half-English.
  5. Spot-check every locale page individually — “upload succeeded” is not the same as “locale populated.”

Hour 4: QA pass and ship

  • Captions are actually in the target language (not leftover English).
  • Keyword field ≤100 characters after localization.
  • Screenshot order identical across locales.
  • Promo text (if used) updated — it can change without a new binary.

Then submit and move on. Perfect is the enemy of shipped locales. Next week, add one more market with the same afternoon template, or refresh What’s New and promo text across the set you already localized.

Ready to run the screenshot + metadata pass? Start at asolocalization.com — import from a public listing URL and localize your top markets in one sitting.