The service has been integrated directly into the Google Play Developer Console, now appearing at the bottom of the APK section. Developers now only need to get their APK ready for translation, upload the file of string resources, select languages to target and pick a vendor based on time and price. The translations, once ready, can easily be imported back into the app using the ADT Translation Manager Plugin.
Google is also going to help out developers who are not sure which languages to select. The company, in the official blog, says, “Does your app have a lot of installs in a certain country where you haven’t localized to their language? Are apps like yours popular in a country where your app isn’t available yet? Next, go to the Optimization Tips section in the Developer Console to make sure your APK, store listing, and graphics are consistently translated.”
The App Translation Service, apart from allowing developers to download their translated string files, also lets them communicate with their translators. Once the translated app is ready, developers can do some localisation testing before publishing the finished product to Google Play with localised store listing text and graphics. The company, with the new service, says that it hopes to make localising apps as easy as possible.
