Localization

Translate and adapt an app's text, resources and formatting for many languages and regions.

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Introduced

2001

Mac OS X 10.0

Kind

Platform feature

Runs on

Get it from

iOS

2.0+

iPadOS

2.0+

Mac Catalyst

13.0+

macOS

10.0+

tvOS

9.0+

visionOS

1.0+

watchOS

2.0+

Overview

Localization adapts an app for people who speak different languages and download it from different App Store territories. Apps use localizable APIs such as String(localized:) and SwiftUI's Text, and Foundation formats dates, numbers and currencies for each locale. Xcode finds user-facing strings at build time and keeps them in String Catalogs, where you can add languages, handle plurals and vary text by device.

You can also export localizations as XLIFF-based files for translators and import their work back. Xcode 26 can generate translator comments with an on-device model. In Xcode 27, coding agents can add languages and translate String Catalogs for you.

String Catalogs

Manage every string, plural and device variant in one .xcstrings file.

Grammar agreement

Foundation inflects words to agree with counts in supported languages.

Export and import

Send XLIFF-based localization files to translators and import the results.

Agent translation

In Xcode 27, coding agents add languages and translate String Catalogs.

CartHeader.swift

import SwiftUI

struct CartHeader: View {
    let itemCount: Int

    var body: some View {
        VStack(alignment: .leading) {
            Text("Your cart", comment: "Title above the items in the cart")
            Text(AttributedString(localized:
                "^[\(itemCount) item](inflect: true) ready to ship"))
        }
        .navigationTitle(String(localized: "Checkout",
                                comment: "Checkout screen title"))
    }
}

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