Breaking Borders: Leveraging AI for Seamless Global Reach in Mobile App Localization

How Can AI Improve the Localization of Mobile Apps? 

Mobile apps are universal; if you have a business plan, you can release the same application worldwide (depending on what category your app supports). Both Apple and Google have made it easy for mobile app developers and app owners and developers to launch it this way quickly. Both Apple App Store and Google Play Store have similar apps to cater to mobile owners, and both these platforms allow access to the app ubiquitously.

For example, Airbnb can be downloaded via the App Store and the Play Store.

Even with this ability, it will be challenging for you as an app owner or a developer to capture the global market if you are not looking to localize the app to specific users. This is important because although English is recognized worldwide, many individuals prefer to use their devices and applications in their language. 

Creating localized versions of the apps was traditionally challenging, with app owners having to work with translation companies or use translation apps to translate every button and piece of content on the app. Depending on the countries or languages the owners would identify, this exercise could become costly and time-consuming. 

This is being tackled now easily with the use of AI. 

The Role of AI in Localization

AI has taken the world by storm over the last year or so, resulting in many AI-based solutions coming into the market to help businesses do things they needed large teams to do before. 

Now, AI tools are enabling businesses to focus on generating and converting content into various formats and languages. First, written content became very easy to develop using tools like ChatGPT, and then more tools came up online focused on generating visual content like images.

These generative AI tools can create content for their users in a single language and simultaneously convert the same content into various languages. They are making it easy for businesses to develop localized content at scale.

Along with that, other AI tools also enable businesses to localize audio content, making it super easy for them to deploy their audio and video content across geographies and make it more accessible to users everywhere. 

Mobile apps that can utilize these can improve their brand presence globally and also be able to target communities that were out of reach for them previously. 

For example, Telugu is the fastest-growing language in the United States and is originally one of the many languages spoken locally in India. The ideal language for a business targeting the US market would be English. Still, by using AI-based tools, the app can be localized quickly to work in Telugu, which might not just open up the opportunity to get business from Telugu-speaking individuals in the US.

Still, depending on the type of the app, if it can be used across geographies, it can be easily deployed to target Telugu-speaking individuals within India and other countries, too. 

This localization enables the app to capture a large, untapped market. There are a lot of countries where, even though the users are aware of English, they still prefer to use their devices in their local language. If your app is entirely written in English, it may not appear correctly (if the regional language settings do not support the English alphabet by default). This will mean that local competitors are more likely to take away your business, and you will be restricted by the growth you can achieve for your app. 

AI-Powered Translation and Language Processing

Traditionally, as an app owner, you would hire a professional translator or use tools like Google Translate to manually convert each piece of text in your app into a different language.

 

As discussed above, text-based AI tools have made this process super easy for app owners to translate not just a single piece of text at a time but large amounts of text simultaneously. 

Generative AI-based solutions can help you generate text for your app and immediately provide you with a translated version of the exact text, making it very easy for you, as an app owner, to launch your app's first version in multiple languages instantly. 

This is possible because AI platforms train their AI models using natural language processing systems. This ensures that the tool learns how to generate and translate any piece of text by going through large amounts of text collected from various sources. 

Many AI-powered translation tools are available in the market that let you easily convert text into different languages. Here are a few: 

• Google Translate - Google has been providing translation services for free for a few years. Still, their accuracy level and ability to handle vast pieces of content have been limited. However, users can translate small bits of information fairly quickly. 
• Bing Microsoft Translator - Microsoft Bing has a translator platform that lets users translate text into various languages. It also enables users to upload images or voice recordings to provide translations. 
• Smartling - Smartling is a paid translation service that uses AI and can be integrated to create custom flows for translating content into various languages on apps and websites. 
• Amazon Translate - Amazon has its translation service as well. Still, this one is for paid users. It uses large NLP models to provide very accurate translations for businesses to use in their operations, like redeveloping the whole company website in various languages. 

Examples of Mobile Apps that have Implemented AI-Based Localization

Businesses already use AI to implement better-localized content to improve their reach to other countries. Here are a few examples:

• Airbnb - Airbnb has listings for properties that are viewed by people all over the world. AI-based translation has enabled them to automatically translate the text into various languages so people from multiple countries can read about the listing and pick the best places to book.
• Netflix - Netflix is another company that extensively uses AI-based translation services to make its extensive content library available to viewers everywhere. Netflix is using AI-powered translation to create subtitles and even voiceovers. 
• Amazon - Amazon has a vast network of presence for its e-commerce platform, and some items listed on the platform can be purchased in multiple countries. This is why Amazon uses AI-powered translation systems to automatically translate product listings to let local users understand and potentially buy them. 
• Meta - Meta has always loved AI and has looked at how it can implement AI in various aspects of their business. One such place was translating content on people's feeds across social media platforms. This enables their users to translate and understand content others publish in different languages. 

Localization can help app owners not just reach various audiences across the world but also help make the audience understand content already published online. AI-powered tools can instantly and accurately convert content to create mobile apps accessible to everyone worldwide. 

If you are an app owner, consider this before you launch your app into the market.