Guide Checked against Apple's and Google's help pages on 29 Oct 2026
How to localize App Store & Google Play screenshots (2026)
Translating your description is the easy half. The words in your screenshots stay in your default language until you upload new ones, on both stores. Here's what each store shows, which languages it takes, and a checklist for doing the images properly.
Localization in four lines
Short answer- App Store languages
- 50 languages and locales
- Google Play languages
- 86 language codes
- No screenshots for a language?
- Both stores show your default ones
- Text translated, images not?
- Mixed page: local text, default-language images
Want a second pair of eyes first? Our free audit checks a live listing's screenshots and text against the stores' guidelines. It can't see which languages your store text is translated into, so check that in App Store Connect or Play Console.
What each store shows, and when
Both stores fall back to your default language for anything you haven't localized, screenshots included. That's why a listing can end up with a translated description sitting above English screenshots.
| App Store | Google Play | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you add a language | App Store Connect: the language pop-up at the top right of the app, then upload screenshots for that language from the same menu. | Play Console: Store listing → Manage translations → Select languages. |
| A new language starts with | Your primary language's screenshots and fields, except the description and keywords. | Your default language's graphics until you add localized ones. |
| Who sees a language | People whose language setting matches it, plus storefronts that support it but not your primary language. Otherwise the next most relevant localization, then the primary. | People whose language preference matches a translation you've added. |
| If you add nothing | Your primary-language metadata shows everywhere. | Users can choose an automated translation of your listing text, with a notice and an option to see the default language. |
| Per country, not per language | Apple's localization pages don't cover this. | Google recommends custom store listings for different listings by country or region. |
Source: Apple, Localize app information · Apple, Manage your App Store assets · Google, Translate and localize your app
Which languages to start with
The App Store lists 50 languages and locales; Google Play lists 86 language codes. Nobody needs all of them. Start where your users already are: your own download data by country is the best guide.
Two places to look in the stores themselves: Apple's country table shows which extra languages each storefront supports, and Google says Play Console may show a banner with language recommendations once it has enough data about your app.
Some App Store storefronts support more than one language
- United States: default English (U.S.), also Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Mexico), Vietnamese.
- India: default English (U.K.), also Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.
- Switzerland: default German, also English (U.K.), French, Italian.
- Canada: default English (Canada), also French (Canada).
Apple says a French localization, for example, shows to people whose language setting is French, and also in storefronts that support French but not English. So localizing can reach people inside storefronts whose default language you already cover.
Source: Apple, App Store localizations · Apple, Localize app information · Google, Translate and localize your app
Our checklist for localized screenshots
This part is our own advice, not store rules. Where a point rests on something Apple or Google says, it's noted in the text.
Translate the words inside the images, not just the fields
Both stores keep showing your default-language screenshots until you upload new ones for a language, so a translated description next to English captions is the default outcome, not an edge case.
Start with the first two or three screenshots
They carry most of the message. If time is short, localize those captions first and keep the rest consistent with them.
Write captions with room to grow
Many languages run longer than English. Leave space in the layout and check every caption at its real size, not in a spreadsheet.
Mirror the layout for right-to-left languages
Arabic, Hebrew and Urdu read right to left. Captions and any arrows or flow in the design should follow, and Google notes that RTL apps need specific layout work and testing.
Show the app in that language if it supports it
A Japanese caption over an English UI reads as half done. If the app itself isn't localized yet, keep the UI shots honest and translate only the captions.
Have a native speaker read it
Google's own free machine translation comes with a warning that it isn't reviewed by humans. Store copy is short, so a native read costs little and catches the awkward lines.
Keep every language at the primary language's sizes
Apple only lets you switch your primary language to one whose approved screenshots match your current primary language's sizes, so matching sizes now keeps that option open.
Translation help inside Play Console
Google offers two ways to get store listing text translated. Neither touches the words inside your screenshots.
Machine translation
Title, short and full description, and in-app products, in 10 languages: Arabic, French (France), German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Latin America), Spanish (Spain), Thai. Google says these are not reviewed or approved by humans.
Human translation
Ordered in Play Console from a third-party vendor. Google says it costs as little as USD 0.07 per word and is completed within seven days, and that you deal with the vendor directly.
Rather hand it off?
For $149 per app we'll make the full listing for both stores: screenshots at every required size, the Play feature graphic, and all the listing text in English plus up to 5 languages. You review it and upload it yourself. See the makeover
Related: App Store & Google Play screenshot sizes · Your first screenshot · Google Play feature graphic · What screenshots cost
Questions
- Do I have to localize App Store screenshots?
- No. Apple says that if you add a language, its screenshots default to those of your primary language. Localized screenshots are optional, and the store falls back to your primary language where you haven't added one.
- What happens on Google Play if I translate the text but not the screenshots?
- Google says that if you add text translations without localized graphic assets, your graphic assets show from the default language. Users get translated text next to your original screenshots.
- How many languages does the App Store support for listings?
- Apple's App Store localizations page lists 50 languages and locales for metadata, including separate English (U.S.), English (U.K.), English (Canada) and English (Australia), two Spanish and two Portuguese variants, and 11 Indian languages.
- How many languages does Google Play support for store listings?
- Google's Play Console help lists 86 language codes you can add your own translations in, some of them variants of the same language (for example three Spanish and four Persian codes).
- Does Google Play translate my listing automatically?
- For text, partly. If someone views your listing in a language you haven't translated, Google says they can choose an automated translation of the page, shown with a notice. Screenshots aren't translated; they show from your default language.
- Can Google translate my store listing for me?
- Play Console offers free machine translation for the store listing in 10 languages (Arabic, French (France), German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Latin America), Spanish (Spain), Thai), which Google says are not reviewed by humans, and a paid human translation service that Google says costs as little as USD 0.07 per word and is completed within seven days. Both cover text, not the words inside your screenshots.
- Does localizing help App Store search?
- Apple says users can search for your app using your localized keywords in every country or region where the App Store supports that language. Keywords are one of the two fields that don't copy over from your primary language, so you write them per language.
Sources, last checked 29 Oct 2026: Apple, Localize app information · Apple, App Store localizations · Apple, Manage your App Store assets · Google, Translate and localize your app. Apple and Google change these pages without notice, so check them before a big launch. Spotted something out of date? hello@shiplisting.app. ShipListing isn't affiliated with Apple or Google.