Mastodawn

Josh de Lioncourt (author)🏳️‍🌈Feb 10, 2023

Inspired by what @stroughtonsmith did with Broadcasts, I've posted the language localization files of Pedometer++ to GitHub. While I'm not opposed to paying a translation service for the strings, what I find is that in practice since the translators aren't users they very often miss nuance or use the wrong contextual phrase.

I'd love it if I could find some active users of Pedometer++ who would be willing to help improve their language's support.

https://github.com/UnderscoreDavidSmith/PedometerPlusPlusLocalization

GitHub - UnderscoreDavidSmith/PedometerPlusPlusLocalization: This is a public repository of languages strings for Pedometer++. It is my hope that I can get better translations by working with actual users of the app.

This is a public repository of languages strings for Pedometer++. It is my hope that I can get better translations by working with *actual* users of the app. - GitHub - UnderscoreDavidSmith/Pedome...

GitHub

David Smith Feb 11, 2023

If you'd like to help out with improving the translations in Pedometer++ but GitHub Pull Requests aren't really your thing. I've also setup the project on CrowdIn which should make it a lot easier to get started.

After creating a login you'll be shown the strings in a web form to take a look at and translate.

This is still all very exploratory so any suggestions as to improving the process would be greatly appreciate.

https://crowdin.com/project/pedometerplusplus/invite?h=bddea5f2f7e5ef78b59b98a75c18d8e21600173

PedometerPlusPlus settings - Crowdin

PedometerPlusPlus translation project on Crowdin. Crowdin is a localization management platform for companies and teams. Seamlessly make your software multilingual and reach new markets.

Mieszko Ślusarczyk Feb 11, 2023

@_Davidsmith Yes, crowdin was great, I think that's where I was helping with @1password translation a few years ago

Adrian Schönig

@_Davidsmith Crowdin is nice and has a good CLI.

One thing I find helpful for translations is if the comments (or context on Crowdin) include a hint of where to find the same term in the OS.

Like "wheelchair pushes" => Health app, Browse, Activities => likely listed under "no data available". (Took me a little while to find that one, when I wanted to see what term Apple uses.)

Omer Ninyo Feb 11, 2023

@_Davidsmith will you consider adding more languages if this method will prove itself?
I’m also speaking on behalf of all RTL languages by wondering if there’s a support for it in the GUI.

David Smith Feb 11, 2023

@ninyo I believe there is reasonable right-to-left support in SwiftUI. But I'd have to do some cleanup. Here is an example of just turning on RTL mode. Most things just move over, but I'd have to tweak some of my custom controls.

Adrian Schönig

@_Davidsmith @stroughtonsmith Nice. Will work on a PR later! The automatic translations always carry quite a risk. Say, in your German file wheelchair "pushes" was translated to a German word that means "push ups".

David Smith Feb 10, 2023

@nighthawk The sad, tricky thing is that I've had similar issues from real person translators before too. Professional translators make a different kind of mistake but based on the number of "bug reports" I've had over the years with translations they make a whole lot of 'em.

Adrian Schönig

@_Davidsmith Yeah, that's true. Ideally you have users translating things who understand the context and are familiar with the terminology elsewhere used on iOS or in other apps. It's a tricky job. I even struggle with it myself translation my own apps to my native German.

Adrian Schönig

@_Davidsmith Pushed a bunch of tweaks for German in a draft PR. Haven't yet completed it, as it's a long list.

When creating the PR, it should up as everything changed. I encountered this before and added this snippet to my ~/.gitconfig to make .strings files not treated as binary:

[diff "localizablestrings"]
textconv = "iconv -f utf-16 -t utf-8"
binary = false

Brian Mueller Feb 10, 2023

@_Davidsmith curious to hear how this goes, was thinking of doing something similar for CARROT soon

Quentin Zervaas Feb 10, 2023

@brianmueller @_Davidsmith I’ve set all mine up on OneSky for community contributions, it I haven’t publicised it yet. Currently I’m paying elsewhere.

David Smith Feb 10, 2023

@qzervaas @brianmueller Yeah, depending on how this goes I may end up using a service like that again, but I've just never had great results with 'em. They are _fine_ but I constantly get reports from users about issues or mistranslations from them. I really hope I could find people who actually know the app and so can do a much cleaner job.

Quentin Zervaas Feb 10, 2023

@_Davidsmith @brianmueller I use I Can Localize but have some mixed results. Doing it on OneSky would be purely for users of the app to contribute. Just to beyond the barrier of learning Git / pull requests.

Thibaut Sailly Feb 10, 2023

@_Davidsmith @qzervaas @brianmueller it's the best excuse to go hike around the world and get feedback from local hikers.

Andrew Yates Feb 10, 2023

@brianmueller @_Davidsmith I've been using POEditor for over a year for @alpenglowapp. Recently kicked things off again after exploring other tools.

Currently at 33 languages 85%+ translated. Also incentivizing translations by giving people who translate a large number of strings access to Pro. Screenshot of the last 30 days of activity.

Jaanus Kase Feb 11, 2023

@_Davidsmith Do you know about CrowdIn? That seems to be a common tool for crowdsourced l10n. https://crowdin.com/

Crowdin | Localization Management Platform for agile teams

Crowdin is a localization and translation management platform. It provides localization tools and all key features of professional translation management software to help teams localize software, websites, apps, games, marketing materials, and documentation. The platform integrates into the product development and allows for its continuous localization. It also offers AI-powered translation, automated workflows, and integrations with popular development and marketing tools.

Crowdin

Taimar Teetlok Feb 11, 2023

@jaanus @_Davidsmith missing nuances is definitely a worry with such tools but Crowdin does allow you to add text descriptions of the context(s) where a string appears and upload screenshots to make things even more clear.

DKMJ Feb 11, 2023

@_Davidsmith @stroughtonsmith I could do Swedish were you to include my language

David Smith Feb 11, 2023

@dkmj That would be lovely, I'd love to have Swedish! You can either add them using CrowdIn (https://crowdin.com/translate/pedometerplusplus/all/en-sv) or if you'd rather just do it in a text file you can find a blank copy of the string list here (https://github.com/UnderscoreDavidSmith/PedometerPlusPlusLocalization/blob/main/BlankTemplate.strings), whichever would work better for you.

Crowdin

DKMJ Feb 13, 2023

@_Davidsmith I'm working the crowdin system now. Bit by bit. Asking friend in wheel chair for appropriate modern language; he concedes "swinglish" is a thing, sadly, but I'll try to find modern Swedish terminology.

Consistency is a challenge. Use same level of langunage across sessions. Inconsistencies will show once someone tests/uses the app for a whlie. Will you update crowdin with suggestions you get in the future? cheers / p e t e r

DKMJ Feb 18, 2023

@_Davidsmith Finished! I'm sure I'd be able to improve consistency by going over it all again, but this will be easier in the app, where context is natural and 'understod' better, for someone who's not as super familiar with the app's every nook and cranny. Do we give language feedback to you, how, after the app is out there? make edit suggestions in crowdin or? cheers / p e t e r

Ayo Shoola Feb 13, 2023

@_Davidsmith
You should checkout Crowdin, they have a free tier. I haven't used it on an IOS project yet, but for Android it is seriously amazing and has made my localization workflow soo much easier with it's Android studio plugin.

Ico Davids Mar 10, 2023

@_Davidsmith Sure! I’d love to submit quite a few updates and fixes to the Dutch localization.

And congratulations on the release of Pedometer++ v5!