iTunes connect Arabic localization

Question

I'm trying to use Arabic description and metadata for my app. In iTunes connect it states that these data must be in English, so I did put them in English. Then i found the localization feature but found it doesn't support Arabic language.

However I found many apps that use Arabic in their names, meta data and description in the Saudi Arabia app store. I wonder how to do that?

Steerage

It blows my mind that in March 2017 Apple still don't allow itunes listings to be localised to Arabic. – Woolsack

Answer 1

They just put their arabic description under 'English'. ITC says that it has to be in English, but I have 2 applications in the App Store with all the information in Polish.

Just put this info in Arabic, Apple will not reject your app because of that.

Lifeblood

Thank you so much. You read my mind. I was afraid they may reject it if i used Arabic instead of English there. – Steerage

Please don't do this -- use the standard localization infrastructure provided by Apple. See my answer below. – Blague

@Answerbot The problem is that the standard localization infrastructure in iTC does not support Arabic (it does however support it in iOS itself, which makes it all the more frustrating: you can't show on iTC that your app supports Arabic). – Augustaugusta

What if I add two English languages Eng US and Eng UK and add Arabic description in English UK section? – Mayan

@IdreesAshraf Then only users in UK will see Arabic description, but I recommend against it because the rest of the world will see English anyway. – Lifeblood

what about arabic app name and screenshots? i think apple have huge problem there – Mead

Answer 2

Unfortunately, Apple keeps a weirdly different list of languages for the App Store and for the iOS app itself. You can localize your app into Arabic, but the iTunes description cannot be. The best method is to paste it into the English description and use it for all languages.

You can see a complete language list for iOS and the App Store, which explains which languages are available on each, here:

http://www.ibabbleon.com/iOS-Language-Codes-ISO-639.html

Arabic is the last on that list, marked as Yes for iOS, and No for App Store.

Semivowel

What do we do if we want to localize both a foreign language (that is not showing up) and English? How can we do both simultaneously? – Spanos

Answer 3

The Arabic language has been added to App Store Connect.

Scabby

Answer 4

The answers works great, but what if my app is bilingual (english, arabic), what do you think is the best thing to do? I think the best solution is to set the arabic language instead of any other language except for english, and set it as a primary language.

Otisotitis

If you have a new question, please ask it by clicking the Ask Question button. Include a link to this question if it helps provide context. – Pianoforte

I have an app that does the same thing (support both Arabic and English). In the app description I have both languages - first Arabic (since that is my main target group) then in English just below. – Manning