Q: Localazy CLI is not working on macOS Big Sur and later

After upgrading to macOS Big Sur, there’s a chance you may run into an issue with executing Localazy CLI. This is usually caused by incorrect configuration of <code>brew</code> package manager. (Note that this doesn’t apply to binaries downloaded directly from our website, they should be working fine.) The symptoms look like this, the process is killed without any further output. <img src="https://directus.localazy.com/_/assets/Screenshot_cli_inner_3.png" alt=""> To resolve the issue, go to App Store -&gt; Updates and make sure, there’s no update available for Xcode. If yes, click “UPDATE” and wait for it to finish. <img src="https://directus.localazy.com/_/assets/Screenshot_cli_inner_2.png" alt=""> After the update, try to run <code>brew doctor</code> and read the output carefully. There could be a warning about outdated CLT and suggested fix. <img src="https://directus.localazy.com/_/assets/Screenshot_cli_inner_1.png" alt=""> Let’s run the commands in the specified order and confirm all dialogues that might appear. <ul> <li><code>softwareupdate --all --install --force</code>,</li> <li><code>sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools</code></li> <li><code>sudo xcode-select --install</code></li> </ul> Upgrade Localazy CLI to the latest version by running <code>brew upgrade localazy/tools</code> And that’s all! You can now verify that Localazy CLI is working again with the <code>localazy -h</code> command.

Question 1

What does the "Feature coming soon" mean?

Accepted Answer

These features are not yet available for use. These features are currently planned or already in the development process and will be available immediately when released for customers in respective tiers.

Question 2

How do the translation credits I get with annual plans work?

Accepted Answer

When you purchase some of our annual plans, you might be granted credits to spend on the Continuous Localization Team services. We recharge your credit balance to the value your plan provides on each annual payment.

You can always purchase additional credits in the Marketplace for an one-time payment if credits are not included within your plan or you simply need more.

Question 3

Can I use Localazy for free?

Accepted Answer

Yes, our free plan includes all core localization features and everything you need to successfully and conveniently localize your app on your own or with help from volunteers.

Question 4

In which form string resources can be uploaded?

Accepted Answer

You can upload your strings directly from you IDE using our available libraries. The reason behind this is the advanced analysis of translatable strings. Localazy will find all strings and will also recommend ignoring common private strings if they are not flagged.

Is this way of uploading useful also for apps which already have translations? #️⃣

Of course, this works for both starting and enrolled apps. Moreover, you can easily migrate all your work into Localazy and finish your current unfinished translations sooner thanks to Localazy ShareTM.

Question 5

Is the app source code uploaded to Localazy?

Accepted Answer

Worried about your source code? Don’t be. All your source code remains only on your machine. The only thing uploaded to Localazy are the strings to be translated.

Question 6

Do I need to use the Android Library?

Accepted Answer

The Localazy Android Library is an optional component that offers numerous benefits to your app, including automated upload and Over-The-Air (OTA) updates. However, we understand that you may have reservations about integrating third-party libraries into your app.

As a result, if you prefer not to use the Localazy Android Library, you can still utilize our CLI (Command-Line Interface) without any dependency on the Localazy Android library.

Question 7

What makes me sure there&#x27;s no deal breaker?

Accepted Answer

We have made our offerings as transparent as possible and the pricing is reportedly quite unique in a good manner. If you find a better offer, we are always happy to make a deal.

Question 8

I&#x27;m used to using a feature you don&#x27;t have. How about this?

Accepted Answer

Please, create a feature request or just leave us a message in the chat about what you are looking for. We will make sure your needs are addressed.

Question 9

I am too busy, but I want to switch. Any help by hand?

Accepted Answer

It is incredibly easy to use Localazy if you follow common practices when it comes to string management. However, feel free to leave us a message anytime, our team is available online to help you proceed. Or just send an invite to your favourite developer

Question 10

Is it possible to download the files to their original locations?

Accepted Answer

To download translations to their original locations, you can follow these steps. First, in the localazy.json configuration file and go to the download section. In this section, configure where you want to download your translations.

For a smoother process, ensure that you include the “path” parameter during the upload and use the same variable in the download section. Here’s an example of how to do it:

"upload": {
  "files": [
    {
      "pattern": "src/**/locale/en.ts",
      "lang": "inherited",
      "path": "${path}"
    }
  ]
},

"download": {
  "files": [
    {
      "output": "${path}/${lang}.ts"
    }
  ]
}

By setting the “path” parameter correctly, the translations will be downloaded to the respective locations specified in your localazy.json configuration file.

Question 11

Localazy CLI is not working on macOS Big Sur and later

Accepted Answer

After upgrading to macOS Big Sur, there’s a chance you may run into an issue with executing Localazy CLI. This is usually caused by incorrect configuration of brew package manager. (Note that this doesn’t apply to binaries downloaded directly from our website, they should be working fine.)

The symptoms look like this, the process is killed without any further output.

To resolve the issue, go to App Store -> Updates and make sure, there’s no update available for Xcode. If yes, click “UPDATE” and wait for it to finish.

After the update, try to run brew doctor and read the output carefully. There could be a warning about outdated CLT and suggested fix.

Let’s run the commands in the specified order and confirm all dialogues that might appear.

softwareupdate --all --install --force,
sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
sudo xcode-select --install

Upgrade Localazy CLI to the latest version by running brew upgrade localazy/tools

And that’s all! You can now verify that Localazy CLI is working again with the localazy -h command.

Question 12

I have trouble with my CLI configuration. Can you help me?

Accepted Answer

The Localazy CLI is a powerful tool designed to automate the process of uploading and downloading translation files in almost any project. If you encounter any issues or questions that are not addressed in the documentation, there’s no need to worry as we’re happy to help you to overcome these challenges.

Simply reach out to us through our chat, and we’ll make every effort to assist you promptly. Alternatively, you can send an email to team@localazy.com, providing your configuration details and a clear description of your goal. We will respond as quickly as possible to ensure your seamless experience with Localazy.

Question 13

What is the maximum possible length of translation text?

Accepted Answer

There is no hard limit at the moment, but it’s recommended to keep the size of each individual item under 4kB. This corresponds to 4,000 characters encoded as UTF-8 and 2,000 characters encoded as UTF-16. Uploading longer texts won’t yield any errors, but might get refused by some external translation engines integrated in Localazy.

Question 14

Why are the recent changes or new translations not downloaded?

Accepted Answer

If you come across this issue, it is likely because you have exceeded your account’s source key limit or the changes you made haven’t been published yet. To resolve this, please go to the Billing section of your account to check your source key limit and consider upgrading if necessary. Additionally, you can visit your Project Activity Stream to verify if the project has been published.

Question 15

What is your refund policy?

Accepted Answer

We do not offer refunds. Please read Terms & Conditions of Localazy before purchase.

Question 16

How Connected Projects work in the background?

Accepted Answer

Connected Projects feature is powered by Localazy® InTM technology. It’s a pro-active translation memory that scans your app and looks for the same phrases in the source language with missing translations in other languages. If there is a missing translation that could be completed from another source, it’s offered through our unique review process.

Question 17

How to configure Connected Projects?

Accepted Answer

Activate the Professional plan to unlock the Connected Projects feature for your projects. Then select the projects you want to connect and you are done!

The connection is bi-directional and transitive. Meaning that connected projects mutually receive translations from each other. Also, if project A is connected to B, and B is connected to project C, then A might also receive translations from C and vice versa.

Question 18

Which localizable file format conversions do you support?

Accepted Answer

Localazy supports all major format conversions from Android XML and iOS .strings through multilingual JSON to XLIFF, qt-ts, and many more formats. You can learn more about supported file format conversions in the documentation.

Question 19

How Human Translation Validation helps Localazy users?

Accepted Answer

When using Localazy, you don’t have to review all translations on your own! You can order the automated Human Translation Validation service.

Human Translation Validation is a pay-per-word Continuous Localization service by Localazy. Choose this service if your translations are crowdsourced from volunteers or end-users, and you want to verify the quality. A human Reviewer from our team will reject harmful or completely wrong translations, accept satisfactory translations, and correct minor mistakes.

Order Human Translation Validation when you don’t have the resources available to conduct reviews in-house (or yourself, if you run a one-man show).

The Reviewer performing the Human Translation Validation is represented by one or more Localazy team members who verify the quality of your translations by checking the consistency of context, punctuation, and placeholders. On top of that, the service works automatically and proactively and we review translations as they are added to your project.

Additionally, the Reviewers may also correct small mistakes or typos in the translations as they go. Translations that pass the check are approved (and corrected if needed), while wrong or harmful contributions are rejected.

Question 20

What is the workflow of Human Translation Validation?

Accepted Answer

You might be wondering what the workflow is once you order our Continuous Localization service called Human Translation Validation.

Before you start setting up Human Translation Validation, add some languages and translations. These translations can be sourced from contributors and volunteers, you invited to help translate your project.
Then, go to the Order translations screen on your Localazy dashboard and select these languages for Human Translation Validation. Top up your credits and go through the needed steps to set up your configuration.
After everything is up and running, Reviewers from Localazy team start reviewing available translations in selected languages. You will see the progress in the Activity Stream, and we will notify you when all work is done or when your balance reaches zero before work is completed.
Sit back, check the results and forget about translation reviews because once you keep a sufficient balance, the Continuous Localization Team works day and night proactively to review newly added or changed translations!

And that’s it, using Localazy with enabled Human Translation Validation is a breeze - achieve your localization goals in record time with the Continuous Localization Team by Localazy by your side.

Question 21

What are some internationalization best practices?

Accepted Answer

Product internationalization is a pretty vast area and depending on the nature of your product & markets you are considering, i18n can comprise of different operations and best practices. However, you can learn more about software internationalization on our blog.

Few points about internationalization #️⃣

Take localization into account in the early stages of development. Introducing multilingual support once you are rolling requires extra work on your part and makes you more likely to forget something important. Think about localization throughout your product as a whole, e.g., don’t allow the backend to send untranslated messages.
Make sure you handle string interpolation correctly from the very beginning. For example, don’t concatenate but use placeholders instead. Manage strings with various plural forms properly etc
Use plurals the right way, e.g., don’t use plural zero for an empty check.
The previous two points will help you prevent the most common problems when you start implementing more “exotic” languages, such as RTL languages or those without plurals.
Double-check that you handle date formats etc., correctly as well. Unfortunately, this is something that we can’t do for you - it’s a matter of proper implementation within your code.
Separate configuration from localization
Make sure your design is ready

Question 22

What is i18n?

Accepted Answer

i18n stands for internationalization. Internationalization is a process of making the subject of internationalization ready for international markets. Abbreviation i18n is often used by software developers and digital product designers.

Question 23

How do you internationalize an app?

Accepted Answer

🥳️ You’re nearly at the finalization of your app, getting ready to deploy… but you want to reach an international audience? STOP! Don’t hit any other button before internationalizing your application to include translations for more than one language. How can you do this?

App internationalization is the process of allocating an application’s content into changeable interfaces and variables capable of presenting content in the chosen language with ease. Both iOS and Android app developers must follow similar processes to localize their content. 🚩

During this phase, the content is separated (or externalized) from the code into localizable files, which are then utilized according to the language users choose. Essentially, your app will display texts from external files called through the code. This makes adding new languages to your app simple, programmatically speaking, because you simply need to add new files with translated strings. And this is taken care of by Localazy automatically when you set everything up correctly 😀

See the general guide on How to prepare your app for internationalization and localization

Android app internationalization and localization #️⃣

📱 Your Android app can be ready for foreign markets in just three steps. We’ve made this easy with our state-of-the-art Android integration via our Gradle i18n plugin, making Android localization a breeze. Nothing is left untranslated when you use Localazy. And as a bonus, our users update their translations in Android apps in real-time by using OTA updates.

See our Case study on Android app localization

iOS app internationalization and localization #️⃣

What about an iOS app? How can you internationalize an iOS application? Apple has crafted a guide for app owners to prepare their app for localization. But basically, all you have to do is export your texts in Xcode, which will create a Localizable.strings file that you can then import to Localazy.

Localazy perfectly accompanies you after the internationalization of your iOS app and provides a localization solution without dealing with tedious file downloading and uploading.

Learn how How to translate iOS app with Localazy CLI/SDK

Question 24

What is software localization?

Accepted Answer

Software localization is a process of making apps aligned to specific audiences. To make your app localized, you need to translate the content with the correct contexts accurately and align other aspects of the software to fit cultural requirements and preferences.

Software localization is part of the internationalization (i18n) process. It has the objective of adapting a software product by customizing, if needed, the language, text media, currency, etc.

Localization of software product will provide consumers a personalized experience that will attract more users from local markets to use it and increase revenue for the company operating the service or product.

You might be interested in: #️⃣

How to prepare your application for i18n & l10n

Question 25

How is localization done?

Accepted Answer

The software localization process starts right at the beginning of the development - the first step is to ensure you have the language, media (images, video, sound), text, date format, numbers, and currency as external content. When you want to expand the product to another market or make different versions of it, you only have to change the external content to the target market’s specific needs. An essential subprocess of localization, and maybe the most important, is the translation of the language, i.e., translating the external string files, as this is the core of communication between the product and its users.

You might be interested in: #️⃣

Question 26

How to do crowdsourced translations?

Accepted Answer

At Localazy, we are aware that software localization is commonly conducted with the help of volunteers recruited from the userbase of the product.

While these volunteering translators may not be professionals and carry a risk of low quality or even sabotage of the translations with them, there are some advantages to using crowdsourced translations.

Your users know the product well; they are using it actively and understand the context and meaning of texts they translate.
They are volunteers, which means they do the work for free.
You still have control over the translations that reach your audience with the review process.
Localazy makes the crowdsourced translation process easy with a built-in permission system, proactive review, and additional features which help you make correct decisions.

It helps to prepare your project in a certain way to promote translator productivity. Read these articles before you start with crowdsourced translations to make the process comfortable for all parties involved. Once you are ready, integrate Localazy with your project and begin inviting contributors.

Question 27

How to use Multiple Machine Translation Engines at once?

Accepted Answer

Localazy offers you the possibility to easily translate your digital content with the help of machine translation (MT) engines within the web interface.

The Free tier provides Amazon Translate suggestions to support you by default, but sometimes, it’s not enough. When you want to use multiple machine translation engines at once, Localazy includes the Additional MT Engines feature.

Localazy helps you make better choices by displaying suggestions from multiple MT engines simultaneously, allowing you to make a more precise and accurate translation even when you don’t fully understand the target language.

Additional MT Engines feature is available with the Autopilot plan and higher tiers.

Supported machine translation engines are:

Amazon Translate (default)
Google Translate
DeepL
Azure Translator

Question 28

What is the best Machine Translation Engine?

Accepted Answer

We can gauge how good a Machine Translation Engine is by the accuracy of the translation, conciseness, consistency of output, and how many language pairs they offer.

Localazy offers four major machine translation engines to use when translating your content (available with the Additional MT feature enabled).

Use English, which is unquestionably the best language to pair with another language for machine translations because translations from and to English give the best results overall. That’s why it is also a good idea to select English as the source language for your projects in Localazy.

As for the engine itself, each one has its pros and cons:

Google Translate is the most popular and offers many languages and language pairs with a reasonably accurate translation, making it the best average option.
DeepL is becoming quickly better and better and is great for more technical terms. It is usually also very concise but has a lower variety of language pairs.
Amazon Translate still has a somewhat fluctuating quality; it can be very high or pretty low, but you can use it for free with Localazy.
Microsoft Azure has fewer available language options and average quality.

The best thing you can do is combine and compare multiple machine translation outputs and decide on the best results with backward translations and other checks.

Question 29

What is Machine Translation Post Editing?

Accepted Answer

Machine Translation Post Editing (MTPE) is the process of reviewing and editing the content translated by the machine translation engines giving it a final, more accurate result.

MTPE can include checking that all placeholders are correct and that the project-specific content is translated correctly and consistently.

Question 30

How to translate JSON files?

Accepted Answer

You can translate JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) files with the assistance of machine translation engines (such as Google Translator) and copy-paste the results into your text editor. But this translation option is time-consuming and inefficient.

Considering that JSON is one of the most lightweight data interchange formats, working with it is pretty handy. And the best way to translate JSON files is to use an online translation service, such as Localazy. Localazy serves as TMS and localization suite to help you translate your JSON files effectively. With its help, you can translate multilingual JSON files, JSON5 files, or HJSON files and integrate a Translation Management System (TMS) into your workflow.

To translate JSON files using the Localazy interface, sign up for free and create a new translation project. Once you upload your JSON file, you can add the target language, start translating, and then download the translated files with ease. You can even pre-translate the whole file in JSON format by applying machine translations in bulk. This and many other features make Localazy the ideal tool to produce professional translations.

Localazy is a state-of-the-art translation management platform and localization suite to help you translate your JSON files effectively. Learn more in the Getting Started Guide.

Question 31

How can I convert different localization file formats?

Accepted Answer

In the File Management section of Localazy, when downloading your files, you can select the desired format and download your strings in any of the available file formats.

Format Conversions feature is also an integral part of the Localazy CLI tool, so if you want to automate format conversions, you will need to install Localazy CLI on your preferred platform.

Read the article: How to convert localization files into different formats?

Note: Format Conversions are available only as a part of the Professional plan

Question 32

Why some translations cannot be exported correctly into XML?

Accepted Answer

In activity stream, you might encounter a message such as:

Phrases 1dbb1f96d2b25755ec8ce882766596c150efecc7 and aaa97c82019600566b80fe5645341518337208ae in Czech cannot be exported correctly - malformed XML. Skipping.

This means that the translation cannot be exported into XML because the translator probably didn’t insert tags correctly, didn’t close them etc.

Please verify these translations and try again.

Question 33

What are source keys?

Accepted Answer

A source key is a segment of text stored in Localazy, representing content in your source language. It’s a single string of text in your source language, e.g., a button label or a short paragraph of text in a dialogue window of your application. It can even be a short blog article written in Markdown syntax. In the picture below, there are three source keys; as you can see, each contains a different type of content.

Examples of source keys in localazy

Translations to other languages are unlimited, and translating your project to more languages does not affect the number of source keys used. I.e., the content of one source key translated into 10 languages still counts as one source key.

Question 34

What happens when I reach the source key limit?

Accepted Answer

Don’t worry! You will still be able to use Localazy and all features in your plan without any restrictions. However, you won’t be able to publish your changes until you upgrade your plan.

Question 35

How can I increase the source key limit?

Accepted Answer

There are several ways to increase your limit:

You can increase your source key limit plus unlock additional features by upgrading to a higher tier.
We offer affordable monthly/annual payments in the Marketplace for source key limit increase on top of your current tier.
Increase your source key limit for free! Visit the Community section and support Localazy with reviews, referrals, etc., to earn your rewards.

Question 36

What is the pricing policy for Localazy Translation API?

Accepted Answer

You can use the API absolutely for free. However, there are some limitations to prevent abuse.

Learn more about the limitations of Localazy API in the documentation.

Question 37

Where can I get my access token for the Localazy API?

Accepted Answer

After you sign up, you can obtain the token at https://localazy.com/developer/tokens

The project token is automatically permitted to read and write to the project.

Question 38

What is a Translation API?

Accepted Answer

Using translation software is the new normal for translation, but how can they assist in translating your app or web content? It usually happens through APIs. For understanding translation APIs is we must understand what an API is.

API stands for Application Programming Interface. Basically, by using an API, two applications can communicate with one another.

A translation API works as a software interface that developers can use to add machine translation capabilities to their products or programmatically translate texts and content that their product displays in localized versions.

Localazy provides a Translation API as one way of integrating of software translation projects.

Question 39

What are common problems with design localization?

Accepted Answer

Here’s a list of problems that might surprise you unprepared during the design process:

Bidirectionality (LTR/RTL) of languages
Distribution of word lengths in various languages
Copying strings from design to code (time-consuming duplications)
Continuous design localization problem & keeping track of updates
and more…

Figma Plugin by Localazy helps to resolve these problems with ease.

Question 40

Why can&#x27;t translations be downloaded back to Figma?

Accepted Answer

Sometimes, when using the Figma Plugin by Localazy, you might encounter an issue that after successfully uploading your text content and translating it in Localazy, when you try to download the translated texts back to Figma, nothing happens.

The most common cause of this issue is missing fonts. Figma should notify you about missing fonts when you open the file by an indicator in the top toolbar.

There are two solutions:

Install the missing fonts in your system and get the Figma Font Service if you use Figma in your web browser.
Change the texts in Figma to a different font style.

Learn more about solving missing fonts in Figma

Question 41

Why is the order of keys with translations alphabetized in the downloaded files?

Accepted Answer

Localazy doesn’t store the order in which your keys are sorted inside the files you upload. Our parsers extract the keys, and the files are reconstructed upon downloading them. This allows you to manage the keys and convert your files to other formats. Ordering keys by alphabet is consistent and shouldn’t break any project.

While we don’t recommend the following approach, you can add a numbered prefix to your key names if you really need to keep the keys in a particular order. E.g., cancel_button ➡️ 001_cancel_buttonand so on. This way, you can be in control of the order in which keys are exported.

Question 42

How to upload files with existing translations to Localazy?

Accepted Answer

You can upload existing translations to your source files in Localazy File Management or follow the guide to uploading existing translations via the CLI.

In file management, you won’t see multiple files in various languages. You can imagine each Localazy file as a stack of regular files you would find on your computer - with the source language on the bottom and all of the translated versions on top of it. So when you want to add a new language file, you update the stack of files. If you want to upload translations in another language to Localazy, use the Update file content option.

Question 43

What is the difference between hidden and active string?

Accepted Answer

The difference between “active” and “hidden” keys is that “hidden” keys are not available to translators but are otherwise handled the same as all others. They are also exported to the output file.

Keys are automatically marked as hidden under certain circumstances - when the source language translation is empty or when they are linked to another translation using the Duplicity Linking feature available in the Agency Plan.

You can hide keys you don’t need to translate. Hidden keys will remain hidden until you reactivate them.

Learn more about the different states your source strings can be in in the docs article

Frequently Asked Questions

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