I have a Xamarin iOS application that supports 4 different languages at the moment. However
I would now like to be able to translate the contents of my info.plist file and its keys like NSCameraUsageDescription so that its
values can be translated as well.
I have done quite a lot of research so far and by searching through the documentation it is advisable to create an InfoPlist.strings file which would contain
my key NSCameraUsageDescription = "the content here".
There would be an InfoPlist.strings file for each language and this would be contained in a folder fr.lproj, es.lproj etc following the language.
I think that it is relatively well explained to exploit this option in Xcode with the possibility to create .strings files and to localize them directly.
However, on Visual Studio I have some difficulties to introduce and adapt my files. The equivalent of a .strings file on Xcode is a .resx file on VS ?
How can the relationship between my InfoPlist.strings and my main Info.plist file be in order to tell my application to tap in the folder fr.lproj / InfoPlist.strings when I switch to french for instance.
Am I supposed to create one folder for each language named fr.lproj where I put a single file InfoPlist.strings or InfoPlist.resx with my keys ?
However, on Visual Studio I have some difficulties to introduce and
adapt my files. The equivalent of a .strings file on Xcode is a .resx
file on VS ?
No, to create a .strings file in visual studio, you should choose add -> new item -> Text File, then change the file name With xxx.strings.
How can the relationship between my InfoPlist.strings and my main
Info.plist file be in order to tell my application to tap in the
folder fr.lproj / InfoPlist.strings when I switch to french for
instance.
If you created the InfoPlist.strings for each language, it will automatically read the configuration in the file of the Corresponding language, and then show the right language. If the key was not find on the InfoPlist.strings, it will use the default value in main Info.plist.
Am I supposed to create one folder for each language named fr.lproj
where I put a single file InfoPlist.strings or InfoPlist.resx with my
keys ?
Yes, if you have four language to support, you should create 3 xx.lporj folders(another is Base.lporj) and each contains an InfoPlist.strings and Localizable.strings.
In your InfoPlist.strings file, set the key NSCameraUsageDescription = "the content here" and ect....
Read the document may help.
Here is what I just created in my project:
I have a project that have 3 build configurations: Debug, Beta and Release. These configurations have different app name each. I am doing this using a variable like APP_DISPLAY_NAME and using it in Info.plist file.
I need to localize these app names.
Using InfoPlist.strings file with "CFBundleDisplayName", overrides these configuration names.
So how can I do this?
I have checked this and a couple more questions but still no result.
Here's how you can have different InfoPlist.strings for different build configurations in the same target.
In your Build Settings:
Specify a different Info.plist File (INFOPLIST_FILE) for each configuration.
Set Adjust Strings File Names for Info.plist (STRINGS_FILE_INFOPLIST_RENAME) to Yes. On Xcode 14, it was set to Yes by default.
Create .strings files with the base name of your Info.plist filename + Plist.strings.
For example, if your Info.plist filename is Beta-Info.plist, your strings file should have the name Beta-InfoPlist.strings. Make sure you include all of these strings file to your build.
Do not include an InfoPlist.strings file in your target.
The key to making this work is Adjust Strings File Names for Info.plist in the Build Settings Reference.
Adjust Strings File Names for Info.plist.
Setting name: STRINGS_FILE_INFOPLIST_RENAME
If enabled, renames .strings files whose basename matches that of the target’s Info.plist file, to InfoPlist.strings in the built product.
Example
Here's an example in my app which has 3 different variants (AdSupported, AdSupported-Dev, Pro) that require different app names.
Build settings. (I have debug & release configurations for each variant, but you could also do this with just Debug / Beta / Release.)
Strings files. They are all included in my target.
Info plist files. As usual, they are specified in the Build Settings and NOT included in my target.
As you might know the iOS 8 requires NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription key for using user's location. I have added this key and some general information into my info plist.
How can I use translation string inside the plist file ?
-- Update --
I already have a Localizable string. I'm just wondering that can I use something like
NSLocalizedString(MYSTRING,nil) inside the plist string. I know that I can create multiple file of info.plist for localisation but I was wondering there might be an easier way.
You should use InfoPlist.strings file (keep both I & P capital) to localize values of Info.plist. To do this, go to File->New->File, choose Strings File under Resource tab of iOS, name it InfoPlist, and create. Open and insert the Info.plist values you want to localize like:
NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription = "Description of this";
Now you can localize InfoPlist.strings file with translations.
Select the localization options, or enable localization if needed,
You should be able to see the file also on the left side editor.
NOTE: When testing the localizations on the simulator. You have to change the language on the simulator itself not just the language in the Xcode target. (Credits to John Webb)
Here is the official documentation for Info.plist keys localization.
Credits to Marco, thanks for including the pics in this answer!
All the above did not work for me (XCode 7.3) so I read Apple reference on how to do, and it is much simpler than described above. According to Apple:
Localized values are not stored in the Info.plist file itself.
Instead, you store the values for a particular localization in a
strings file with the name InfoPlist.strings. You place this file in
the same language-specific project directory that you use to store
other resources for the same localization.
Accordingly, I created a string file named InfoPlist.strings and placed it in the xx.lproj folder of the "xx" language (and added it to the project using File->Add Files to ...). That's it. No need for the key "Localized resources can be mixed" = YES, and no need for InfoPlist.strings in base.lproj or en.lproj.
The application uses the Info.plist key-value as the default value if it can not find a key in the language specific file. Thus, I put my English value in the Info.plist file and the translated one in the language specific file, tested and everything works.
In particular, there is no need to localize the InfoPlist.strings (which creates a version of the file in the base.lproj, en.lroj, and xx.lproj), and in my case going that way did not work.
Step by step localize Info.plist:
Find in the Xcode the folder Resources (is placed in root)
Select the folder Resources
Then press the main menu File->New->File...
Select in section "Resource" Strings File and press Next
Then in Save As field write InfoPlist ONLY ("I" (eye) capital and "P" capital - the l (ell) after the P should not be capital)
Then press Create
Then select the file InfoPlist.strings that created in Resources folder and press in the right menu the button "Localize"
Then you Select the Project from the Project Navigator and select the The project from project list
In the info tab at the bottom you can as many as language you want (There is in section Localizations)
The language you can see in Resources Folder
To localize the values ("key") from info.plist file you can open with a text editor and get all the keys you want to localize
You write any key as the example in any InfoPlist.strings like the above example
"NSLocationAlwaysAndWhenInUseUsageDescription"="blabla";
"NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription"="blabla2";
That's all work and you have localize your info.plist file!
Tips
Remember that the iOS Simulator exploits by default your system language. Please change the language (and region) in the iOS Simulator Setting too in order to test your translations.
The localisation string (see Apple docs here) should be
NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription = "Description of this";
and not (with quote "...")
"NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription" = "Description of this";
If something is not working make sure you added:
"Localized resources can be mixed" = YES
into the info.plist. In my case the InfoPlist.strings files were just ignored.
I would highly recommend reading Apple's guides, and viewing the WWDC resources listed here:
Internationalization and Localization Topics
To specifically answer your question, when you add a new language to your project, you get an opportunity to choose what InfoPlist files to include (if you have multiple targets, you'll have multiple Info plist files). All you need to do to get the following screen is hit the + under Localizations and choose a new language to add support for.
Once you've added, it will create the necessary string files in the appropriate lproj directories for the given language.
--EDIT--
Just to be clear, iOS will swap out the string for your Plist file based upon the user's currently selected language using the plist entry's key as the key in the localized strings file.
For newer XCode 12 / 13 /...
1. Create a new InfoPlist.string file in your project.
2. Select your file, and you should see the right sidebar option "Localize"
3. If you want add more languages in your project's Info >> Localizations
It will create automatically a copy of your "InfoPlist.string" for the new languages you add.
For anyone experiencing the problem of the info.plist not being included when trying to add localizations, like in Xcode 9.
You need make the info.plist localiazble by going into it and clicking on the localize button in the file inspector, as shown below.
The info.plist will then be included in the file resources for when you go to add new Localizations.
In addition to the accepted answer (the project is on Flutter but it's basically the same as native):
I do have folders Base.lproj, en.lproj, xx.kproj. etc. with InfoPlist.strings in each.
This file has lines like this (no quotes around the key and with a semicolon at the end):
NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription = "My explanation why I need this";
Check that you have your languages in your YourProject > Info:
Also, check the project.pbxproj file, it is in XXX.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj:
it should have all your languages in codes (en, fr, etc.)
But even then it didn't work. Finally, I noticed the CFBundleLocalizations key in the Info.plist file. (to open it as raw key-values in XCode - right mouse button on the Info.plist file -> Open As -> Source Code)
Make sure that the values in array are codes rather than complete words, for example fr instead of French etc.
<key>CFBundleLocalizations</key>
<array>
<string>en</string>
<string>ru</string>
<string>lv</string>
</array>
And double-check that your device is set to the language you're testing. Cheers
P.S. "Development Language" doesn't affect your issue, don't bother changing it.
As RGML say, you can create an InfoPlist.strings, localize it then add your key and the value like this:
"NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription" = "Help To locate me!";
It will add the key to your info.plist for the specified language.
When using InfoPlist.strings file (in XCode it should be placed next to Info.plist file - real file location can be anywhere within the project probably
) be careful to use the key's short name for the translation.
I was trying to use Privacy - Camera Usage Description, but the working key is NSCameraUsageDescription
In my case everything was set up correctly but still the InfoPlist.strings file was not found.
The only thing that really worked was, to remove and add the InfoPlist.strings files again to the project.
In my case the localization not worked cause of '-' symbol in the name.
Example: "aero-Info.plist"
And localized files: "aero-InfoPlist.strings" and "aeroInfoPlist.strings" did not work.
iOS localize .plist
You can skip defining key into .plist if you set it in InfoPlist.string
.plist
InfoPlist.string
"NSPhotoLibraryAddUsageDescription" = "You need to allow access to the photo library to download image";
Currently I have a project with a lot of targets and each of them has its own "info.plist" file with its own name specified in settings:
Build Settings >> Packaging >> Info.plist File
Yes, I have read some topics similar to this one. It works when I have "Info.plist" file with this exact name (of course, I can't have ~10 files with the same name due to some reasons).
How to solve this issue?
I faced the same issue today and it took me almost a whole day to fix it. I read a lot of questions related to this on stackoverflow and found out that whatever name you give your Info.Plist file (lets say InfoTarget1.plist), when it's built, it is converted to standard "Info.plist" inside product.
Surprisingly, this doesn't happen for the corresponding InfoPlist.strings file (with custom name, lets say, InfoTarget1Plist.strings).
Work around for it is to create a single InfoPlist.strings and localize it for the required languages. This worked for me since I only wanted to localize 'NSLocationAlwaysUsageDescription' for all targets.
Hence, if you only have common fields from among your plist files that you want localize, you can follow the same approach as below:
Create a new InfoPlist.strings file in your folder where .plist are saved.
Add the key-value pairs to localize.
Localize this file from File Inspector on right side in your xcode.
It will ask you to move your current InfoPlist.strings file, select 'Base' from the drop down.
Select other languages you want to localize in from the File Inspector, assuming you have already added those languages in localization for your project from Info tab.
Update the localized values in corresponding files.
Clean and Run your app. This should do it!
In my iOS project, I am having multiple targets for building several slightly different apps. It is required for each app to have its own localised name. How can I achieve this? I have tried to localise the Info.plist but failed.
You can go to 'Build Settings' and pick the name of your Info.plist File (INFOPLIST_FILE) for each target, independently.
You can also use different InfoPlist.strings.
Use InfoPlist.strings in your xx.lproj (for example en.lproj)
Add the following line in InfoPlist.strings:
/* Application Name on the Springboard */
"CFBundleDisplayName" = "my app";
To localize the value of an Info.plist key we need to add an InfoPlist.strings file to the project. We can do that in the usual way by right-clicking on the Resources group and selecting “Add -> New File…” and choosing the Strings file template from Resource section. Give the new file the name InfoPlist.strings and ensure it is added to the current target:
Before we localise the file we can add the default values for the English locale. We will add values for both the CFBundleDisplayName and CFBundleName keys though for iOS the important one is the bundle display name:
"CFBundleDisplayName" = "Hello";
"CFBundleName" = "Hello";
To localise the file, click on it at the "Identity and Type” panel and click the “Localize..” button, after that you can add the localisation language you want as below:
For different targets, remember not change the file name of "InfoPlist.strings", still use the same name for all the targets, but put them to different folders.