AkVox icon

AkVox - Easily localize your Apple Xcode and Android Studio projects

①

Drag and Drop

Simply drag your Xcode localizations folder or Android Studio project folder into the AkVox app.

②

Select Languages

You will have already selected the languages for your Xcode project. For Android Studio, select the languages you want your project to use from a comprehensive list.

③

Translate and Export

Click the Translate button and your project is translated into all the languages selected. Click export to export the resources files ready for importing into your Apple or Android project.


Pricing




Free


Using AkVox without paying allows you to perform all the normal functions of AkVox with one exception. These include importing a project from either Xcode or Android Studio, selecting languages (Android Studio only) and exporting the translated strings to import into your project's app.

The free version allows you to "translate" strings using the translation simulator, but they can only be translated into meaningless Lorem Ipsum in one of several different alphabets, such as Latin, Chinese, Arabic or Cyrillic.

At first this may seem pretty useless, but it will help you practice with the workflow needed to for the Xcode localization process. It also allows you to see what your app will look like in regions where right-to-left text is used.

You can use AkVox without paying for as long and as often as you want. There is no time limit, neither will you be pestered into paying to use AkVox.



Paid


You can pay for one week ($1.59), one month ($3.59), six months ($9.59) or a year ($17.59). The payment is not recurring.

The paid version of AkVox allows you to send your project's strings to Google Translate. You can use another translation service if you write the interface between AkVox and that service. (See Settings in AkVox)

To use Google's Translation service, you must have an API key obtained from Google. Without a key, you cannot use the Google Translation service.

Google is generous with its free allowance of translations. Each month it allows holders of API keys to translate 500,000 characters free of charge. After the allwance is used, you will be billed based on your usage of the service.

The translation simulator allows you to get into the work flow needed to successfully export strings, translate them and import them back into Xcode or Android Studio.


Workflows




For Apple Xcode the Localization workflow is:
  1. Build the project
    Xcode > Product > Build
  2. Export the Localizations
    Xcode > Product > Export Localizations...
    3. Ensure you delete any previous localizations folder prior to export.
  3. Clear the current AkVox project
  4. Drag the Localizations folder exported at 2 into AkVox
    Cards will apear on the AkVox screen for each language you selected in Xcode.
  5. Click Translate.
    The strings used in your app will br stranlated into each language.
    Coloured bars on each language's card will show you its translation progress.
  6. You have the option to review what's been translated and edit it.
    AkVox can use MacOS's synthetic voices to speak the translations
  7. Export. Go to the export page and click Export.
    This will create xcloc localization catalogs for each language of your project.
  8. Import each catalog individually into Xcode
    Xcode > Product > Import Localizations...
    9. You should only get two types of warning. "Missing Resource in Import" - AkVox does not process resource files, you can ignore this. "Empty Translation" - This is because Xcode created an empty string in its localization catalog that you exported. You can ignore thisa warning also.
  9. Xcode will use the translations when you set a scheme to use a language other than the system language
    Xcode > Product > Scheme > Edit Scheme...


For Android Studio, the workflow is simpler:
  1. Drag the Android Studio project folder onto AkVox
  2. Click on the globe icon and select languages
  3. Click Translate.
    The strings used in your app will br stranlated into each language on the screen.
    Graphs on each language's card will show you its translation progress.
  4. You have the option to review what's been translated and edit it.
    AkVox can use MacOS's synthetic voices to speak the translations
  5. Export. Go to the export page and click Export.
    This will create xcloc localization catalogs for each language of your project.
  6. Copy the .xml files to the src/res/main folder of your project.
  7. Build your project. Android Studio will have imported the translations and apply them when you set your test environment for a particular region / language.




FAQ


I wanted a name that also had a 5-character URL available. Also, the word "vox" (Latin for voice) must be included. From A*Vox I moved up the alphabet until I found 5 characters that were pronouncable and Easy to remember. Further, Ak appears to be a Latin exclamation for Oh!. Therefore, AkVox could be read as Oh, a voice! I.E. "Oh, someone has heard me and written an app to create localizations!"

The blue symbol is a question mark (obviously) from the Gill Sans font. The green symbol is Unicode of a Kangxi radical symbol. It means "Go slowly". I picked those two because it can be interpreted as some saying "What did you say?" and the reply being "I said speak slowly", which is how some conversations of people who speak different languages tend to begin.

Instead of having clichéd images of languages and non-Latin symbols, I chose to use buildings from New York / Manhattan because I recently read there are over 800 different languages spoken in New York. I took the photos myself on a trip a few years ago.

Now that Microsoft have removed the free Visual Studio for Mac, I think the number of developers who are creating apps for Windows on a Apple MacOS platform will be extremely small, if there ever were such creatures.

That is extremely unlikely. I found the standard Lorem Ipsum on one of a myriad sites featuring it. For the equivalent of Lorem Ipsum in other alphabets, I just searched Google for the equivalent. But, the simulator takes random words or symbols from the appropriate Lorem Ipsum alphabet to get the same number of words or symbols in the original string. For Latin, I try to put the punctuation where it appears in the original text.







Privacy


This website does not collect any personal data from users. This means that when you visit our site, no information such as your name, email address, or browsing activity is recorded or stored. While some basic website usage data may be logged by our hosting provider for technical purposes, this information is anonymised and not used to identify individual users. We are committed to protecting your privacy and will not share any personal information with third parties as we do not gather any.

The AkVox App does not collect any personal data from users. This means that when you use AkVox, no information such as your name, email address, or any personal data is recorded or stored. We are committed to protecting your privacy and will not share any personal information with third parties as we do not gather any.