Localizing apps may be trickier than you realize. Even if you have had your app professionally translated and localized, the process can still go wrong in a myriad of ways. Before you launch in the new market, it’s important to have your applications thoroughly tested. If you implemented internationalization strategies from the time of project startup, the chances of running into translation issues are fewer, but even so, proper testing can save you time and money and ensure higher quality ratings from end users.
Why Test Your Applications?
Testing is all about ensuring functionality and usability, and preventing linguistic problems from cropping up after market release. It is far more efficient to find and fix problems before launch, to eliminate the need for multiple updates. Localizing can’t always catch programming details that may cause snags across all platforms and software iterations. Some issues are caused by over-translation or system variables that are invisible to the target audience. These potential pitfalls can be corrected easily in the testing phase, as can problems with functionality that was modified to meet the needs and expectations of the target local market area. Professional translation and localization services that include pre-market testing can be helpful, especially since linguistic requirements are best handled manually.
Linguistic Application Testing
The first type of test, linguistic testing, confirms how text appears in the user interface. It looks for consistency and completeness as well as translation corrections, ensuring that the language isn’t truncated, misapplied or mistranslated. This type of testing is hard to automate, as it generally requires not only a familiarity with the product itself, but a high proficiency in the target language, which is difficult to program into software. Experienced services are highly recommended, as they can anticipate and seek out common areas of concern. Linguistic testing can detect missing translated text, text that remains in the source language, mistranslations based on context, improperly formatted text and inconsistencies in usage and appearance.
Functional Application Testing
Testing for functionality is usually accomplished by utilizing prescribed scripts that run through a predetermined roadmap. This ensures that all aspects and utilities of the target app are used. This test script is then repeated in various operating systems across multiple platforms, then interfaced with a variety of third-party products. As with linguistic testing, a familiarity with the product and various platforms is critical, as is a high proficiency in both the source and target languages. Problems revealed through functional testing include incorrect or mistranslated error messages, translation errors that may cause software crashes, user interface inconsistencies and errors created by localized software installed on localized operating systems.
Obtaining Effective App Testing
At minimum, you will need both the source and localized language versions of the app and software installed on a platform the target market will typically use to access the product. You will also need access to current and correct versions of all operating systems, regional settings and any accompanying third-party software. It is vital that the source and target software programming match, so that any expected functionality can be tested and verified. For the most thorough localization testing, the tester should follow the test scripts strictly, document any discovered bugs and then re-test once those bugs are corrected to ensure they were addressed properly. If you follow all of these steps, your targeted localized launch should run smoothly.
Offering an entire suite of translation and localization services, Verbatim Solutions provides those tools that you need to access key overseas markets. Contact them today to discuss your needs and to learn more about localizing apps for your business.
