How to Localize App Store Screenshot Captions

Give the translator a caption handoff sheet

Keep the existing screen order unless the images no longer tell a coherent story in the target language. For each image, record the fields below in a shared sheet. The screen reference prevents a good translation from being placed on the wrong image; the intended meaning helps a reviewer choose a shorter phrase without changing the promise.

For example, a fictional budgeting app might hand off screen 2 with the English caption “See where your money goes” for Spanish (Spain). Its reference image shows spending by category. The intended meaning is “understand how spending is divided,” not “track the location of money.” In this fictional handoff, the chart’s localized UI heading is “Gastos por categoría,” and the proposed caption is “Mira a dónde va todo tu dinero cada mes.” Note any other category names visible in the interface and whether the app has approved translations for them. That context matters more than asking someone to translate five isolated words.

• Screen reference: sequence position, source image, and the app view pictured.
• Source caption and intended meaning: the exact current words plus what the image is meant to communicate.
• Visible UI terms: labels, chart categories, buttons, and any approved translations that the caption should match.
• Target language and proposed caption: identify the intended store language precisely, and leave room for reviewer notes and the final approved wording.

Review the translation on the actual image

Ask a reviewer who understands the target language to check meaning first: does the line describe what this screen actually shows, and does it use the same terms as the localized app? Then render the caption in its destination layout. A sentence can be accurate in a sheet yet become unreadable over a chart or push a key number out of view.

In the fictional budgeting example, the proposed Spanish (Spain) caption “Mira a dónde va todo tu dinero cada mes” wraps to three lines and covers the category chart in the first render. Do not approve it merely because the words are correct. The fictional reviewer chooses “Gastos por categoría” as the shorter approved wording, matching the chart’s localized UI heading while retaining the intended meaning of spending by category. On the second render of screen 2, that caption fits above the chart without covering it; the reviewer approves that rendered image for Spanish (Spain).

Inspect the full sequence at a small viewing size as well as at export size. Look for awkward line breaks, clipped accents or characters, text over important controls, and one image whose terminology differs from the others. If the interface in the screenshot is still in the source language, decide whether you can capture a localized app screen before finishing the caption set. A translated headline above an untranslated UI is not the same as a fully localized image.

When revising the screenshot set, use the wording your reviewer approved and inspect the resulting images. Do not assume a design workflow translates captions, checks terminology, or assigns images to store languages for you.

Put each approved set in its intended store language

Name and group the approved files by language and screen position before upload—for example, a folder for each language containing screen 1, screen 2, and screen 3. In the fictional budgeting example, place the approved screen 2 image bearing “Gastos por categoría” in the Spanish (Spain) set, not the default-language set. Compare those files with the approved handoff sheet. This is a placement check, not another opportunity to silently rewrite a caption.

In App Store Connect, Apple’s screenshot upload instructions say to choose the language on the app version page, open Media Manager, select the appropriate device tab and size, and upload custom screenshots to that size’s well. Check the selected language and device before adding the files; then inspect the images in their assigned positions. Apple also says that updating screenshots after an app has been approved requires a new version.

On Google Play, add the intended listing language and its localized graphic assets, then inspect that language’s screenshot set. Google Play explains that adding text translations without localized graphic assets leaves the default-language graphics in place. Its screenshot guidance recommends separate screenshots for each supported language when the images contain text.

Before submission, compare each store’s intended language and device placement against the approved files: correct sequence, translated caption, matching UI terminology, and no source-language image left behind. If a required app screen has not been localized, hold that image for revision rather than treating a translated caption as proof that the whole screenshot is ready.