iOS Strings

iOS .strings files, from pairs to comments

Apple’s .strings format has carried iOS and macOS translations for decades: quoted key value pairs, terminating semicolons, and comment blocks that double as translator context. It looks trivial and hides real traps, starting with the fact that Xcode still writes these files as UTF-16, which tools reading UTF-8 see as garbage.

This page covers the syntax, the encodings, where plurals actually live on Apple platforms, and the folder conventions Xcode expects.

Get started free All formats

fr.lproj/Localizable.strings

/* Title of the checkout screen */
"checkout.title" = "Récapitulatif de commande";

/* Main navigation */
"menu.home" = "Accueil";
"menu.projects" = "Projets";

Key, value and the comment block that becomes the key’s note on import.

Download a sample: Localizable.strings

Cheatsheet

.strings syntax in five rows

You writeWhat it means

"key" = "value"; One pair per line, and the semicolon is not optional. Keys are arbitrary strings; dotted names keep them organized.

/* comment */ The block above a pair imports as that key’s note, so the context written for translators arrives with the string.

%@, %d, %1$@ Foundation format specifiers; %@ is the string one. Positions matter once there is more than one argument.

\" \n \\ The escapes that survive a round trip through Apple’s tooling.

UTF-16 files Xcode still writes them, and a reader that assumes UTF-8 sees NUL interleaved garbage. Check the encoding before blaming the file.

Conventions

Where .strings lives

PurposePath

App strings fr.lproj/Localizable.strings

System facing text fr.lproj/InfoPlist.strings

Agency exchange Xcode’s Export Localizations produces .xcloc bundles carrying XLIFF

Typical flow: import the existing Localizable.strings per locale to seed the project, translate alongside your Android and web strings, and hand results back to Xcode through XLIFF.

Where Apple keeps plurals: .stringsdict

Plurals live in a separate property list file beside the .strings file, keyed by CLDR categories.

Localizable.stringsdict

<key>cart.items</key>
<dict>
  <key>NSStringLocalizedFormatKey</key>
  <string>%#@items@</string>
  <key>items</key>
  <dict>
    <key>NSStringFormatSpecTypeKey</key>
    <string>NSStringPluralRuleType</string>
    <key>one</key>
    <string>%d article</string>
    <key>other</key>
    <string>%d articles</string>
  </dict>
</dict>

A different file and a different format from .strings. locamorph does not read it today; for iOS plurals, the XLIFF route through Xcode is the one that works.

Plurals

Plurals and .strings

There is no plural syntax in this format; Apple put plurals in .stringsdict, a separate XML file locamorph does not read today. For iOS plurals, the working route is XLIFF: Xcode exports and imports it natively, and locamorph writes plural groups XLIFF tools understand.

See the same plural in every format locamorph exports.

In locamorph

How locamorph handles .strings

encoding

UTF-16 is not garbage here

Files are decoded as UTF-8 or UTF-16 in either byte order, so the file Xcode actually wrote imports cleanly instead of misdetecting as another format.

context

Comments become notes

The /* comment */ above each pair imports as that key’s note, so translators see the context the developer wrote.

locale

Locale from the path

fr.lproj/Localizable.strings is recognized as French without anyone filling in a dropdown.

Plurals live outside this format in .stringsdict, which locamorph does not read today; plural strings for iOS are best managed through XLIFF, which Xcode exports and imports natively.

Convert

Convert .strings to other formats

One direction only for now: locamorph imports .strings but does not export it, so conversions start from the Apple side.

.strings to JSON

iOS copy reused in a web or React Native build.

Import Localizable.strings; the lproj folder names the locale.
Comments arrive as notes.
Export as JSON for your JS i18n library.

.strings to XLIFF

Handing an iOS app to a translation agency.

Import the .strings files per locale.
Notes ride along as XLIFF notes.
Export XLIFF 1.2 for any CAT tool, or for Xcode itself.

.strings to strings.xml

Porting iOS copy to the Android build.

Import the iOS files.
Dotted keys become resource names.
Export Android XML with escaping applied.

Seed a project from your lproj folders

Import your existing iOS strings on the free plan, keep the comments, and translate every platform’s files in one place.

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