It is often quite difficult for developers to localize their apps by translating it into different languages, due to lack of expertise, high costs, and the amount of time that it takes. To combat this problem, Google has now begun a paid translation service so that Android developers can easily localize their apps at low costs.
Aptly named "Google Play App Translation Service", the option can be located in the developer"s Console. Google says that depending upon the translation services requested, an app can be translated in as little as two days, but all orders are completed in eight days at maximum. These translations are provided by real and professional humans (no machine translation) and are curated by Google on the basis of quality and speediness of their services.
Google has stated that translations are provided at a rate of as little as $0.07 per word, although some digging around by Neowin (photo above) has revealed that some languages, such as Afrikaans, can also go as high as $0.18 per word.
That said, the translation request process is quite simple: developers have to select languages, then upload their app"s strings.xml file if they want in-app content translated - or they can just opt for a store listing translation as well - , review the order, and then confirm it. Furthermore, if there are other specifications such as string length and location, these can be uploaded in a separate file too. This announcement will certainly please developers looking to quickly localize their apps at low prices in order to tackle the international market.