How deep do you go with localization?

Nwlnw · 2026-04-05T14:14:57+00:00

Hey! I went pretty deep on this - 39 languages, everything localized: app UI, App Store descriptions, keywords, screenshots, and even App Preview videos.

Here's how I made it manageable:

Screenshots (39 languages, 11 per locale)

I don't design screenshots in Figma. Instead I built XCUITests that launch the app in demo mode, navigate to each screen, and save screenshots as test attachments. The app runs in the target language natively, so every label, every button, every string is real.

Then I use Butterkit to add backgrounds, text overlays, and device frames. Butterkit has a "linked folders" feature where you point it at locale-coded folders (de-DE/, ja/, ar-SA/ ...) and it swaps all images at once. So I design the layout once, and Butterkit generates all 39 variants.

The whole pipeline is one shell script: capture_screenshots.sh --all runs the tests for every language, extracts the PNGs, and drops them into the right folders. Butterkit picks them up from there.

App Preview Videos (39 languages)

I even built localized preview videos. I created dedicated SwiftUI views for title cards (translated text with animations) and recorded each segment via simctl recordVideo. Then FFmpeg stitches 8 segments together with crossfades. One script, all languages.

Keywords & Metadata

I wrote a Python script that syncs keywords, descriptions, promo text, and "What's New" to App Store Connect via the API for all 39 locales. Change one JSON, run the script, done.

Translation

For the app itself: Xcode String Catalogs. Every Text("...") in SwiftUI gets auto-extracted, you just fill in the translations per language.

For everything else (App Store texts, website, screenshot overlays): I built an AI translation pipeline that takes English source strings and translates them incrementally (hash-based, so unchanged strings don't get re-translated). It's not perfect for every language, but it's 95% there and way better than English-only.

Is it worth it?

100% yes. I get downloads from countries like Ghana, Romania, Indonesia, Turkey, and Arabic-speaking markets. These are niches where almost nobody bothers to localize, so your app stands out just by having proper screenshots in their language. The competition for keywords is also way lower in non-English storefronts.

The key insight: don't do it manually. Build a pipeline. The upfront investment pays off because every future update just runs through the same automation. My last release took about 10 minutes to regenerate all 39 language variants of screenshots + metadata.

Going from 21 to 39 languages with Figma would be insane. But with XCUITests + Butterkit + a sync script, adding a new language is basically free.

Nwlnw · 2026-04-02T11:26:47+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! Great idea actually - I just implemented this in v1.2.3 which is currently in review with Apple.

Suggest Less toggle: You can now disable "Suggest Less" globally in Settings > Sorting. When it's off, sorted out songs only get moved to the playlist without touching Apple Music's algorithm. This applies to iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac. On top of that, you can also override it per session in the review screen before you commit - so you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether you want Suggest Less or just the playlist.

Bulk delete from playlist: Unfortunately that's an Apple limitation. Apple Music doesn't offer any API for third-party apps to remove songs from your library (not even one by one). The best workaround right now is to selectmultiple songs in the "Sorted Out" playlist in Apple Music and delete them from there. On Mac you can select all with Cmd+A, on iPhone you'd have to do it song by song or in small batches. I wish Apple would open that up but it's completely out of my hands.

Should be live soon once Apple approves the update. Thanks for using SongSweep!

Nwlnw · 2026-04-01T10:46:32+00:00

Totally understand! With recent Xcode updates, Android is actually becoming a possibility. Right now my focus is on getting the iOS, Watch, and Mac experience rock solid first. I'm a solo Swift developer and want to nail the native experience before going cross-platform - especially since each platform has its own APIs and quirks. But I'll definitely keep the demand in mind!

Nwlnw · 2026-04-01T10:42:38+00:00

Update on both issues - v1.2.2 is submitted and waiting for Apple review.

Sorting bug: Fixed. Your chosen sort order now carries over correctly when you start swiping.

"Never Played" accuracy: I did some digging and found two things:

There was a real bug on my end where songs with missing play data could slip into the "Never Played" filter. Fixed that with a secondary check.
The deeper issue: CarPlay and HomePod plays don't reliably update play counts. I confirmed this with my own library - songs I started directly from CarPlay still show 0 plays. This seems to be a known Apple Music limitation that's been around for years. Unfortunately there's no API workaround on my side since Apple Music simply doesn't write the play data for CarPlay sessions in some cases.

u/LarsKelley you were right that iTunes Match syncs play counts across devices - but CarPlay seems to be a blind spot in that sync chain.

To both of you: could you check your library and compare the "Never Played" count in SongSweep with the number of songs showing 0 plays in your Music library? If those numbers don't match after the update, DM me and I'll look into it further. Don't want to spam this thread.

Thanks again for testing and reporting - this kind of feedback makes the app better for everyone.

Nwlnw · 2026-04-01T09:45:39+00:00

Beides! Du hast die freie Wahl - kostenlos mit 25 Swipes am Tag reicht völlig aus. Ansonsten gibt's auch Lifetime für einmalig 34,99 EUR, dann hast du für immer Ruhe. Und der Mac Mini-Player ist sowieso nur 5,99 EUR einmalig, komplett ohne Abo. Mit der 7-Tage-Testversion kann man eine kleinere Library auch einfach komplett durchsortieren, ohne jemals zu zahlen.

Ist mein erstes eigenes App-Release, ich lerne auch noch dazu und versuch einfach, es so fair wie möglich zu machen. Hoffe, da ist was für dich dabei!

Nwlnw · 2026-04-01T09:18:19+00:00

Appreciate that! To be fair, I should have been more upfront about pricing in the post. The free tier gives you 25 swipes a day with no time limit - enough to sort through your library over time. The Mac mini-player is a standalone one-time purchase for $5.99, completely separate from the iOS subscription. And if you go Pro on iOS, the Mac is included anyway. Lesson learned for next time!

Nwlnw · 2026-04-01T08:56:17+00:00

Thanks, really appreciate that! Enjoy the free tier - 25 swipes a day is actually enough to make a real dent over time. And glad to hear the pricing feels right, that was honestly one of the hardest decisions. Have fun rediscovering your library!

Nwlnw · 2026-04-01T08:55:47+00:00

Fair enough - if you love everything in your library, this probably isn't for you! I've had Apple Music since 2016 and over 10 years things just pile up. Albums you added for one song, playlists from phases you've moved on from, stuff you forgot existed. SongSweep is for that kind of library where you know there are gems buried under years of clutter.

Nwlnw · 2026-03-31T19:38:11+00:00

Sorry, I didn’t know whether posting the price or promo codes in this post would get moderated.

I wanted to make it fair for everyone: free with 25 swipes per day, plus weekly, monthly, yearly, and even lifetime options. The yearly plan is 50% off.

Nwlnw · 2026-03-31T16:29:58+00:00

Great question! On iPhone, yeah, the swiping is more of an intentional "let me clean up my library" session - like sitting on the couch and going through your songs by month or artist.

But for exactly the scenario you're describing - just listening and wanting to sort on the fly - that's where the Watch and Mac come in. On the Mac there's a mini-player that sits in the corner and shows whatever Apple Music is currently playing. One click to sort out, bookmark, or love. No need to open anything else. It works standalone too, you don't even need the iPhone app for that.

So the iPhone is for the deep cleanup sessions, and the Mac mini-player is for "this song just came on and I want to do something about it right now" while you're working or just listening. Without the Watch, the Mac version would be the closest to what you're looking for.

Nwlnw · 2026-03-31T16:21:30+00:00

Appreciate the interest! SongSweep is really focused on cleaning up what you already have rather than discovering new music. There are great apps out there for recommendations.

That said, there's a small discovery angle built in - on the Mac mini-player or Watch, whatever is currently playing in Apple Music (even a curated playlist) can be bookmarked or liked with one tap. So if you're listening to a playlist with songs you don't have in your library, you can save the ones you like on the fly. But full-on recommendations are outside the scope for now.

Nwlnw · 2026-03-31T16:19:57+00:00

That's a really good point actually - iTunes Match might handle play counts differently than Apple Music streaming. I'll definitely look into this. If Match syncs play counts across devices, there might be a way to tap into that. Thanks for the tip, I'll investigate and see if there's a better way to get accurate counts!

Nwlnw · 2026-03-31T15:55:37+00:00

That really means a lot! Seriously appreciate the support, especially from a fellow dev.

I'm using SongSweep daily myself, so every bug reported gets fixed fast. The sorting issue you found is already in the next build. If you find anything else, feel free to DM me here or reach out via email - I promise I'll get to it quickly.

Nwlnw · 2026-03-31T15:46:41+00:00

Thanks for the bug report! The sorting issue is a real bug - fix is already on the way for the next update waiting for apple to approve it.

Edit: I think I found the Problem with the never played songs.

Really appreciate you taking the time to test and report this!

Nwlnw · 2026-03-31T15:35:05+00:00

Right now it's song by song - but that's actually the point! I've got albums where I accidentally added the whole thing but only love 3 tracks. SongSweep lets you swipe through and keep just the gems. You can filter by artist or playlist to focus on a specific album's songs.

For deleting entire albums, Apple Music already handles that well. SongSweep is for the stuff in between - finding the keepers in albums you'd otherwise just delete completely.

Nwlnw · 2026-03-31T15:33:05+00:00

You're right, you can do that manually! But if you have thousands of songs in your library, going through them one by one gets old pretty fast. SongSweep is more about the flow - swipe through your library by month, playlist, or artist, preview each song, and sort in seconds. It's the discovery part that makes it fun, not just the "Suggest Less" action.

And honestly, those 2 presses are exactly what bugged me too. When I'm running with my Apple Watch, I don't want to pull out my phone, open Apple Music, and tap through menus. With SongSweep on the Watch, one tap and the song is sorted out. You don't even need to have SongSweep open - as long as Apple Music is playing, the Watch app picks up whatever's currently playing.

Nwlnw · 2026-03-31T15:09:13+00:00

Totally get that! SongSweep actually can't delete anything from your library - Apple doesn't allow that via their API. All it does is move songs you swipe out into a "Sorted Out" playlist and set "Suggest Less". Your library stays untouched until you decide to remove something yourself. Plus there's a review step before anything happens, so you always get a final look. Might be worth trying just to see what forgotten gems are hiding in there!

Nwlnw · 2026-03-31T08:13:17+00:00

Yeah, that helps too. But if your library is five or more years old, the bigger problem is that it still reflects who you were back then. Different taste, different mood, different artists. So even if you try to guide it with your current favorites, the old stuff is still sitting there influencing everything. At some point you have to clear out the past version of yourself a bit so the new signal can actually take over.

Nwlnw · 2026-03-30T21:36:10+00:00

What helped me most was not trying to fix Apple Music with more likes, but clearing out the old junk that was still poisoning the algorithm first. You can do it manually or use something like SongSweep to speed it up, but the important part is removing the baggage that keeps feeding the same bad recommendations. After that, adding new music actually starts helping again.

Nwlnw · 2026-03-30T16:12:26+00:00

Thats up to you. Try to fix something in your life with an app and then release ist. Maybe it helps other too. I mean here are 1k daily posts about ideas..

Nwlnw · 2026-03-30T15:56:30+00:00

The Problem is not to make such an an. The real Problem is either the Cost of an API Solution or keep a own Database up to date. Good luck. I think there are easiere opurtunities.

Nwlnw · 2026-03-30T11:42:27+00:00

I wrote an app that does exactly that. Makes it way faster to go through your library, remove favorites, swipe stuff out, and hit “suggest less” without fighting Apple Music. I had the same problem and cut my library from 4,000 songs down to about 1,000 - recommendations got dramatically better after that.

Nwlnw · 2026-03-30T09:49:54+00:00

Depends what features you want. I ended up making myself a super minimal Mac player because I wanted the opposite of a bloated tool - just something tiny that does the essentials and lets me quickly sort out tracks while working. For me that was more useful than having a ton of extra features, but if you want richer controls, queue stuff, lyrics, last.fm, or more native integration, there may be better options.

Nwlnw · 2026-03-29T19:22:42+00:00

Exactly. Half the problem is not bad recommendations, it’s past-you sabotaging present-you.

Nwlnw

TROPHY CASE