WWDC 2016: Internationalization Best Practices

Don’t use a set date format
Chinese and English are opposite for example
Can’t have a fixed format
Use the predefined .shortStyle/.mediumStyle/etc.
Works for both dates and times
Automatically formats it for each language
Can use a template for custom things
But use .setLocalizedDateFormatFromTemplate(“mYd”)
Will try and make it correct when it’s a different language
https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSDateFormatter_Class/

In labels, don’t clip lines — must have the entire character showing
Multi-line labels, consider changing the line spacing
UIFont.preferredFont(forTextStyle: UIFontTextStyleBody)
Automatically adjusts line height for different languages
Icons are really important
Avoid using words/numbers in icons
“Photos” is a good example of an icon that doesn't tie it to a specific language
Not left to right or right to left
Good for all languages
Create dedicated artwork for right to left languages
But if you just want to flip the image, you can use the existing API
App Store Names
Users are most likely to download apps in their language
Don’t always assume users will type in English
They might run OS in English, use keyboard from another language
Must test this before deploying
Localized Screenshots
Localized content/keyboard
Want to see the experience they will have in their language
Custom features — examples:
Support for lunar calendar
Templates for non-English/non-Western cultures