Overview Of Top 20 Localization Bugs

When people tend to establish their business, localization is an important step that completes the process. In the developmental lifecycle of an application or business deal, localization testing is an important step to reach out to the international market. Your localization partner will be responsible for rechecking the process to ensure if there is an error or a bug.

Localization itself is not an easy process because every country has different peculiarities that must be taken into considerations. Consequently, a lot of bugs can interrupt the process of localization testing. If you’re unaware of the importance of localization and the existence of bugs in the process, this blog will help you in understanding this concept precisely with examples. So, let’s explore the localization bugs to ensure that your business is safe and secure!

What are localization bugs?

In localization terms, a bug is simply an error that needs fixing. During the process of localization testing, all the bugs or errors are stores in a database that keeps a track of these entries. To solve this problem of the user, a tester is assigned the task to resolve each bug to an appropriate party depending upon the knowledge of the software, linguistic capabilities, and the source of error.

For example, some internationalization errors must be resolved by developers, truncated text may need to be abbreviated by a translator, or a hot-key assignment might need to be corrected by a localization engineer. In general, app localization is a software technique in which the behavior of software is tested for a specific region, locale, or culture.

Some people think that localization is an unnecessary step and many do it with the scraps of remaining funds. After all, the translation in the target language is outstanding. And there is no point in checking it again. But a native speaker can easily find mistranslations and under-translations in the app.

During the localization process, many pitfalls and errors can occur that shapes localization bugs. For your assistance, we are enlisting the top 20 localization bugs to make this concept more understandable!

Top 20 Localization Bugs

During the translation process, everything has to be accurate whether it be language accuracy or translation efficiency. Any mistake or error can cause future legal problems. Some of the common localization bugs include:

1. Missing Translation

While translating a complex functionality, there is always a chance of missing translation. This can interrupt the word-to-word translation of the original language and causes the error. It often happens with simple elements like hints or pop-ups. You should always double-check the translation file before finalizing it.

2. Over-localization

Localization is a good technique but not everything should be localization. It is a bad idea especially when you are working on logos, abbreviations, and trademarks. These things should be kept as they are. Further, sometimes it is more appropriate to use an English word as it is than to use its translation. To avoid over-localization, it is suitable to create a list of elements that will be used in the original language.

3. Inconsistent Terminology

If there are terms in the app, then these terminologies should have translation the same way throughout the process. It is a suggestion to make a translation library and share it with all the parties that are taking part in the localization process.

4. Missing Text

During localization, if the testing is automatic, there are chances of missing text or a special character. It is often not obvious. But if you want to spot this issue, a tester should use two mobile devices during testing, one with the original language and the other with the localized version. This way it becomes easier to find whether a text is missing or not.

5. No standard measure

Bugs often lie in the window titles and incorrect button text because these are the areas with the shortest length. Naturally, information about the character limit is given in the translation stage. But still, you should know that words in one programming language are longer than the other.

6. A whole phrase is not enough for us

It often happens that a phrase is broken into parts during translation so that it can be used later on in other phrases. Here, the translation is correct but there is no consistency which even means that a whole phrase is not enough.

7. Battle of sexes

The use of wrong grammatical genders is another localization bug. This can cause an interruption in recognizing who is listing the translation and a battle of sexes arises due to the wrong usage.

8. Font Problems

No matter how perfect a translation is, if your font refuses to work properly, it will still ruin the impression. The font can be universal for all languages. Perhaps it will make a lot of problems but only someone who can ensure proper font usage can make things right.

9. Poor Context

Poor context and wrong concepts can ruin your translation. Sometimes, you may find that a certain text is correct but in actual it doesn’t fit the situation. And this can spoil the overall context and look of the translation.

10. Hardcoded string

Hard-coded elements are those directly embedded into the code.

They often cause problems when changing locations. Hardcoded elements are not the best practice for developers. However, they often insert them in some static elements, e.g., placeholders or headings. Localizable strings can also solve this problem.

11. UI defects

Localization issues can also cause User Interface defects when it is not enough room for the translation of the elements. Consequently, we have incorrect buttons and drop-down sizes, or alignment problems.

12. Inaccurate translation

Localized products are specifically intended for native speakers who can easily notice even the slightest inaccurate translation. This is why the translation of the content should only be performed by professional translators. Checkout our latest blogpost here about Process of Translation: Who is the Translation Team made of?

13. Different names for the same element

While translating, it is important to use the same translation for each element throughout the application. Sometimes, you will encounter different names for the same element which confuses users.

14. Data and time formatting

Every data has its data and time formats. An application should use a separate format to avoid this issue. Therefore, you should provide proper attention to the description of a standard ISO format.

15. Encoding Issues

Broken character encoding happens when the software or a website doesn’t recognize language characters. This problem occurs in the developmental stage.

16. Truncation

Sometimes, when a word is translated from one language to another, it can take more space than in the original version. For example, English “no” in German is “nein”, which has more characters. This is also bug localization.

17. Concatenation

Concatenation means that you have written two words together without space ‘likethis’. This localization bug can change the meaning and sense of the word. Inserting space can solve this problem and a localization engineer can proofread it.

18. Images containing texts

The type of image containing texts can also become a localization bug. This can slow down the translation process and hinder the translation process. In some cases, it can even result in you paying more money.

19. Vertical writing and languages

When it comes to vertical writing, strings are, for example, not rotated by 90 degrees. Instead, you can place single characters under one another. You should not assume that the same rules will apply to all languages.

20. Corrupted Characters

Whenever you use a wrong character encoding and your source code handles strings using a data type that cannot handle Unicode, translations will break. Programming languages often store files using the system’s default encoding.

Many bug localization methods are helpful to resolve the errors and inhibit the common localization defects. Bug Localization accuracy will improve your software translation. You should get the complete translation services according to your countries codebase. Solve the translation issues before going heading to completion.