# Overview

iLocalize is designed to help developers and translators to localize Mac OS X and iOS applications. The term application is used to encompass any application, framework, bundle or even generic folder. The only requirement that iLocalize needs is that the localized resources must be located inside language folders (e.g. English.lproj or fr_CH.lproj). This section describes the common workflow that a developer or a localizer will use.

## Workflow for developer

A developer will typically follow this workflow to localize its application:

- Build the application with Xcode
- Send the application to the localizer(s)
- Create a new project in iLocalize using the application as the source
- Create a new language for each language that your localizer(s) is working on
- Once you receive the translated application from your localizer(s), update the project with it
- Once the project is updated with all the languages, export the project to obtain the fully translated application

When a new release of the application is available:

- Send the new application to the localizer(s)
- Update the project with this new application
- Once you receive the translated application from your localizer(s), update the project with it
- Once the project is updated with all the languages, export the project to obtain the fully translated application

Note: The developer in this section refers to the person or the group of persons responsible for creating the application.

## Workflow for localizer

A localizer will typically follow this workflow to localize an application:

- Create a new project using the application you received from the developer
- Create the language you are about to work on
- Localize this language using the available tools in iLocalize
- Export the application when the translation is done and send it to the developer

When a new release of the application is available:

- Update the project using the new application
- Localize the new items that need to be localized
- Export the application when the translation is done and send it to the developer

Note: The localizer in this section refers to the person or the group of persons responsible for the translation and localization of the application.

## iOS localization

The easiest way to localize an iOS application is to translate the localized resources from the Xcode project instead of the final application. iLocalize supports importing a folder and can export the localization back into that same folder. The following steps illustrate a typical workflow for localizing an iOS application:

- Create a new project in iLocalize and specify the folder containing your Xcode project
- In the New Project Assistant it is possible to specify which localized resources to import
- Localize the project as usual

Once the localization is finished, the localized resources of the project can be exported and merged with the files in the Xcode project:

- Choose Project > Export...
- Select the resources and languages to export
- Choose the destination folder, which can be the Xcode project folder itself (in this case, make sure to use the Merge option that iLocalize will propose when it detects that the destination folder already exists to avoid overwriting the entire project)
- Click the Export button and make sure to choose the Merge option
- Choose which resources to export back to the Xcode project

## What has changed since version 3?

- The inspectors present in version 3 have been merged inside the project window in version 4
- Export and import glossaries and part of project in various formats: TMX, XLIFF, TXML and .strings
- Smart filters can be fully customizable thanks to its new predicate editor
- Improved performance on multi-core machines