App Store Locales
Every locale Apple supports for App Store Connect metadata — with the storefronts each one covers via cross-localization, and a prioritized list of which locales actually move the needle for indie apps.
What is cross-localization?
Apple maps locales to storefronts. If a user opens the App Store in a storefront that has no listing in the device's preferred language, Apple shows the closest available locale — not English.
Concrete example: localize into es-MX once, and your Spanish listing automatically appears in 17 Latin American storefronts. Localize into fr-FR, and your French listing covers most of francophone Africa as well as France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg.
The fallback chain Apple uses: device language → storefront-preferred locale → en-US. So en-US is mandatory; everything else is leverage.
Top 10 locales by reach
Approximate combined population of the storefronts each locale covers. Raw market size — not iOS install base or revenue. Reach > ARPU; weight both when prioritizing.
| # | Locale | Language | Reach |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | hi | Hindi | 1.4B |
| 2 | zh-Hans | Chinese (Simplified) | 1.4B |
| 3 | es-MX | Spanish (Mexico) | 470M |
| 4 | ar-SA | Arabic | 400M |
| 5 | en-US | English (U.S.) | 335M |
| 6 | id | Indonesian | 278M |
| 7 | fr-FR | French (France) | 260M |
| 8 | pt-BR | Portuguese (Brazil) | 215M |
| 9 | ru | Russian | 210M |
| 10 | ja | Japanese | 123M |
Recommended locale sets
Three starting points based on indie-app revenue patterns. Coverage estimates are directional, not measured.
Minimum viable global
~70% of global app revenue reachable with 5 locales
Solid indie launch
~85% of global app revenue with 10 locales
Full Apple-supported coverage
Every language Apple supports for App Store metadata
All locales by region
Americas
5 locales| Locale | Language | Storefronts covered | Reach | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
es-MX | Spanish (Mexico) | Mexico + 16 Latin American storefronts via cross-localization Single highest-leverage locale outside English — one listing covers most of Latin America. | 470M | High |
en-US | English (U.S.) | United States + global fallback for any storefront without a localized listing Required. Acts as the global fallback — if a storefront has no localized listing, users see en-US. | 335M | High |
pt-BR | Portuguese (Brazil) | Brazil Brazilian Portuguese is distinct from European. Do not substitute pt-PT. | 215M | High |
en-CA | English (Canada) | Canada (English) | 40M | Long-tail |
fr-CA | French (Canada) | Canada (French — paired with en-CA) | 8.0M | Long-tail |
Europe
21 locales| Locale | Language | Storefronts covered | Reach | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
fr-FR | French (France) | France + Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Monaco + most francophone Africa | 260M | High |
ru | Russian | Russia + CIS storefronts Russian remains the lingua franca across CIS storefronts. Note sanctions and payment-rail caveats for current distribution. | 210M | Medium |
de-DE | German | Germany, Austria, Switzerland (DE), Liechtenstein High ARPU market. One of the strongest non-English locales for indie apps. | 100M | High |
pt-PT | Portuguese (Portugal) | Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde | 75M | Long-tail |
en-GB | English (U.K.) | United Kingdom, Ireland Worth adding if your copy uses American spellings — "color" vs "colour" matters to some UK users. | 73M | Medium |
it | Italian | Italy, Switzerland (IT), San Marino, Vatican | 65M | Medium |
es-ES | Spanish (Spain) | Spain only — Latin America uses es-MX | 48M | Medium |
uk | Ukrainian | Ukraine | 37M | Long-tail |
pl | Polish | Poland | 37M | Medium |
nl-NL | Dutch | Netherlands, Belgium (NL) | 30M | Medium |
ro | Romanian | Romania, Moldova | 22M | Long-tail |
el | Greek | Greece, Cyprus | 11M | Long-tail |
cs | Czech | Czech Republic | 11M | Long-tail |
sv | Swedish | Sweden | 10M | Medium |
hu | Hungarian | Hungary | 9.6M | Long-tail |
ca | Catalan | Catalonia (regional, no dedicated storefront) Supported in metadata. Users in Spain with Catalan device language see this listing. | 7.5M | Long-tail |
da | Danish | Denmark | 6.0M | Long-tail |
no | Norwegian | Norway (Bokmål) | 5.5M | Long-tail |
fi | Finnish | Finland | 5.5M | Long-tail |
sk | Slovak | Slovakia | 5.5M | Long-tail |
hr | Croatian | Croatia | 3.9M | Long-tail |
Middle East & Africa
3 locales| Locale | Language | Storefronts covered | Reach | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ar-SA | Arabic | Saudi Arabia + most Arabic-speaking storefronts in the Middle East and North Africa RTL. App UI must support mirrored layout. MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) is the metadata convention. | 400M | Medium |
tr | Turkish | Turkey | 85M | Medium |
he | Hebrew | Israel RTL. | 9.5M | Long-tail |
Asia
9 locales| Locale | Language | Storefronts covered | Reach | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
hi | Hindi | India (paired with en-IN in practice) Storefront covers India's entire ~1.4B population, but iOS share is ~5%. English often dominates app discovery in India — practical reachable iOS audience is much smaller than the headline number. | 1.4B | Long-tail |
zh-Hans | Chinese (Simplified) | Mainland China, Singapore Storefront covers ~1.4B people, but App Store China requires ICP filing and content review — not just translation. iOS share in China is ~20%. | 1.4B | High |
id | Indonesian | Indonesia | 278M | Long-tail |
ja | Japanese | Japan High ARPU. iOS share ~70% — one of the strongest Apple markets globally. Users strongly prefer Japanese listings. | 123M | High |
vi | Vietnamese | Vietnam | 98M | Long-tail |
th | Thai | Thailand | 71M | Long-tail |
ko | Korean | South Korea | 52M | High |
ms | Malay | Malaysia | 33M | Long-tail |
zh-Hant | Chinese (Traditional) | Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau | 31M | Medium |
Oceania
1 locales| Locale | Language | Storefronts covered | Reach | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
en-AU | English (Australia) | Australia, New Zealand | 32M | Long-tail |
Translate your .xcstrings and App Store metadata in one workflow
Cube handles the in-app strings and the App Store Connect metadata for every locale above — using your own GPT, Claude, Gemini, or DeepSeek API keys, stored locally on your Mac.