Globalizing your app (HTML)
[ This article is for Windows 8.x and Windows Phone 8.x developers writing Windows Runtime apps. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation ]
Purpose
This section contains how-to topics and guidelines to help you globalize and localize your Windows Store app.
Windows is used worldwide, in a variety of different markets and for target audiences that vary in culture, region, or language. Users may speak any language in the world, and they may even speak multiple languages. Users may also be located anywhere in the world. They can even speak any language in any location. You can use these guidelines and how-to topics to learn more about how to adapt your software for additional languages, markets, cultures, and regions. This information guides you through a set of best practices for development, and points you to further information on how to prepare your app for international markets.
Watch this video for a brief introduction to globalization and localization:
In this section
| Topic | Description |
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Put string resources for your UI into resource files. You can then reference those strings from your code or markup. |
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Design your app to be global-ready by appropriately formatting dates, times, numbers, and currencies. This permits you to adapt it later for additional cultures, regions, and languages in the global market. |
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You can control how Windows selects UI resources, and formats the UI elements of the app. To control these features, use the various language and region settings provided by Windows. |
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Follow the steps and best practices described here to prepare your app for localization. |
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Support localized layouts and fonts in your Windows Store apps by following a few simple guidelines. |
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Use the Windows.Globalization.DateTimeFormatting API with custom patterns to display dates and times in exactly the format you wish. |
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Ensure that your app's content is internationalized in a way that is consistent with external components and web services. |
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Localize the labels and icons of your WinJS controls along with the rest of your app's content. |
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Design your apps to supply bi-directional text support (BiDi) for right-to-left writing systems. |
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The Multilingual App Toolkit integrates with Microsoft Visual Studio to provide Windows Store apps and Windows Phone apps with translation support, translation file management, and editor tools. |
Related topics
Globalization and localization how-to guide for Windows 10 apps