Automatic Internationalization and Localization Based on Android Location Services Aiman M. Ayyal Awwad 1 and Nur EL-Din EL- Rez 2 1 Computer and Information Technology Department, Tafila Technical University, Tafila, 66110, Jordan 2 Institute of Software Technology, Graz University of Technology, Graz, 8010, Austria Abstract Android operates on many smartphones in many locales. To reach the most users, the app should handle all resources such as text strings, layouts, graphics, and any other static data that the app needs, in ways proper to the locales where the app will be used. Doing that requires internationalization and localization of the app to support multiple languages. In this paper, we present an approach for localizing the Android app according to the location data that the application received from the device. In particular, the proposed feature automates the locale detection process using Android’s location services. Depending on the locale detected the resources’ contents are rendered in a particular language used in that locale. The testing results show that the proposed feature triggers the restarts of the app with the language spoken in that locale, updates the visible user interface properly, and delivers a more personal and context-rich user experience. Keywords: Android, Internationalization, Localization, Location-Based Services, Mobile Applications, Smart phones. 1. Introduction Mobile phones and apps play an integral part in our everyday life. A tendency toward mobile application development has increased in the past few years. In order to compete in global markets, mobile app development companies need to publish world-ready products. If an app is going to be released in various countries or regions, it should support the languages of the target market. This asks for Internationalization (I18n) and Localization (L10n) of the application [1]. Software internationalization and localization are vital steps in distributing and deploying software to various countries of the world [1, 2]. Users feel more comfortable and productive if the app talks to them in their native language and shows their cultural values [3]. Every country or region has its own language, customs, and culture; accordingly, the mobile app should be localized to meet all the expectations and needs of local users and thereby increase the total number of downloads and revenue [2]. Localization of a product requires that the product is adapted to both the language and the culture of the particular market [2]. The higher an app is ranked in search results the higher the number of potential customers downloading the app. Therefore, mobile publishers should be aware of the app marketing principles in order to get the attention of customers in new markets. As of the first quarter of 2018, Google’s Play Store holds 3.8 million apps either commercial or free for public download. While the Apple’s App Store holds 2 million apps for download (see Fig. 1) [4]. This huge amount of apps to choose from for the main mobile platforms and the number of total downloads imply that there must be distinguishing features to make one app more interesting and usable than others [5, 6]. According to data collected by Google and Admob in March 2014, the number of users who have stopped using an app due to a lack of localization in selected countries varies between 34% and 48% depending on the country these data were collected (United States, China, Japan, United Kingdom, and South Korea) [7]. This shows that there is definitely a need for localization which is also reflected by the general IT industry’s planned investment priorities for the years 2015-2017, where localization is among the top ten [8]. Fig. 1 Available apps in leading app stores. In recent years, with the rapid advancements of wireless communication technology such as Global Positioning System (GPS) and Wi-Fi technology, Location-Based IJCSI International Journal of Computer Science Issues, Volume 15, Issue 5, September 2018 ISSN (Print): 1694-0814 | ISSN (Online): 1694-0784 www.IJCSI.org https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1467655 42 2018 International Journal of Computer Science Issues