Use Excel to localize iOS apps?

A couple years back, I found myself in an iOS project, containing around ~2000 different text strings.

There were talks in the management, that soon, the app should be translated in multiple languages (at least 5).

Problem is — by default, these translations are in each separate files. So I thought, what would be an easier way, to manage translations — but from both sides — translators and app developer.

I ended up using an excel document and a ruby script (run on each build time).

Benefits:

1. One file, with all the translations — I can easily send over whole excel file to the translators, for translating
2. Translators can see other language translations too (multiple columns) -for reference. And excel file contains also a column with any comments.
3. In case I have a new strings to translate, I can easily add them in the excel, and colour them, and then the translators would translate only those.

Here is the script I am using in one of my own hobby projects:

drives/excel2LangFiles.rb at main · GuntisTreulands/drives

And this is how I am adding it to auto-run on each build:

Let me know if you have any more questions or comments regarding this functionality.

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