Your indie app ships from the US or EU with an English-first listing. You enabled the China storefront and added a zh-Hans row — then stalled because Connect has a dozen fields, screenshots depend on copy, and IAP names sit in a different admin screen. This page is a practical order-of-work checklist for localizing one App Store listing into Simplified Chinese (zh-Hans). Operator guidance only — no ranking guarantee, not legal advice, and not investment advice. Seller: Fortune Insight, LLC.
China storefront field guide · Connect: primary vs added locale
Work top-down. Later fields reference promises made in earlier ones. Character limits below are typical — verify in App Store Connect before you save.
In App Store Connect → your app → App Information or the localization section, add Chinese (Simplified) (zh-Hans). You now have a separate row for the China storefront. en-US and zh-Hans fields are independent — US copy does not auto-fill Chinese rows.
The name appears in Search and on the product page. For zh-Hans, prioritize meaning density over transliteration: Chinese users search problem phrases, not your English brand spelled in pinyin. Keep trademark names you own; do not paste competitor names. If your English title is already at the limit, Chinese may need a shorter idiomatic rewrite — not a character-for-character translation.
The subtitle sits under the app name in Search results. Add one fact the title does not repeat: audience, workflow, or pricing model. Do not paste your English subtitle translated literally, and do not stuff the hidden keyword field here — subtitle and keywords are different jobs on Connect.
Comma-separated, no spaces after commas (check Connect’s note). Include Chinese search terms users type, English loanwords Chinese users search locally when relevant, and synonyms not already visible in title or subtitle. zh-Hans and en-US keyword rows are independent — US terms rarely map one-to-one to China Search. Do not duplicate title or subtitle text into this field.
Lead with who the app is for and what outcome they get in the first two lines — Chinese buyers skim like US readers. Avoid formal false cognates copied from English (“专业级”, “强大”) and mixed English paragraphs above Chinese screenshots. Keyword stuffing belongs in Step 4, not in description prose.
Short news slot above the description — often updatable without a new binary. Use it for time-limited offers, seasonal hooks, or a one-line value prop that differs from subtitle. Match tone to zh-Hans description; do not paste English promo text unchanged.
Screenshot sets are usually managed per localization. Upload zh-Hans galleries for each required iPhone (and iPad if universal) size. Overlay caption lines on frames should match the Chinese copy from Steps 2–5 — not English captions on Chinese UI captures. Frame one should reinforce the promise in your zh-Hans title. Empty zh-Hans galleries fall back to en-US art, which reads as unfinished to China buyers.
What's New is tied to each build submission — not the same as promotional text. When you ship an update to the China storefront, zh-Hans release notes should describe what changed in plain Simplified Chinese. Reviewers and returning users both read this field.
IAP display names and descriptions live under Features → In-App Purchases (or your app’s IAP section), not inside the main localization row. If your paywall is English-only, China buyers see English at purchase time even when the listing is zh-Hans. Localize each IAP product’s display name and description in zh-Hans before you expect conversion on the China storefront.
If you use App Preview videos on the zh-Hans product page, Connect asks for preview title and description text per localization. Keep lines short and aligned with screenshot story order. Video files themselves may be shared or localized depending on your workflow — text fields always need zh-Hans when the gallery is Chinese-facing.
If you run paid user acquisition or Product Page Optimization with Custom Product Pages (CPP), each CPP can override subtitle, promotional text, description, and screenshots for a campaign URL. Default-listing zh-Hans copy from Steps 2–7 is the baseline; CPP rows need their own zh-Hans variants when traffic lands on China-specific creatives. Skip this step if you only use the default product page.
Simplified Chinese (zh-Hans) serves mainland China. Traditional Chinese (zh-Hant) is a different locale row for Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other Traditional markets — different characters, different search habits, often different screenshot copy. Completing zh-Hans does not populate zh-Hant. Add zh-Hant only when those storefronts are in scope; otherwise finish zh-Hans first and ship.
Metadata changes on existing apps typically go through App Review like a normal submission. Before you submit: open the China storefront listing on a device or simulator, walk purchase flow for IAP you localized, and confirm privacy policy and support URLs load for Chinese reviewers. This checklist does not replace Apple’s review guidelines.
Working through twelve Connect steps is faster when the words are already written. AppLocale rewrites one live App Store listing into paste-ready Simplified Chinese fields — title, subtitle, description, keyword suggestions with rationale, screenshot overlay lines, and promotional text drafts — plus English alignment when you need both storefronts on the same meaning.
AppLocale — China storefront listing rewrite
$79 one-time
Buy AppLocale on StripeAfter checkout, reply from your Stripe receipt email with your App Store URL, current English listing, target locales (e.g. zh-Hans), and deadline. Delivery within 24 hours.
No ranking guarantees. Sold by Fortune Insight, LLC.
Add the zh-Hans localization row, then work in dependency order: app name, subtitle, keywords, description, promotional text, screenshots, What's New, in-app purchase display names, app preview text, and Custom Product Pages if you run paid campaigns. Treat Traditional Chinese (zh-Hant) as a separate locale if you target Taiwan or Hong Kong.
Your live App Store listing URL, your current English listing (title, subtitle, description, keywords if populated), target locales (e.g. zh-Hans), and your deadline. Reply from the email address on your Stripe receipt — we deliver to that Stripe email.
Within 24 hours after Stripe payment. You receive paste-ready files for App Store Connect localization rows.
$79 one-time via Stripe checkout. No subscription. Seller is Fortune Insight, LLC.
No. We improve clarity and search intent from your existing copy. We do not promise keyword position, search rank, or download growth on the China storefront or any other market.
Not a machine translation dump, not an icon redesign, not paid ads, not ranking guarantees, not QuantRadar, and not investment or legal advice. We do not invent reviews, ratings, or traffic numbers.
AppLocale product page · Localize an iOS listing for China · App Store Connect localization · Back to shop