Can I remove a language from localization?

Very late reply, and I will seek a final answer as I'm in the same boat.

I do recall many years back that developers were not allowed to remove localizations as that was deemed removing functionality. I'm hoping this will now be allowed.

I localized my main app to eight other languages I believe back in 2011. But these days, the income made outside the US and Canada is effectively zero. And, I have yet to recoup the costs for these localizations.

This is ultimately preventing me from adding new features to the app as my income per year is far less of what the additional localization work would cost (since I need eight languages).

I would advise the following:

• mention clearly in the section for "new release information" the language you suppressed.

• maybe you could also remove the most concerned countries from list of available countries.

• you could also issue one more release with all languages and then, if running in the language you intend to suppress warn user that this is the last version to support this language.

Unfortunately, Claude, any modifications to metadata or messages in the app itself would need to be localized as well. The cost of this is just too high and cannot be justified. I'm still awaiting a response from Apple. Hope to have information soon.

Never got a reply from Apple, so got them on the phone today. Unfortunately, I still don't have a definitive answer to "is there, or isn't there a policy still in place that disallows developers from removing localizations in app updates."

The person fielding my call ended up putting me on hold while they spoke with a senior advisor, and then oddly sent me email instructions on how to edit metadata in itunesconnect. Sad state of affairs.

So I then took it upon myself to just create a new version for my app in itunesconnect. I then noticed that if I hoevered over the languages in the upper-right popup menu, there's a delete icon as you hover over the right side of each localization name.

So I removed all except for English (my default and dev language). Pressed on Save. But, when returning to that page later, all the localizations for the new version were still there. So I performed the removals a second time and this time it stuck. Even when logging out, then back in. So definitely a bug in itunesconnect.

Having said all that, I'm still months away from having an update for my main app, so I ultimately do not know if Apple will approve this version. I just wish we could get a straight answer from Apple ahead of time so we don't waste any time.

The exact issue persists to this day. Trying to remove a localization causes an error, and changes can't be saved. This is somewhat irritating, as while my app is localized to numerous languages, updating the texts on App Store Connect for each version is an unneeded hassle.

https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/manage-app-information/localize-app-information/#:~:text=Delete%20a%20language&text=select%20your%20app.-,The%20page%20opens%20with%20the%20Distribution%20tab%20selected.,the%20delete%20button%20(%E2%80%93).

I've been using a handy tool specifically designed for this purpose: XCStrings File Processor: (https://www.swifthub.org/xcstringstool/). It's a browser-based tool that lets you easily manage languages in your .xcstrings files. The workflow is straightforward:

1.Upload your .xcstrings file (drag & drop or click to select) 2. You'll see a list of all available languages in your file 3. Simply uncheck the languages you want to remove 4. Click "Process File" and download the updated version

What I particularly like about it is that everything is processed locally in your browser - no file uploads to any server, which is great for sensitive project files. It's also quite useful when you need to create region-specific builds or want to reduce your app size by removing unused localizations.

I've found it much more efficient than manually editing the .xcstrings file, especially when dealing with large localization files. The tool is free to use and doesn't require any registration.

Hope this helps with your localization management!