Does matching key coverage mean the translation is correct?

No. Key and placeholder checks cannot establish fluent wording, cultural suitability, layout fit, or correct plural selection. Review those in the rendered application.

Can every localization container round-trip through JSON?

No. Apple variations, Android structure, XLIFF workflow state, and ARB metadata carry information beyond flat strings. Check the target’s support before converting a rich catalog.

What does placeholder drift mean?

The source and target expose different placeholder tokens. It is a prompt to review the formatting contract, including positional tokens and plurals, rather than silently accepting a string that may fail at runtime.

Mobile

Localization Resource Bridge

Compare and translate Apple, Android, XLIFF, and ARB localization resources.

Online tools Pricing

Input0 characters

Reference0 characters

Result0 characters

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Localization customs terminal · five formats, unequal cargo

Messages can cross platforms. Their grammar cannot be assumed.

Keys and plain values are the easy freight. Placeholders, plural categories, comments, review state, variation axes, and inline codes need separate passports before any conversion is safe.

Format topology map

Apple .strings

RUNTIME RESOURCE

keys · values · comments

.xcstrings

SOURCE CATALOG

locales · state · variations

Android XML

RUNTIME RESOURCE

strings · plurals · arrays

XLIFF

EXCHANGE ENVELOPE

source · target · inline codes

Flutter ARB

SOURCE + METADATA

ICU messages · companion metadata

Key parity customs desk

MESSAGE KEYSOURCETARGETVERDICT

welcome.titlePRESENTPRESENTEQUAL

cart.itemsPRESENTPRESENTCHANGED

account.deletePRESENT—SOURCE ONLY

promo.banner—PRESENTTARGET ONLY

checkout.totalPRESENTEMPTYBLOCK

Placeholder embassy

Apple printfobject token · %2$dPOSITION + TYPE

Android printf%1$s · %dPOSITION + TYPE

Android XLIFFxliff:g id=timeINLINE GUARD

ARB / ICUnamed argument · pluralNAME + CATEGORY

XLIFFph · x · equiv-textINLINE CODE

Plural jurisdiction

Apple String Catalogplural + device axesVARIATION TREE

Android resourceszero/one/two/few/many/otherLOCALE SELECTS CATEGORY

Flutter ARBICU plural/select/selectordinalMESSAGE GRAMMAR

XLIFFtranslation units + inline codesCONTAINER, NOT ONE PLURAL MODEL

Legacy .stringsone flat value per keyNO NATIVE PLURAL TREE

Metadata freight manifest

Developer commentoften portable

context

Source / target localecontainer-specific

language contract

Review / extraction statecatalog-specific

workflow evidence

Device variationApple-specific

cannot flatten safely

ARB companion metadataFlutter-specific

placeholder schema

String arrays / markupAndroid-specific

structural resource

Conversion loss docket

DIRECT

simple key + value

TAGGED

comment and locale metadata

MAP REQUIRED

placeholder dialect

PLATFORM RULES

plural categories

REJECT

variation, array, or rich inline structure without policy

Release QA lane

Structural parity is the gate, not the finish line.

Compare keys

Audit placeholder sets

Find empty targets

Review plural/variation cargo

Export shared subset

Compile with Xcode / Android / Flutter

Test UI, bidi, truncation and locale behavior

Run a reproducible example

Convert a simple Apple strings entry and detect missing keys or placeholder drift before shipping translations.

Using an example replaces the current input, reference input, operation, and options. Public demonstration data only.

Convert one strings entry to JSON

Use Apple .strings input and JSON output; the example has no plurals or variation metadata.

Input

"welcome" = "Welcome";

The welcome key and its value are retained. Richer containers need a separate metadata review.

"welcome": "Welcome"

Find a dropped placeholder and missing key

The source greeting has %@; the target removes it and omits save.

Input

"greeting" = "Hello %@";
"save" = "Save";

Reference

"greeting" = "你好";

The comparison reports PLACEHOLDER DRIFT and a SOURCE ONLY key. It does not judge translation fluency.

PLACEHOLDER DRIFT
SOURCE ONLY   save

Continue with a related task

Text Escapes & Unicode Inspector

Inspect code points, normalization, graphemes, and language escape sequences.

Text Diff

Compare two texts by line, word, or character in a local worker.

Apple Property List Studio

Read XML and binary property lists, inspect types, and export structured data.

Repeat the task in DevSexy for Mac

Use the native app for repeated offline work and direct Option shortcuts.

Direct answer

What is Localization Resource Bridge?

Inspect, compare, and convert Apple .strings and .xcstrings, Android XML, XLIFF, and Flutter ARB files online with placeholder and plural diagnostics.

What can it do?

Inspect
Compare
Convert

How to use Localization Resource Bridge

01
Prepare the input
Select the source container and paste the reference locale when comparing.
02
Choose the operation
Convert a simple catalog or compare key and placeholder parity.
03
Review the evidence
Review plurals, comments, platform variations, and generated resource packaging in the target project.

Frequently asked questions

Does matching key coverage mean the translation is correct?: No. Key and placeholder checks cannot establish fluent wording, cultural suitability, layout fit, or correct plural selection. Review those in the rendered application.
Can every localization container round-trip through JSON?: No. Apple variations, Android structure, XLIFF workflow state, and ARB metadata carry information beyond flat strings. Check the target’s support before converting a rich catalog.
What does placeholder drift mean?: The source and target expose different placeholder tokens. It is a prompt to review the formatting contract, including positional tokens and plurals, rather than silently accepting a string that may fail at runtime.