Localization
One app, many readers. Localization adapts a Sheetward app to each person on your team, in two independent ways. Languages: menus, field labels, dropdown values and validation messages appear in each viewer's own language. Regions: dates, numbers, currency and percentages follow each viewer's local conventions. The two work separately — a colleague can read the app in German with US-style dates, or in English with euro formatting.
Which languages does Sheetward speak?
| Language key | Language |
|---|---|
en | English |
de | Deutsch |
ja | 日本語 |
ar | العربية |
The Sheetward interface itself — sign-in, menus, Help — works in every language above; choosing Arabic flips the whole layout to right-to-left. Your own app's content shows in another language only where you've supplied a translation; anything untranslated appears in English instead. When Sheetward adds a language, it joins this list automatically.
| What gets localized | How |
|---|---|
| The Sheetward interface | Sign-in, navigation, the Admin console and Help — ready in every supported language, nothing to set up. Each person picks theirs at sign-in or in Display settings. |
| Your app's content | Field labels, dropdown values and validation messages — you translate these in your workbook (steps below). Anything you haven't translated shows in English. |
| Regional formatting | Dates, numbers, currency and percentages — formatted automatically for each viewer's region. The values you stored never change, only how they're shown. |
Turn it on: five steps
- Choose the workspace's languages. A workspace admin opens Admin console → Languages and turns on the languages your apps may offer (English is always on). Every plan — the free trial included — comes with one additional language, so you can try a multi-language app right away. Billing annually unlocks your plan's full allowance, and bigger plans allow more. The Languages meter in the Admin console always shows your workspace's own number.
- Pick each app's languages. When you create or change an app, the App languages step asks which of the workspace's languages this app offers. If someone's language isn't offered, they still get the Sheetward interface in their own language — the app's labels and values appear in English.
- Translate the app's content. In your workbook, add a
Translation_sheet with three kinds of columns:Object Type(field,message,form,section,list,widget,report,measureorapp),Object(what you're translating), and one column per language code (de,ja,ar). For dropdown values, add language columns to theList_sheet instead — for exampleAsset_type_de. A lookup table reuses its field's translation, so a separatelistrow is optional. Everyday standard fields such as Currency, Unit and Sex come translated already. - Set the region. In Display settings, choose your Region (how dates, numbers and currency look) and your Regional defaults (home country and default currency). These are personal: set them once and every app follows them, or override them for one specific app. Leave a setting blank and it follows your device.
- Everyone picks their own language. Each person chooses their interface language on the sign-in screen or in Display settings. Sheetward remembers the choice and uses it at every sign-in.