How to Localize for Swedish in the App Store

Apple's keyword reference allows 100 bytes, not 100 characters. Counted as UTF-8, the example below contains 55 one-byte and 2 two-byte characters (separators excluded). Only the accented letters cost two bytes, so the field holds between 50 and 100 letters depending on how many accents you use. The words below are a hypothetical keyword list for a habit tracker called Streakly; they are illustrations, not validated search terms, and each has at least three characters.

Joined with commas and no spaces after them, the field is:

vanor,rutiner,mål,påminnelse,motivation,dagsplanering,disciplin

That is 63 characters and 65 bytes: 59 bytes of keywords plus 6 commas, leaving 35 of the 100 bytes free. The byte counts assume UTF-8; confirm the final count in App Store Connect before you save.

Look at the four Nordic rows together. Sweden defaults to Swedish. Norway defaults to English (U.K.) with Norwegian as an addition, Denmark likewise with Danish, and Finland with Finnish. For Norway, Denmark and Finland, a Swedish-style listing in the local language therefore means adding the locale. In Sweden you start from the local language and English is the supplement.

The Sweden keyword page covers the storefront. The locale code Apple gives for Swedish is sv.

Apple's table reads these rows as follows: Swedish is the default in 1 and an additional language in 0. None of the default storefronts lists it alone.

Swedish adds å, ä and ö, each two bytes. The example uses mål, which has three characters (m, å, l) and four bytes. It is a valid keyword because Apple's rule counts characters, not bytes, and requires more than two of them.

That distinction matters for short Nordic words. A three-character word with one accented letter passes the minimum but costs four bytes. Apple does not document whether a form without the ring or dots matches; for words like mål against mal, the meanings differ, so test before you substitute.

LocalASO checks keywords in 52 App Store storefronts, each in the storefront's local language, so you can compare your Swedish candidates with the English ones in one place. Keywords, ranks and listings stay in a database on your Mac. LocalASO is a one-time $29 purchase and the app needs a license key to run; the setup is in the localization docs and the price is on the pricing page. To test the field you just built, use the keyword field checker, or browse every language page. Neighboring languages: Norwegian, Danish, Finnish.