Localize App Store Screenshots to Malay
Bahasa Melayu
Malaysia + Brunei + parts of Singapore = ~30M speakers.
Why Malay matters
Malay (Bahasa Melayu) is the national language of Malaysia and Brunei and co-official in Singapore (roughly 30M speakers in a multilingual, high-English-proficiency market where an English UI alongside Malay headlines is completely normal. It is ~80% mutually intelligible with Indonesian but has its own vocabulary and spelling (kereta vs mobil for car, percuma vs gratis for free), so an Indonesian listing feels visibly foreign to Malaysian users. Standard Malay is written in Rumi (Latin) script, but Jawi) an Arabic-based script. Is official in Brunei and appears in cultural, religious and government contexts.
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Localization tips for Malay
- 1 Do not reuse an Indonesian listing. Vocabulary diverges (Malay kereta/cawangan/percuma vs Indonesian mobil/cabang/gratis) and Malaysians spot Indonesian phrasing instantly.
- 2 Rumi (Latin) Malay is essentially ASCII with no required diacritics, so overflow is mild (budget ~15% expansion) and almost any clean Latin font renders it correctly.
- 3 Keep the apostrophe (hamzah) in loanwords like Jum'at, so'al and da'wah; a dropped or curly-vs-straight apostrophe looks sloppy.
- 4 Register is politeness-driven: 'anda' is the safe neutral you, 'awak'/'kamu' is casual, and English 'you' is common in urban Malaysian marketing. Match your audience.
- 5 Malaysia is multilingual and English-fluent, so partial localization (Malay headline, English UI) is widely accepted and often expected in tech apps.
- 6 For Brunei or a cultural/heritage app, consider Jawi (Arabic-based Malay); it is RTL and needs a Jawi-capable font, not a Latin one.
Fonts for Malay
Standard Rumi (Latin) Malay uses plain ASCII with no special diacritics, so Inter, Roboto, Noto Sans or SF Pro all render it perfectly; the real trap is Jawi (Arabic-based Malay used in Brunei and cultural contexts), which needs a Jawi-capable Arabic font covering the extra letters ڠ ڽ ڤ ݢ چ, not a Latin face.
Most common mistake
Auto-converting an Indonesian listing to Malay with find-and-replace: cognates survive but words like gratis→percuma, ponsel→telefon and unggah→muat naik do not, so the copy reads as Indonesian-with-typos to Malaysian users.
Malay localization FAQ
What App Store Connect locale code should I use for Malay?
Use ms when adding Malay (Bahasa Melayu) screenshots in App Store Connect or Google Play Console. Using the wrong code means your localized screenshots never reach Malay users.
Does text expansion affect Malay screenshot design?
Malay runs +15% vs English on average character count. Layout usually holds up, but always test your tightest headlines.
Does Shotlingo automatically localize screenshots to Malay?
Yes. Shotlingo auto-translates your App Store screenshot text to Malay (Bahasa Melayu) with AI that respects text expansion, and platform-appropriate fonts. Export the localized bundle ready for App Store Connect locale ms.
Do I have to translate my App Store screenshots to Malay?
If Malay is a major market for your app, yes. Unlocalized screenshots significantly reduce conversion, because users scroll past copy they cannot read. Even partial localization (headlines only) typically beats English-only.
Localize your screenshots to Malay automatically
Shotlingo handles expansion, fonts, and App Store Connect locale codes for you. Free to try.
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