Features in active development

In addition to everyday bugfixes and tweaks, this is what we're working on right now.

Translation memory and glossaries

We know that TM features have been lacking in Loco. Generally we're focussed on developer tools (as opposed to translator tools), but we are in the process of adding these. A glossary feature is currently in a beta phase. Please request access if you want to try it out.

Xcode 15 features

We've just rolled out basic support for .xcstrings files, but this only provides compatibility with Loco's existing feature set. New localisation features introduced in Xcode 15 require core support in Loco. Namely, device variations and plural substitutions. We're working on this right now.

See current iOS and Xcode support.

Audit system and rollbacks

This is the biggest feature in long term development. A new audit system will track every single change made in each project. This will provide a much-improved "activity" feed, and a dedicated UI for filtering activity by various criteria including time, language and individual team member. By tracking every single change in detail, you will be able to undelete lost items and even perform point-in-time rollbacks of entire projects.

Planned for future development

In no particular order, these features are planned for development over the coming months (and years). We can't give time estimates for new features because priorities are constantly shifting according to demand. If you're interested in a particular feature or have a new suggestion, please let us know.

• Asset attachments
  Assets and translations should have the ability to attach file-based data such as screenshots.

• Role-specific workflows
  Individual translator roles should be configurable to automatically flag changes made. e.g. junior role marks all as "unapproved".

• Context filtering
  Exports and interfaces can't current filter on the "context" field. This should be treated as a taxonomy, just like tags are.

• Import file tracking
  Loco's import system was initially developed simply to load content into the system. As such it doesn't track individual strings against the files they belong to. It's proposed that files should also be a taxonomy, and it should also be possible to reconstruct a specific file from a "skeleton" given changed translation content.

• Jobs workflow / API
  It's common for Loco users to export and import files in order to work with third parties that prefer to use their own software tools. A dedicated "jobs" system would provide a way to package up work that needs doing and send it off for completion. It would also help with the re-import and approval processes.

• Git hooks and string extraction
  The import process should be able to detect code changes in Git repositories and extract new strings into Loco. Initially this is likely to be a PHP feature tied into the WordPress plugin, but could be widened out to other languages.

• Build hooks
  Similar to the current notifications system - changes to a project should be able to trigger external processes, such as via Web or Git hooks.

• Deployment API / CDN
  As part of the build hooks, a project could be configured to export static files to a publishing point such as a code repository or CDN. The current export API is for downloading static files into software builds, but it's a common requirement that applications pull translations at runtime.

• API rate limits
  The API will eventually become rate-limited. It should have been from day one, but our caching and load-balancing methods have tided us over very well. However, this remains an outstanding feature that we'd rather not implement, but will have to sooner or later.

• Team discussion
  The current commenting system requires an overhaul. A better system is planned that will provide a fuller featured team chat and a better notifications system for team messages.

• Corporate SSO
  We plan to augment the current SSO options with corporate SAML provisioning.