# Trackmint Goes International — multi-language & local currency

*Shipped July 20, 2026 (build 15). Yes, it was possible — so it's done: the app now speaks English, 日本語 (Japanese), 简体中文 (Simplified Chinese, mainland), and 繁體中文 (Traditional Chinese, Hong Kong/Taiwan), and defaults to the local currency. Verified by automated tests in a Japanese-locale environment and a live language-switch run.*

## How it works (exactly what you asked)

**Automatic.** The default language setting is "Auto (device)": a phone set to Japanese opens Trackmint in Japanese — nothing to configure. Mainland-China devices get Simplified Chinese; Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan get Traditional Chinese; everyone else gets English. (App stores don't translate apps themselves — the app detects the phone's language, which is the standard way every international app does it.)

**Manual override.** Setup → Language: Auto / English / 日本語 / 简体中文 / 繁體中文. A user in Tokyo who prefers English picks English — one tap.

**Currency follows the country — but stays free.** At first setup the workspace currency defaults to the device's local one (Japan → JPY ¥, mainland → CN¥, HK → HK$, Taiwan → NT$, UK → £, Europe → €, and so on — JPY/CNY/TWD are new additions). And exactly as you specified: language and currency are independent — a user in Japan can keep the app in Japanese while billing in US dollars, by changing Setup → Currency. Per-client currency overrides (doc 27) still work on top.

## What's translated now vs later

**Now (v1):** the frame of the app — tab bar, screen titles, Setup card names, wizard headline and buttons, board toolbar, the subscription paywall, and common actions (Save/Cancel/Add/Done). This is what makes the app *feel* native in a store screenshot and a first session.
**Later (before a serious Japan launch):** the long helper sentences, the docs site, and App Store listing translations — a mechanical extension of the same dictionary (`src/data/i18n.ts`: every string is one line with four translations; adding a language = adding a fifth column). Professional review of the machine-drafted translations is the one step worth paying for before launch.

## The marketing angle (add to the pitch)

Trackmint is an **international tool from day one**: "Track. Bill. Done. — in your language, in your currency." For the doc-29 strategy this opens three cheap experiments: Japanese freelancer TikTok (Japan's freelance population is growing and underserved by US tools), Traditional-Chinese content for HK/TW trades, and App Store listings localized per market (Apple lets one app carry per-country descriptions). The AI-employee story translates untouched — 「AI社員を雇おう」 is just as punchy.

## Technical note (for the record)

No native modules were added (locale detection uses the built-in Intl API — zero risk to the EAS builds). Language preference is stored per workspace (`AppState.language`), normalized like every other field, and the whole 94-check QA suite passes in an English environment while a dedicated test verifies Japanese auto-detection and live Traditional-Chinese switching.