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Wording and typo review checklist for apps

A pass for typos, tone, truncated strings and inconsistent terms, with the reason and the way to check each item.

updated ·3 min read

In this guide

Text is part of the product. A typo on the paywall or a button that reads "Submit" on one screen and "Send" on the next makes an app feel unfinished. This pass is best done on a build on a real device, because many text bugs only show in the running UI: cut-off strings, wrong placeholders, missing translations.

Each item has Why and Check.

Checklist

  1. Typos and grammar on every screen. Why: spell check does not run on strings in code or design files. Check: walk every screen, including settings, empty states and error messages. Paste long texts into a spell checker.
  2. Truncated or overflowing text. Why: labels that fit in your language or on your phone get cut elsewhere. Check: set the largest system font size and a small screen; look for "..." in buttons, titles and tabs.
  3. One term for one thing. Why: "Account", "Profile" and "Login" for the same thing confuse people. Check: list the 10 core nouns and verbs of your app; search the app and the store listing for variants.
  4. Button labels say what happens. Why: "OK" and "Submit" hide the outcome. Check: read each button without its screen. Can you tell what it does? Destructive actions should name the action ("Delete account").
  5. Error messages explain the next step. Why: "Something went wrong" leaves users stuck. Check: trigger errors (wrong password, no network, empty field) and see whether the text says what to do.
  6. Placeholders and variables are filled. Why: raw tokens such as %s, {name} or null leak into the UI. Check: test with empty, very long and special-character values for name, count and date fields.
  7. Plural and number forms. Why: "1 items" is a common slip. Check: view counts of 0, 1, 2 and many for every counted noun.
  8. Tone is consistent. Why: friendly on one screen and formal on the next feels like two products. Check: read onboarding, errors and settings back to back. Decide on one voice and one form of address.
  9. Capitalization and punctuation are consistent. Why: mixed title and sentence case looks careless. Check: compare the titles and buttons of five screens; fix to one style.
  10. Placeholder, test and developer text is gone. Why: "Lorem ipsum", "test" or debug strings reach release builds. Check: search the project for common dummy strings and click through the build once more.
  11. Dates, times and currencies read naturally. Why: formats are text too. Check: switch device language and region and look at every date and price.
  12. Translations are complete. Why: a missing key shows the source language or a key name. Check: switch to each supported language and walk all screens.
  13. Store listing matches the app. Why: names, features and promises in the listing should match the app's wording. Check: compare the listing text with the screens it describes.
  14. Legal and permission texts read correctly. Why: permission prompts and consent texts are read by reviewers and users. Check: read them aloud. This is a wording check only, not legal advice.

Tip

Ask someone who has never seen the app to read the screens out loud. They stumble where users will.

A second pair of eyes often finds what your fifth read-through misses. Start here and get private, structured feedback from other developers.