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I think App Store's app thinning doesn't care about locales, so any such attempt should download an additional localization file from Uber's servers. While not technically impossible, it will mean that downloading an app is no longer sufficient to use the app; it should also go through the initial (or incremental) download, which was significant in the case of Uber's case (1 MB per locale according to the blog AFAIK), so it won't be as optimal.

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I mean, does it matter for an app like Uber? It's not a document editor, you'd never use it without an internet connection.

You can still use it without waiting for a MB of the localization file to be downloaded. (Maybe that can make much more sense to, say, social media apps where you will have to download as much data to do anything.)

But the moment you need the new localization information, you'd have just gotten off a long flight in a new country on a data plan that might not be as cost-effective as your plan in your home country.

I believe they optimized for that usecase.

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