diff --git a/lib/twine/cli.rb b/lib/twine/cli.rb
index 5f0d42f..67db37a 100644
--- a/lib/twine/cli.rb
+++ b/lib/twine/cli.rb
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ module Twine
         opts.on('-d', '--developer-language LANG', 'When writing the strings data file, set the specified language as the "developer language". In practice, this just means that this language will appear first in the strings data file.') do |d|
           @options[:developer_language] = d
         end
+        opts.on('-c', '--consume-comments', 'Normally, when consuming a string file, Twine will ignore all comments in the file. With this flag set, any comments encountered will be read and parsed into the strings data file. This is especially useful when creating your first strings data file from an existing project.') do |c|
+          @options[:consume_comments] = true
+        end
         opts.on('-e', '--encoding ENCODING', 'Twine defaults to encoding all output files in UTF-8. This flag will tell Twine to use an alternate encoding for these files. For example, you could use this to write Apple .strings files in UTF-16. This flag currently only works with Apple .strings files and is currently only supported in Ruby 1.9.3 or greater.') do |e|
           if !"".respond_to?(:encode)
             raise Twine::Error.new "The --encoding flag is only supported on Ruby 1.9.3 or greater."
diff --git a/lib/twine/formatters/abstract.rb b/lib/twine/formatters/abstract.rb
index 26a7ca0..8cd6c45 100644
--- a/lib/twine/formatters/abstract.rb
+++ b/lib/twine/formatters/abstract.rb
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ module Twine
         end
       end
 
+      def set_comment_for_key(key, comment)
+        if @strings.strings_map.include?(key)
+          @strings.strings_map[key].comment = comment
+        end
+      end
+
       def default_file_name
         raise NotImplementedError.new("You must implement default_file_name in your formatter class.")
       end
diff --git a/lib/twine/formatters/android.rb b/lib/twine/formatters/android.rb
index 5efd621..a79f554 100644
--- a/lib/twine/formatters/android.rb
+++ b/lib/twine/formatters/android.rb
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ module Twine
 
                 if value # if values is nil, there was no appropriate translation, so let Android handle the defaulting
                   value = String.new(value) # use a copy to prevent modifying the original
-                  
+
                   # Android enforces the following rules on the values
                   #  1) apostrophes and quotes must be escaped with a backslash
                   value.gsub!('\'', '\\\\\'')
@@ -106,12 +106,12 @@ module Twine
                   value.gsub!('<', '&lt;')
                   #  3) fix substitutions (e.g. %s/%@)
                   value = androidify_substitutions(value)
-  
+
                   comment = row.comment
                   if comment
                     comment = comment.gsub('--', '—')
                   end
-  
+
                   if comment && comment.length > 0
                     f.puts "\t<!-- #{comment} -->\n"
                   end
@@ -124,11 +124,11 @@ module Twine
           f.puts '</resources>'
         end
       end
-      
+
       def iosify_substitutions(str)
         # 1) use "@" instead of "s" for substituting strings
         str.gsub!(/%([0-9\$]*)s/, '%\1@')
-        
+
         # 2) if substitutions are numbered, see if we can remove the numbering safely
         expectedSub = 1
         startFound = false
@@ -156,19 +156,19 @@ module Twine
             foundSub = 0
           end
         end
-        
+
         # if we got this far, then the numbering (if any) is in order left-to-right and safe to remove
         if expectedSub > 1
           str.gsub!(/%\d+\$(.)/, '%\1')
         end
-        
+
         return str
       end
-      
+
       def androidify_substitutions(str)
         # 1) use "s" instead of "@" for substituting strings
         str.gsub!(/%([0-9\$]*)@/, '%\1s')
-        
+
         # 2) if there is more than one substitution in a string, make sure they are numbered
         substituteCount = 0
         startFound = false
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ module Twine
             startFound = true
           end
         end
-        
+
         if substituteCount > 1
           currentSub = 1
           startFound = false
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ module Twine
           return str
         end
       end
-      
+
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/twine/formatters/apple.rb b/lib/twine/formatters/apple.rb
index a35550c..70cb10d 100644
--- a/lib/twine/formatters/apple.rb
+++ b/lib/twine/formatters/apple.rb
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ module Twine
         end
 
         File.open(path, mode) do |f|
+          last_comment = nil
           while line = (sep) ? f.gets(sep) : f.gets
             if encoding.index('UTF-16')
               if line.respond_to? :encode!
@@ -62,6 +63,17 @@ module Twine
               value = match[2]
               value.gsub!('\\"', '"')
               set_translation_for_key(key, lang, value)
+              if last_comment
+                set_comment_for_key(key, last_comment)
+              end
+            end
+            if @options[:consume_comments]
+              match = /\/\* (.*) \*\//.match(line)
+              if match
+                last_comment = match[1]
+              else
+                last_comment = nil
+              end
             end
           end
         end