Best Translation Apps For iPhone

Whether you're travelling abroad or just trying to translate something at home, these iPhone and iPad translation apps will help you out.

The iPhone is a superb tool for when you're travelling abroad. Not only is it small, lightweight and internet-connected; it has a camera, speaker and microphone, which suddenly opens up a whole range of possibilities, not least real-time translation.

We've rounded up some of the best speech, voice and text translator apps for iPhone to help you prepare for your next trip. Some of them work in real-time, some of them can translate from images, and some will even work offline - read on to find out which is best for you.

iTranslate

• RRP: Free
• Buy from App Store

Offline dictionary and translator for iPhone

It's not the most jaw-dropping app in this collection, but iTranslate is a solid and dependable translation dictionary.

It can translate text in over 90 different languages, and recognise languages almost instantly. It also includes dictionaries, lets you save favourite translations, and has an Apple Watch extension too.

The paid Pro mode includes offline translation, website translation, verb conjugations, and voice translation - though for the latter, you might consider iTranslate's dedicated voice translation app.

iTranslate Voice

• RRP: £6.99
• Buy from App Store

Real-time spoken word translation for iPhone

When it comes to translating the spoken word, iTranslate is the app you need. It's like Siri, if Siri could speak 42 different languages. All you do is speak what you want into the device - it then repeats it in English and translates it to the foreign language of your choice.

It's great for learning a different language, but could really save your skin in a difficult situation where you need to communicate with somebody.

Google Translate

• RRP: Free
• Buy from App Store

Real-time sign translation

Google Translate is one of the handiest apps to have on your iPhone. It translates words you speak, or type, into the app, and also lets you download specific languages for the sake of offline translation.

But the reason we love Google Translate is because it features one of our favourite App Store apps ever made: Word Lens. With Word Lens you point the iPhone camera at a sign and watch it translated in front of your eyes.

SpeakText

• RRP: Free
• Buy from App Store

Translate text documents and web pages

If you have documents or web pages that need translation, then SpeakText is a handy app to have on your iPhone.

SayHi Translate

• RRP: Free
• Buy from App Store

Accurate speech recognition

SayHi deserves (and gets) a lot of credit for providing accurate speech recognition. It combines language with dialect to deliver more accurate translation.

More advanced language learners might favour this over Google Translate or iTranslate.

Voice Translate Pro

• RRP: $3.99
• Buy from App Store

One for the more obscure languages

This is one of the most comprehensive voice translation apps on the market. Relentlessly updated, Voice Translate Pro is the place to go if you're looking for live speech translation in a variety of different areas - particularly if relatively obscure languages are spoken in those areas.

MyLanguage Pro

• RRP: $9.99
• Buy from App Store

Translate Latin characters

Professional translation goes beyond merely looking up phrases. MyLanguage Translator Pro offers advanced features such as Latin character translation, and handles more than 59 languages.

MyLanguage is supported by an active community, so it features impressively up-to-date information and is expanding all the time.

Pixter Scanner

• RRP: $3.99
• Buy from App Store

Photograph and translate documents

Pixter Scanner OCR isn't a typical translator app. Instead it translates documents using OCR (optical character recognition).

Use the iPhone's camera to snap a document, and Pixter Scanner OCR goes through the document, recognises the characters, transforms them into text and then translates it. Clever stuff!

If you have documents you need translating then Pixter Scanner OCR is the app to get.