Translation apps are great when you’re traveling to foreign countries or just trying to learn a new language at home. The Apple App Store has a wide variety of translation apps available for the iPhone, iPod and iPad that allow you to translate from anywhere in the world.
Of course, the quality of these apps can vary widely and each will include its own set of translated languages. Features also vary widely and some apps even allow you to translate voice messages via the mobile device. The following is our selection of The five best translation apps in the app store.
53Language Translation and Pronunciation – Available for free with ads or for a fee for the premium version, this app can be used on both iPhone and iPad. The software uses the highly rated Google and Bing translators, so an internet connection is required for translation. Google translate includes 53 languages and Bing translates 30 languages. The app also includes phonetic pronunciation for 17 of the languages. The free version provides access to phonetic pronunciation for Japanese translations only.
Trippo Plus Voice Translator – Available for iPhone, this app is a talking translator that translates the words and messages you speak into the microphone. After several seconds, this Nuance-developed app displays the text translation on the iPhone screen along with an audio translation. Although the Trippo app itself is free, you must purchase a license for the in-app speech recognition technology. Trippo also needs internet access for its translations, so make sure you have connectivity if you plan to use it abroad.
Jibbigo- This app also uses speech recognition technology to translate on your iPhone, iPod, or iPad. Simply speak to the device and Jibbigo will translate the message into an audible voice. Due to the more advanced nature of the processing required for speech recognition, audible translation is considerably slower than text-based translation. There is also a higher error rate, so you must be willing to speak slowly and clearly for more accurate translations. Another drawback is that this system is only available for translations between English and four other languages: Iraqi Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish.
Ultralingua-Ultralingua’s mobile dictionaries are well established and the App Store has a great selection to choose from. Each dictionary contains an extensive list of word pairs, and additional features include the ability to conjugate verbs, translate numbers to text, and search the Internet for additional information. They also have specialized dictionaries, for example, the French-English Medical Dictionary. The main disadvantage is that you have to buy each dictionary separately.
iLinguist- Developed as a series by the app development team, iLinguist can translate languages offline. iLinguist West translates between English and five other Western European languages: Dutch, French, Finnish, German, and Italian. The Western European dictionary includes 250,000 entries for word pairs. iLinguist East Supports translations between English and five Eastern European languages: Czech, Croatian, Polish, Russian and Slovak. The Eastern European dictionary includes 292,000 entries for word pairs. Translations are supported in both directions and Google and Wikipedia can also be accessed online.
