Just before you dive in: If you’ve got an Android smartphone, you need to read our list of the best Android translation apps in 2023.
The best translation apps for iPhone
1. Apple Translate
If you’ve got an iPhone with iOS 14 or higher, you already have a capable translator in your pocket. Just tap the app and select your language pair. There are eleven languages to pick from.
Top handy feature: Offline mode for voice and text translations. Apple says this: "Advanced on-device intelligence lets you translate your voice from one language to another. The app detects your language and provides the translated text and audio in the target language. Downloaded languages can be translated using voice, even without an Internet connection.”
- Pros: You’ve probably already got it and, if you don’t, just update your iOS to 14 or above. Apple also does a pretty good job of preserving user privacy so no data is transferred to the company.
- Cons: No photo or handwriting translation features – yet.
Price: Free with your iPhone.
2. SpeakText
SpeakText can translate full documents or web pages into speech. It has a choice of over a hundred different voices and translates in over fifty languages.
Top handy feature: Get SpeakText to read your morning newspaper to you when you’re on holiday.
- Pros: You can adjust the speed of your chosen voice and ask it to translate any page on the internet as well as standard documents.
- Cons: The developer, BorG Technology Corp, hasn’t provided details on App Store about its privacy policies.
Price: Free with in-app purchases.
3. Translate Me
Translate Me is a powerful tool that’s simple to use. You can use it to translate text, speech and even have real-time translated conversations.
Top handy feature: 3D Touch and Tap&Hold support to pick another language instantly while you’re translating.
- Pros: Voice translations into forty languages and text translations into over one hundred. That’s plenty of choices.
- Cons: Pricey in-app purchases and upgrades compared with some other translation apps for iPhone.
Price: Free version, various premium subscription levels and in-app purchases.
4. Microsoft Translator
A capable translation app that’s currently rated an average of 4.8 out of 5 on App Store by over a quarter of a million users – that's an incredible feedback rating! You can translate text, voice, conversations or photos to over seventy languages.
Top handy feature: The conversation feature provides a ‘group chat’ facility that enables easy communication between groups of friends, even if they all speak a different language.
- Pros: Translations between over seventy languages and impressive accuracy for an app.
- Cons: Some of the less common languages offered – Hebrew, for example – are reported to be less accurately translated than the more widely spoken options such as Spanish, English, German, French and Italian.
Price: Free.
5. Google Translate
Google’s translation app for iPhone is still one of the best out there and is consistently rated highly. It has over a hundred language choices and can translate from photos and handwriting.
Top handy features: Handwriting translations, photo translations and voice translations.
- Pros: Free with no ads or in-app purchases, good support and regular improvements.
- Cons: Google Translate doesn’t do a good job when it comes to your data security. Your text or voice input becomes the property of Google and it can use the data as it wishes.
Price: Free.
