iTranslate

iTranslate is a translation suite built around the situations where you actually need one: a menu you cannot read, a conversation with someone who shares no language with you, a website in a script you do not have, and a phone with no data connection because you are abroad.

The modes. Text translation across more than 100 languages with dialect variants. Voice-to-voice conversation mode, where two people take turns and the app speaks each side back. Lens, which translates through the camera in real time for signs and menus, plus an AR mode for objects. Website translation, verb conjugation tables, and dictionaries that give synonyms and distinct senses rather than one word back.

Offline is the differentiator. Downloaded language packs let the whole thing work with the radio off, which is the difference between a useful travel tool and one that stops working exactly where you needed it.

Learning, not just translating. A phrasebook ships with more than 250 predefined phrases, and a Custom Phrasebook lets you build your own collections for recurring situations. Home-screen widgets and flashcards surface a new word or phrase daily. A keyboard extension puts translation inside any messaging app, and transliteration helps with scripts you cannot sound out.

The family. iTranslate is the flagship; the company also ships iTranslate Converse for conversation, Lingo for language learning, iTranslate Voice, and Typeright for writing assistance. It runs on iOS, macOS, Android and the web.

Free to download with a subscription for the full feature set. Around 200 million downloads and over a million App Store reviews, a 4.7 average across roughly 529,000 US ratings, and an Apple Design Award in 2018. Now operated by Bending Spoons.