Similarly to how Google did with its own Google Translate mobile app, Microsoft Translator now includes text recognition from images too, along with its previous methods. So now you can also easily translate signs and entire chunks of text you can see by taking a photo of them and letting Microsoft Translator do the job. This completes the series of methods you can use in order to find your way around foreign countries, airports and whatnot, in addition to typing text or voice recognition.
This is a change that has only been made on the iOS version of Microsoft Translator so far, and currently only has support for 11 languages: English, Simplified Chinese, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese. This takes the Microsoft Translator app up to par with its direct competitor, Google Translate by making it possible to easily read content on signs, menus, flyers and so on.
Even though the two services are almost identical right now, they still differ the smallest amount. For the time being, at least, it would seem that Microsoft doesn’t yet support instant image translation, by making use of an overlay translation as soon as you point your camera at something. On top of that, the app requires you to manually download different free translation packs for particular languages.
So in case you’re planning to go in a particular country where you expect Microsoft Translator to be able to do all the heavy lifting of translation for you, make sure you have the right packages installed before you leave. It’s also great to know that the image translation service can be used offline, so you don’t even need to worry about the aspect of Wi-Fi connectivity.
Considering you can use it with iPhone and iPod Touch devices running iOS 8.0 or over, and even includes the Apple Watch in its midst of compatible devices, even if at the moment the last of the three doesn’t include a camera on it, there’s a large growing curve for the app’s mere usefulness.
On top of the newest image translation addition, the Microsoft Translator app does a fairly consistent job of translating real life conversations, on the spot. However, the voice translation feature is not supported in offline mode, meaning you will have to have a stable internet connection or mobile data turned on in order to be capable of making use of it.
It hasn’t been announced when the new features will be making their way on to Android platform as well, but Microsoft stated that they want all versions of the Translator to offer the same package of services, regardless of platform used.
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