How reliable are smartphone camera translation apps?

The Google Translate app presented some rather indecisive word choices when Chinese writing was viewed through the camera, with small hand movements seemingly changing the app’s mind about which words it was looking at. However, taking a picture within the app and using Google’s AI cloud for translation proved much more effective – enough to aid with ordering from a menu, where the read aloud functionality can also come in handy.  The app’s handwritten Chinese translation was somewhat more hit and miss, but for a freely available app it’s certainly not a bad tool to help holidaymakers get by. 

The Waygo translation app produced better results, giving more detailed and accurate descriptions than Google Translate. Even in instances where the grammar wasn’t perfect, the app provided sufficient information for a decent understanding of the menu in question. The app translates between Chinese, Japanese, Korean and English, making it a great option for those with Asia in their sights for their next vacation. It provides 10 translations for free per day, before users need to switch to the paid version. 

GearBrain also tested Microsoft Translator, another free camera translation app. It performed much the same as Google Translate, though with neater positioning of translations over the original text – a surprisingly important consideration if you need to know which specific part of the menu to point to when ordering! 

Translation apps versus human translation 

The results of GearBrain’s smartphone camera translation app tests certainly aren’t going to give any professional translators sleepless nights worrying about their careers being eclipsed by mobile technology. It seems that there is plenty of room for a translationcompany such as Tomedes and translation apps such as those tested to coexist, each serving a specific purpose and client base. Translation remains a complex undertaking and one that only human skill can finesse perfectly for now. 

Final thoughts

Have you used smartphone camera translation apps while abroad to help you navigate a language that you don’t speak? What were your experiences of them and are there any that you would particularly recommend (or otherwise)? You can leave a comment below to share your views with your fellow translation professionals around the world