iTranslate review

We English types aren't exactly famous for our foreign language skills, are we. Speak a bit louder and a tad slower and they'll get the gist, right? Well, if you find this tactic doesn't quite work, you might find a translation app for your iPhone useful. With so many that are free to download, it's hard to choose from them. Sometimes freebies aren't necessarily all that valuable though.

ITranslate lets you translate between up to 42 different languages, although we imagine most of our readers would be interested in translating from English. To do so is pretty simple. The main interface screen is split up into two separate boxes. The top one is the one you need to be most interested in.

Here, you input any text you want using the iPhone's standard keyboard. You only need to click on the box to do so. Below, you can select exactly which language you want to translate to. The list is, at least at first, truly impressive. When translating from English, there's 42 different languages to choose from. Presuming you're connected, once you click on the translate button, this should go without a hitch. As long as you haven't used too many expletives of colloquialisms, that is.

However, examining the fact that you have to be online to make even the most basic of translations shows you iTranslate's imitations. In reality, it's little more than a front-end for Google's own immensely applause-worthy translation service.

Try and boot up the app without being online, and it's like staring at a blank canvas. Try to type in a sentence? Error message. Even if that's one you've translated just half an hour ago? Error message.

For all its ease of use - and as long as you're au fait with the workings of the Apple virtual keypad you should have no problems with iTranslate - there's just not enough to iTranslate. If it let you save up some of your previously translated phrases into a sort of makeshift phrasebook, it would be much more use when actually traveling.

Unfortunately, iTranslate leaves you forever translating on the fly, meaning you're always at the mercy of whatever connection you're on- not to mention any roaming charges you may incur.

The only real benefit to iTranslate is that it offers a marginally more attractive interface than you'd see by simply surfing over to Google's translate service directly, using the iPhone's built-in browser. For some, this may be enough to warrant the download, but if you're actually intending to use it substantially, we'd recommend shelling out for a more fully-featured app, such as Outer Space App's own iTranslate Plus.