Translate

Screenshot of the Translate app in iOS 16
Developer(s)	Apple Inc.
Initial release	September 16, 2020 (2020-09-16) (iOS) September 20, 2021 (2021-09-20) (iPadOS) October 25, 2021 (2021-10-25) (macOS)
Operating system	iOS, iPadOS and macOS
Platform	iPhone 6S and iPhone SE (1st generation) or later iPad Mini 4 or later iPad (5th generation) or later iPad (6th generation) or later iPad Pro (1st generation) or later MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac,Mac mini, Mac Studio
Type	Translation software
License	Proprietary
Website	support.apple.com/HT211671

Translate is a translation app developed by Apple for their iOS and iPadOS devices. Introduced on June 22, 2020, it functions as a service for translating text sentences or speech between several languages and was officially released on September 16, 2020, along with iOS 14. All translations are processed through the neural engine of the device, and as such can be used offline.^[1]

History

On June 7, 2021, Apple announced that the app would be available on iPad models running iPadOS 15, as well as Macs running macOS Monterey alongside other system-wide translation features. The app was officially released for iPad models on September 20, 2021, along with iPadOS 15. It was also released for Mac models on October 25, 2021, along with macOS Monterey.

On June 6, 2022, Apple announced six new languages, Turkish, Indonesian, Polish, Dutch, Thai and Vietnamese. The six new languages work on iPhone 8 or later, iPhone 8 Plus or later, iPhone X or later, iPhone SE (2nd generation) or later, iPad Air (3rd generation) or later, all iPad Pro models, iPad Mini (5th generation) or later and iPad (5th generation) or later. The Turkish, Indonesian, Polish, Dutch and Thai languages were added to the app on June 22, 2022, the second anniversary of the announcement of the app. The Vietnamese language was added to the app on July 27, 2022.

iOS 16 introduced the ability to translate text through the camera, allowing users to translate text on objects or physical documents in real-time.^[2]

Languages

Translate originally supported the translation between the UK (British) and US (American) dialects of English, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, the European dialect of Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, the Brazilian dialect of Portuguese and Russian.^[3] This grew to 17 languages as six new languages were added in 2022, such as Turkish, Indonesian, Polish, Dutch, Thai and Vietnamese. All languages support dictation and can be downloaded for offline use. Support for Ukrainian was added with the release of iOS 17.^[4]

References