Apple Translate: built into iPhone, free, and iOS-only
Apple's own Translate app is free, tiny, and works on-device — but covers about twenty languages and never comes to Android. We check what that trade-off buys.
Apple Translate isn't competing on language count — it's the only pick here that's preinstalled, free by default, and tied to hardware most people in this roundup's audience already own.
What it gives you
On-device mode. Translations can run fully offline for downloaded languages, keeping the conversation off the internet entirely rather than just caching phrases for later.
Live Translation with AirPods (iPhone only) — hands-free translation spoken into your ear through supported AirPods models, a feature none of the other apps in this roundup offer at all.
Face-to-face conversation view, auto-translate that starts listening without tapping a button, and a size of just 7MB — smallest in this roundup by a wide margin.
What it costs
Language coverage — around twenty languages against Google Translate's 249 or iTranslate's 100+. If the language you need isn't Apple's list, this app can't help.
Platform lock-in, total: no Android version exists or ever will, since this is an iOS system feature, not a cross-platform product.
Who it's for
iPhone owners who want a free, private, on-device translator for one of its ~20 supported languages without installing anything extra — especially anyone with AirPods who wants hands-free Live Translation. Anyone needing broader language coverage or an Android version needs a different pick entirely.
The rest of the picks are in our best translator apps roundup.
Common questions
- Is Apple Translate available on Android?
- No, and it never will be — this is Apple's own built-in app, tied to iOS. It isn't a third-party app with an unconfirmed Android version; it's an operating-system feature that only exists on Apple hardware.
- Is Apple Translate free?
- Yes, completely free with no subscription or in-app purchases — it comes preinstalled on iPhone.
- How many languages does Apple Translate support?
- Around twenty, per the current listing — far fewer than [Google Translate](/en/apps/google-translate)'s 249, though it covers Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.