Pocket Lingo
Offline emergency help, with private travel translation
Open bundled emergency phrases without a subscription, model, or signal, then show them full screen to someone nearby. Pro adds on-device text, speech, photo, menu, and two-way travel translation.
On the App Store this is listed as Voice Translator: Speak Abroad.
The Challenge
In an emergency abroad, a blank translator box is the wrong starting point. You may have no signal, no model installed, no active subscription, and no time to compose the perfect sentence.
Our Approach
Pocket Lingo opens with a separate Rescue Kit built from bundled, prewritten text rather than generated translation. Pick the destination language, tap a scenario, and hold a high-contrast phrase up to someone nearby. Rescue works without Pro, a model, or the internet and is reachable from the app, Siri, or an Action button shortcut. When the situation is less urgent, Pro adds private on-device translation, camera and menu reading, conversation mode, a 14-language travel phrasebook, and practice.
Key Features
- Translate offline after setup: Text, speech, camera, photo, and menu translation run through a compatible model on your device.
- Rescue without setup: Bundled emergency phrases for all 22 destination languages remain available without Pro, a model, or a connection.
- Reach it under pressure: Rescue is a first-class app destination and an App Shortcut you can assign to Siri or the iPhone Action button.
- Show, do not compose: Large scenario-first phrase cards use bundled wording and never ask AI to improvise emergency text.
- Talk your way: Hold to talk by default, or use the optional hands-free mode with live captions, automatic turn switching, mute, and side controls.
- Go further with the enhanced model: An optional on-device model supports translation across up to 22 languages.
- Hear it properly: When a compatible system voice is installed, native text-to-speech reads phrases aloud with word-by-word highlighting.
- A phrasebook built in: Prewritten essentials for greetings, restaurants, getting around, hotels, and emergencies.
- Practice in spare moments: Corrections on what you write and quick quizzes built from real phrases.
- Private translation by design: No Studio AM account, cloud translation, Studio AM analytics, advertising, or tracking. In-app translation stays on-device. An optional model download sends only a fixed-file request to Hugging Face under its disclosed privacy terms; only an optional web search you explicitly choose opens the query externally.
Requirements
Requires iOS or iPadOS 26 or later. Pocket Lingo uses Apple Intelligence when available or offers an optional enhanced-model download on supported devices. Available languages and features depend on the active model; conversation mode requires the enhanced model. Download the model you need before traveling. Camera, microphone, and speech-recognition permissions are requested only for their features. AI translations can be wrong, so verify important information and never rely on menu flags alone for allergy safety.
Results
A travel translator for the moments when the signal disappears. The App Store shows the current local monthly and yearly prices and any eligible introductory offer before purchase. Saved translations remain available in archive mode after access ends.
Common questions
Pocket Lingo is an offline emergency language aid and private travel translator for iPhone and iPad. Its always-available Rescue Kit groups bundled emergency phrases by situation, leads with a large one-tap help phrase, and can show any phrase full screen to someone nearby. The Rescue Kit covers all 22 supported destination languages and needs no subscription, translation model, Studio AM account, or internet connection. It can be opened from the main drawer, an App Shortcut suitable for Siri or the Action button, or the app’s rescue deep link. 112 and 911 call buttons include an explicit warning that those numbers are not universal. Pro adds text, speech, camera, photo, menu, and two-way conversation translation through compatible on-device models, plus a built-in 14-language travel phrasebook and practice. Monthly and yearly subscriptions use the current local price and any eligible introductory offer shown by the App Store. After a subscription ends, saved translations and phrases remain readable, searchable, exportable, and deletable, and Rescue Kit remains available. The retired lifetime purchase is restore-only for verified previous owners. An optional model download requests a fixed file from Hugging Face without sending translation content; an optional web search opens externally only when the user explicitly chooses it.
Does it translate without an internet connection?
Yes, after a compatible model is set up. Text, voice, camera, photo, menu, and conversation translation run on your device, so they can work in airplane mode. Curated phrases need no translation model; read-aloud also requires a compatible system voice.
Can it translate a menu or sign with the camera?
Yes, with an active subscription or verified legacy lifetime purchase. Point the camera at a menu, sign, or label, take a photo, or import one from your library. On-device Vision reads the visible text and a compatible local model translates it; the photo is not uploaded for translation.
How many languages does it cover?
The active on-device model determines translation coverage. The optional enhanced model supports up to 22 languages. The separate built-in travel phrasebook covers 14 languages and does not need a translation model.
Is there a phrasebook for travel?
Yes. A built-in phrasebook covers greetings, restaurants, getting around, hotels, and emergencies. Each phrase can read aloud with word-by-word highlighting when a compatible system voice is installed; the written phrasebook remains available without one.
Is it free? How much does Pocket Lingo cost?
There is no general free translation or learning tier. The Rescue Kit, with emergency numbers, SOS guidance, and bundled emergency phrases, remains available without a subscription or translation model. Monthly and yearly subscriptions are the only plans sold to new customers. The App Store shows the current local price and any introductory offer for which you are eligible before purchase. The retired lifetime purchase remains restore-only for verified previous owners.
What happens to my saved translations if I stop paying?
They remain readable, searchable, exportable, and deletable in the archive, and the Rescue Kit remains available. New translations, phrasebook, lessons, drills, practice, camera, menu, conversation, and other translation or learning routes remain locked until access is restored.
Does it keep my data private?
Pocket Lingo requires no Studio AM account, cloud translation, or tracking. Translation performed in the app stays on-device. If you choose an optional model download, the app requests a fixed file from Hugging Face without sending your translation content; the provider may retain the requested model interaction, approximate location, and device diagnostics under its privacy policy. App Store purchase or restore also needs a connection. If you decline a result and explicitly choose web search, the query opens in an external service.