Unlike Google Translate, Microsoft Translator for iOS now works offline

Microsoft today announced that its Microsoft Translator app for iOS devices can now translate text and images from one language to another even when you're offline. The app already supported this functionality on Android, and the competing Google Translate for Android could work offline, too. But in this case, Microsoft has beat Google to the punch -- Google Translate currently works offline only on Android. "Until now, iPhone users needed an Internet connection if they wanted to translate on their mobile devices. Now, by downloading the Microsoft Translator app and the needed offline language packs, iOS users can get near online-quality translations even when they are not connected to the Internet. This means no expensive roaming charges or not being able to communicate when a data connection is spotty or unavailable," the Microsoft Translator team wrote in a blog post.