Busy travelers would be nowhere without their translation dictionaries that will tell them what people are saying, or what signs in different countries say. Now you can translate languages (at least written ones) wherever you are, and without having to pack all of those bulky and heavy translation dictionaries into your suitcase. You can do that with the Words Lens app for the iPhone – an app that may be the only translator you’ll ever need. The thing that you need to worry most about with this app is that while it’s advertised as being free, it’s not really.
The app works very simply – and quite intuitively too, we might say. Don’t worry about looking up words in another language in a translation dictionary! Just take a picture of the word with your iPhone camera and the app will translate it for you, giving you the same words on the same sign – but in your own language this time! It’s never been easier to read another language!
The app is offered free in iTunes however, it’s important to note that you won’t really be able to use the free version. This is because the free version only gives you the ability to look up words that are spelled backwards and the ability to erase words. It does not give you the option to actually translate any words from one language to another. And to be able to do that, you’ll need to buy add-ons.
Word Lens is a very cool app, and a very cool way to learn a new language or just get a little help when you need it. And people probably wouldn’t even mind paying a few bucks for it, but the fact that the developers were not upfront about it at first seems to have turned a lot of people off the app. If you want to try out the free version and see if you want to pay more for it, you can start by downloading it here.