A Google Translate alternative for travel on iPhone
Last updated November 3, 2026
Apple Translate comes with your iPhone, and Microsoft Translator is another free option. Passport Buddy is a different pick: it translates speech, text and camera text between 21 languages, and Pro adds offline downloads. Try a free option first, then switch if you want one app for all three.
Get Passport Buddy on the App StoreFree options to try first
Apple Translate is built into iPhone and Microsoft Translator is a free app. If one of them already covers your languages and trips, you may not need anything else.
What Passport Buddy does
Passport Buddy translates speech, text and text in photos between 21 languages. You can use it for a face-to-face conversation, a menu, a sign or a train board.
Offline and price
With Pro you can download languages and an offline caption model, so translating keeps working in airplane mode. Passport Buddy is free to download, but using it requires Pro, shown in the app before you buy.
How to choose
Pick the app that covers your language pair and works on your trip. Test it in airplane mode at home before you fly, and keep key details like addresses and medical needs written down.
Questions
Is Passport Buddy free?
Free to download; using it requires Passport Buddy Pro, shown in the app before you buy.
Does Passport Buddy work offline?
Yes, with Pro. Download your languages and the offline caption model first.
How many languages does Passport Buddy support?
It translates between 21 languages.
Is machine translation always right?
No. It can be wrong, so confirm anything important.
Passport Buddy is published by Block Browser INC. Translation is machine-generated and can be wrong, so confirm anything important.