February 9, 2011

Translation App Review Triple Threat

Update: Finally rotated the images, sorry for the HUGE delay.

(download)

Three of the best translation apps, as far as I am concerned, are: ITranslate Translator Google Translate Each of these apps have their pros and cons, but ultimately there has to be a victor out of the three.

Let's start with the similarities/differences, and conclude with my recommendation.

To make it easier, we will assume the following is true:

A, B, and C are the three apps.

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The final contender is Google Translate that was released this week, and by the looks of the first image, there are some seriously useful features integrated into the first page.

1. Translation from and to are on the same line as the switching function, which allows for simplified switching between languages.

2. You will also notice a little microphone on the top right of the first page, which allows users to dictate the text to be translated, in their native language. This eliminates the need to open up a specific dictation app, such as Dragon Dictation or Dragon Search, just to dictate text and then a translator to translate that text.

3. After successful translation, perhaps a long sentence, you might be inclined to turn your iPod to landscape mode. This is common when users would like to read a sentence without scrolling. By going to landscape mode, the text becomes larger and pops up in a separate box filling most of the screen. From there, if you double tap the text, you can copy the text to the pasteboard and paste it into another app.

4. One thing I thought was interesting, was that Google Translate doesn't charge users to have any of the following: Reliable, non-robotic voice Save favorite text Unified interface, This of course meaning, all tabs are on the same screen

While A- contains many customizations, including changing voice speed, it doesn't justify the need to pay for it.

While B- may have some unique features, it doesn't make up for no Customization options.

Therefore, the ability to speak the text, save favorites, and view text larger/copy it to pasteboard, does justify the lack of customization. Not to mention the fact that the voice is not robotic and the app is from a reputable source, that being Google.

For pictures in the order of importance, check out the screenshots I took of a chainr www.chainr.com

Note: The images need to be rotated, which might take some time, but I will still upload the screenshots.

I wrote this entire review from my iPod touch, so bear with me on the sentence structure. Also, I made the original review with the program called chainr, which doesn't allow me to send the information to another app easily.

I hope you like the first, of many reviews.

February 9, 2011

Welcome to the Apps Blog

Good evening everyone who has an iPod/iPhone. I have started to review some iPod apps in my spare time and I thought it was time that I collect some of those reviews and create a blog centered around that topic.

Therefore, the blog you are reading (hopefully you are reading it) will be my newest project, where I will include all reviews of apps that were exclusively used and tested on my iPod touch 4g.

The following is a proposed layout of what the blog will contain:

Brief overview of the app
Some screenshots of the app
Link to the app
Pros
Cons
My Rating
Practical Usage
Feature Requests
Bugs it contains
Similar apps

I plan on adjusting this layout, depending on the app. For example, if the app is brand new, I will probably not include the bugs or feature requests until it is updated or its popularity.

For those of you reading this, thanks for the interest in my ideas and critiques and I hope this helps you decide what apps are worth it and what apps are not.

Until next time

Jon E

appsreviewedbyjon's posterous

Apology and list of Apps

Translation App Review Triple Threat

Welcome to the Apps Blog