Best Translation Apps for China: Offline, Camera and Conversation Compared

For a trip to China, two translation apps are enough. The first is an offline translator you set up at home: Apple Translate on an iPhone, with Mandarin downloaded so it runs on the phone without a connection, or Microsoft Translator on Android, which can translate text and photos offline once you download the language pack. The second is a Chinese-made app such as Youdao Translate, which has an English interface and camera, voice and offline modes. Do not plan around Google Translate: China's official tourism website says Google services cannot be reached directly in China. Install both apps, download the offline packs on your home Wi-Fi, and test the camera on a printed page before you fly.

Which translation apps to install for China: quick comparison

The table below covers the apps travellers ask about most, based on each company's own store listing or help pages as of October 2026. Features move around between versions, so the app's own settings screen is the final word.

Our picks by phone:

• iPhone: Apple Translate as your offline backbone, plus Youdao or Tencent Translator for quick camera work on menus while you have data.
• Android: Microsoft Translator with the Chinese pack downloaded, plus Youdao: install it from Google Play before you fly if your store lists it; otherwise use Tencent or Baidu if available.
• Want to read characters, not just get the gist: add Pleco.

You will also have WeChat on your phone, and it translates chats and photos on its own. That covers most messages with hotels and drivers, so you do not need a third translation app.

Apple Translate: the easy choice on iPhone

Apple Translate is already on your iPhone, which makes it the least work. It supports both Mandarin (China mainland) and Mandarin (Taiwan) among more than 20 languages. Pick Mandarin (China mainland) for simplified characters, the ones used on the mainland. Cantonese is not on the Translate app's list, so it will not follow spoken Cantonese. In Guangzhou it will still help with signs; for Hong Kong's traditional characters, download Mandarin (Taiwan) as well.

The important step is the download. As Apple's iPhone User Guide explains, go to Settings > Apps > Translate > Languages and tap the download button next to Mandarin (China mainland). In the same screen you can set On-Device Translation to "Always", so the app only uses the downloaded language on your phone; "Automatic" uses the download when it has one and may otherwise send text to Apple's servers. If you want it to work the same in a metro tunnel as on hotel Wi-Fi, choose Always.

Three modes matter on a trip:

• Camera: point it at a restaurant menu or a street sign and the translation sits on top of the text. You can freeze the frame and zoom in, or translate a photo you already took.
• Conversation: both sides' words show up as speech bubbles, and the face-to-face view lets the other person read their half across the table. Downloaded languages work here without a connection too.
• Text: type or paste a sentence, then show the screen.

It is free, private and works with zero signal, which is what you want from the app you fall back on when nothing else connects.

Chinese translation apps: Youdao, Baidu and Tencent

The three big Chinese apps are built for Chinese users, so they run well on Chinese mobile networks and are tuned for Chinese text. The trade-off is that their menus and help pages lean Chinese, and some features sit behind in-app purchases. The details below come from each app's China App Store listing as of October 2026. Depending on your country's store, an app may be listed under a different name or not at all, so search for it before you leave.

Youdao Translate (有道翻译官, Yǒudào Fānyìguān)

Youdao, from the internet company NetEase, is our first pick of the three for visitors. Its listing gives an English interface alongside simplified Chinese, 107 languages, and photo, voice, simultaneous interpretation (it translates as the person keeps talking), live AR (the translation appears over the camera view) and offline translation. Offline translation covers English, Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Vietnamese, so English speakers are covered with no data.

The listing also shows a membership, roughly ¥25–35 a month or ¥128 for a year, but it does not say which features need it, so check what the free version gives you on your own phone before you pay. For menus, signs and short chats, try the free features first.

Baidu Translate (百度翻译, Bǎidù Fānyì)

Baidu Translate, from the search company Baidu, lists 200 languages online. Its camera covers about 20 common languages in three modes: a normal photo, "smear", where you rub your finger over just the line you want, and live AR, where the translation appears over the camera view; voice and conversation translation cover 21. English is one of its listed app languages.

Baidu's offline mode is limited. Offline, it only looks up words; full offline translation packs are paid: on the China App Store a Chinese–English pack is ¥8 for two weeks or ¥22 for six months, and the price in your store may differ, so check the in-app price. If you already have an offline app from the first section, use Baidu online and skip the pack.

Tencent Translator (腾讯翻译君, Téngxùn Fānyìjūn)

Tencent, the company behind WeChat, lists its translator as free, with an English interface, and with voice translation, simultaneous interpretation, text, and photo translation of things like street signs and menus. It covers English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Russian, French, German, Thai, Vietnamese and several more. The listing does not mention an offline mode, so treat it as an online app and keep Apple Translate or Microsoft Translator for dead zones. It is the simplest of the three to start using: open it, pick English and Chinese, and talk.

Which one? Youdao if you want offline English on a Chinese app. Tencent if you want something free and simple that you will only use with data. Baidu if you like its smear mode for busy menus and do not mind buying a pack.

Google Translate, DeepL and Microsoft Translator in China

China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism says on its Travel China site that Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp cannot be accessed directly in China, and that visitors need a VPN for them. Read the SIM Cards & Networks page on Travel China for the full wording, and our internet and VPN guide for what that means for your phone.

For Google Translate, the useful part is the offline download. Open the app, choose the language, and tap Download; once downloaded, it translates without a connection, and some downloaded languages also work with the camera. Do this at home, because a language with no download button cannot be saved for offline use. Most travellers find downloaded text translation keeps working, while anything that needs Google's servers does not. If Google is the app you know, keep it as a backup, not your main tool.

If you use DeepL at home, treat it the same way: check whether it loads on your connection after you land, check DeepL's own app for an offline option before you go, and keep one of the apps above as your main tool.

Microsoft Translator is the better non-Chinese option on Android. You can download offline language packs for text, and use the camera offline on signs and menus; its phrasebook of more than 200 travel and business phrases is always available offline. Simplified and traditional Chinese both support text, speech, image and read-aloud. Know the limit: Microsoft's Android help page says conversation and the microphone modes do not work offline, so face-to-face talk needs data. Microsoft's offline instructions are written for Android; on an iPhone, check the app's language settings for a download option before you go, or simply use Apple Translate.

Pleco: the dictionary for reading Chinese characters

Pleco is a Chinese–English dictionary, not a sentence translator. It is the app to pick if you want to know what a word on a sign actually means, how to say it, and how it is written. The free version has no ads and includes the full dictionary search, handwriting input, and two dictionaries: CC-CEDICT with over 110,000 entries and Pleco's own with 125,000 entries and more than 25,000 example sentences with pinyin. Handwriting helps when you see a character and cannot type it: draw it with your finger.

You need a connection only to buy and download extras; after that it runs fully offline, and the iPhone version needs iOS 15.6 or later. Pointing the camera at text (OCR) is a paid add-on: on iPhone the Basic Bundle, which includes OCR, is US$29.99, and the Professional Bundle is US$59.99. Purchases are one-time, not subscriptions.

Who it suits: students, people staying more than a couple of weeks, and anyone curious about the language. For a one-week trip, the free version is plenty, and a camera translator from above does the menu work. If the trip makes you want to learn Mandarin properly, a few lessons with a tutor on italki pair well with Pleco's dictionary and example sentences.

WeChat's built-in translation

WeChat (Weixin in mainland China) already translates. Long-press a message and tap Translate to see it in your WeChat language; on version 8.0.56 or later you can turn on automatic translation of incoming messages under Settings > General > Translation. For printed text, tap + > Scan and choose Translate, then photograph the menu or sign. Setup and sign-up are in our WeChat setup guide.

Habits that make translation apps work better

Speak in short, plain sentences, one idea at a time: "Where is the subway?" translates better than a long polite question. Turn the phone around and let the other person read the screen, and hand it over so they can speak their answer. Photograph menus rather than typing dish names; our guide to ordering food with zero Chinese covers the rest, and survival Chinese phrases is worth a skim. Download every offline pack before you fly. For the rest of your phone setup, see our map apps guide and the full checklist of apps to install before you go.

Offline packs cover the basics, but conversation modes and the full features of the Chinese apps run online, so mobile data matters. China's official tourism site suggests buying a travel eSIM with China coverage before you arrive; Airalo is one such provider, and our China SIM card and eSIM guide compares the options.

In Shaanxi province (home to Xi'an), the 12345 government service hotline has offered English live translation on weekdays; other cities may offer similar help, so check locally.

Last updated: October 2026