What should you look for in a good translator?
When using a translator on the Mac you have to have different points so that you can have a quality result. We are talking about a tool that will help you on a day-to-day basis and that must be as efficient as possible. In this way you will get accurate translations to work with various documents that you will not really understand but that you can easily understand in your language. In addition, it should be taken into account that it also includes the tools to promote the understanding of languages and their learning with options that end up announcing in voice the texts that have been translated. Specifically, the points to take into account are the following:
- Design: There are many options in the App Store that have a variable layout. It may be the case of an option that bets on a discreet design in the toolbar and that is not available with an aesthetic that is difficult to understand. Although there are other options that are more complex visually since a separate window of the application must be opened.
- Features: keep in mind that not all applications are limited to translating without further ado. There are others that are much more complex as in the case of those that have voice functions that act as a dictation to know the phonetics of a word. But there is also the case that very varied tools are included that make it possible to translate different components or web pages.
- Price: obviously application developers must have a source of income, and this means that in many cases you can find options that are paid. But there are also others that are totally free. The best option will always depend on the needs you have and also on what is finally offered by the application.
Basic but powerful translators
It may be the case that when you are looking for a translator, you want the most basic options. By this we mean that it has concise functions with which you will not end up losing. This is something quite common in the App Store and below you can find the different options that we recommend in particular.
iTranslate
This application acts as a tool that does not have a dedicated space. That is, you will not have to perform the different translations in an individual window, but it is integrated into the upper toolbar. This makes it extremely accessible when a specific translation needs to be done. iTranslate for Mac makes more than 100 different languages available to all users.
Keep in mind that this application has important differences with respect to the competition. One of them is present in dictionaries. And it is that although other applications offer only one result for the translation, it offers different results. In this way you can choose the meaning that agrees much more with the context that has been presented in the entire sentence. It is not free, and it has a price of almost ten euros.
Longvanex Translator
Extremely complete application for your Mac with which you can make complete translations of texts, images or PDF files. More than 110 different languages are integrated in the app so that you can have all the possibilities available. All this through a simple application without having to resort to the web version at any time, which can be the most typical. In this case, it makes it much easier to use, and integrate it with the entire ecosystem.
Longvanex supports a wide variety of files. In particular, PDF, docx, txt or odt stand out. In addition, the fact of automatically translating Netflix subtitles can be highlighted, being ideal if they are not in your mother tongue. But the most interesting thing is that it integrates a database with voices in 60 different languages so that the text you have just translated can be read. Great for when you’re trying to learn pronunciation and it’s also a great accessibility tool.
Mate Translate
Forget about accessing web translators thanks to this application that can be found in the Mac App Store. It is used worldwide by more than half a million users and allows a total of 103 languages to be understood. You will translate words and texts in an easy and fast way just by selecting them in any other application. You can also create your own dictionary of phrases that adapts perfectly to the way you speak.
It has really powerful functions such as listening to each of the translations, to appreciate their phonetics. The application can be found in numerous locations and is really accessible. The first thing to note is that it can be used from the toolbar with a simple click and entering what you want to translate. Added to this is the integration with Safari to translate the entire web pages.
DeepL
This is a service that you have surely heard about on more than one occasion. DeepL is an application that is used daily by millions of people and integrates multiple languages, so you can always find yours. In general, it can be used in its web version but there is also the application for iOS, Windows and also for macOS, which is what interests us in this case.
You can instantly translate any text you are writing, such as an email, an article, a report or a blog entry. In addition, you can make a subscription to this service in order to have the highest possible level of security. The most interesting thing is that it has different keyboard shortcuts to facilitate the process of translating text from a web page or from any other document.
Translator App: Linguist
Easy, simple and fast translation application with a single price. This way you can forget about the obnoxious subscriptions. In this case you can make an instant translation of words, phrases and documents between more than 100 languages. In short, it is an easy-to-use translation tool that is integrated into the upper toolbar but can also be used in traditional windowed mode.
As we have previously commented, this application has a total of 103 languages and is capable of translating .txt, .rft and .doc texts. The texts that you have translated can be automatically copied to the clipboard to be able to work with them. Also if you are doing translations you will find different synonyms of the words so that you can have a much richer vocabulary.
Translators focused on web pages
One of the great focuses that will exist on the computer when it comes to translating is the web browser. When you are browsing in search of information, it is quite a problem that you have to end up on a website that is not written in your native language. That is why you should go to translators like these that we recommend below.
Hello Translator for Safari
Extremely complete application that is designed to be integrated into Safari. It will translate both the text and the entire pages in your browser without any problem. The most outstanding thing that can be said about this application is that it has an automatic system to determine the source text, which simplifies and speeds up the translation process. This will cause just selecting a piece of text to translate to the default language.
The translation that is done is quite efficient and you have sound tools. In this way you will be able to clearly hear the phonetics of what you have translated in order to learn the new language in a much more comfortable way. It even integrates with the operating system and offers the possibility of using a hotkey system to perform the translation when you are browsing Safari.
Translator for Internet Pro
In the day to day you can find many websites that you do not understand because they are written in another language. In this case, this application can help you by integrating perfectly into the browser itself. Just marking a part of the text will detect the language. If it is correctly configured, it will appear in the text you have chosen while you were entering all the parameters.
It should be noted that it is highly reliable when it comes to carrying out all the translations that are going to be proposed by choosing the text. This is something really important since having faithful translations must always be prioritized to enjoy specific web pages. In addition, you should not choose anything since it does not have a separate application that integrates perfectly into Safari.
Translate for Safari
Really good application that aims to translate entire web pages or only paragraphs in Safari in a very discreet way. It does not have a highly developed interface as it is fully integrated into Safari as an extension. In addition, the text you write in an email, forms or documents can also be translated. This is ideal especially if you are a businessman and need to fill out international documents.
Browse the internet and translate the entire page into your preferred language. You can do it automatically after loading the page or manually when you need it. Keep in mind that the translation offered is quite reliable since it is developed with Google Translate. It is capable of translating entire PDF documents or having the translated text read aloud to you to understand phonetics.
The most recommended
As you have seen, there are several options available in the Translators App Store. We particularly stayed with two of them. The first is Mate Translate due to the aesthetics it has, it is quite complete. It also adds different tools to translate any type of text that you can read on your Mac. Here are included PDF documents and also web pages. But it is also possible to translate the text of the images.
The second option to consider is Longvanex Translator which has tools that are very similar to the previous ones. The most outstanding thing is that it has the possibility of translating the text that is in a simple image, so you should not always transfer the texts to a traditional format. All this with an interface that calls to use it, and with great versatility since it can be found in the toolbar to open it quickly with a simple click.
