Translate Hebrew, signal or no signal.
Typed Hebrew translation runs on your iPhone with nothing connected. The camera needs a signal: an iPhone cannot read the Hebrew script offline, so a scan taken without one is kept and translated when you are back online.
Typing works with no signal
Download the Hebrew pack once, over hotel wifi, and typed translation runs on the phone from then on — as it does in all 58 languages.
The camera needs a connection
An iPhone cannot read the Hebrew script offline at all. With a signal the photograph is read and translated; without one the scan is kept and translated the moment you are back online, so the sign is not lost.
Speech depends on your iPhone
Spoken translation uses Apple's own speech packs, which cover about half of these languages and differ from phone to phone — so the app tells you if it cannot hear Hebrew rather than failing while someone waits. How speech works.
Two real ones, printed and photographed
Both went through the app on an iPhone from pages we had printed, so the Hebrew is known rather than guessed. What came back is below it, unedited.
Printed on it
- תפריט היום
- מרק ירקות עם לחם
- עוף בגריל עם תפוחי אדמה
- דג טרי של היום
- עוגת שוקולד
- קפה ותה כלולים
What the app gave back
- Menu today
- Vegetable soup with bread
- Grilled chicken with potatoes
- Fresh fish of the day
- Chocolate Cake
- Coffee and tea are included
Read and translated on an iPhone, 1 September 2026, from a page we had printed — so the original is known rather than guessed. Nothing here is tidied up.
Every dish came through, and "קפה ותה כלולים" came back as "Coffee and tea are included". The only wobble is "Menu today" for the heading.
Printed on it
- תחנה מרכזית
- רציף 3
- רכבות לשדה התעופה
- קנו כרטיס לפני העלייה לרכבת
- יציאה מימין
What the app gave back
- Central station
- Continuous 3
- Trains to the airport
- Buy a card before boarding the train
- Depart to the right
Read and translated on an iPhone, 1 September 2026, from a page we had printed — so the original is known rather than guessed. Nothing here is tidied up.
The platform line went wrong: "רציף 3" came back as "Continuous 3" rather than Platform 3. The rest is usable, if loose, with "Buy a card before boarding the train" and "Depart to the right".
Questions
Does Hebrew camera translation work offline?
No, and no iPhone app can make it. The phone’s own text recognition cannot read the Hebrew script offline. SofiLingo keeps the photograph and translates it the moment you are back online, and typed Hebrew works offline in the meantime.
Does typed Hebrew translation work offline?
Yes. Download the Hebrew pack once, over wifi, and typing runs entirely on the phone from then on. That is true of all 58 languages.
How good is the Hebrew translation?
Good enough for menus, signs and tickets, and not for anything that matters legally or medically. The two examples on this page are unedited, mistakes included, so you can judge it yourself before you pay anything.
Can SofiLingo hear spoken Hebrew?
It depends on your iPhone. Spoken translation uses Apple’s own speech packs, which cover about half of the 58 languages and differ from phone to phone, so the app tells you before you start if it cannot hear Hebrew.
Take it with you
The first 15 translations are free, with ads and no card. Download the Hebrew pack before you go and the phone can do the rest on its own.
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