Translate Kannada, signal or no signal.
Typed Kannada translation runs on your iPhone with nothing connected. The camera needs a signal: an iPhone cannot read the Kannada script offline, so a scan taken without one is kept and translated when you are back online.
Typing works with no signal
Download the Kannada 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 Kannada 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 Kannada 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 Kannada is known rather than guessed. What came back is below it, unedited.
Printed on it
- ಅಪಾಯ
- ತಂತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಮುಟ್ಟಬೇಡಿ
- ಮಕ್ಕಳನ್ನು ದೂರವಿಡಿ
- ತುರ್ತು ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥಾಪಕರಿಗೆ ಕರೆ ಮಾಡಿ
What the app gave back
- Danger
- Don't touch the wires
- Keep children away
- Call Managers in case of urgency
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.
All four lines came through: "Danger", "Don't touch the wires" and "Keep children away" are exactly right, and "Call Managers in case of urgency" is stiff but clear.
Printed on it
- ದಿನಕ್ಕೆ ಎರಡು ಬಾರಿ ಒಂದು ಮಾತ್ರೆ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳಿ
- ಊಟದ ನಂತರ ನೀರಿನೊಂದಿಗೆ ನುಂಗಿ
- ಚಿಕಿತ್ಸೆಯ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಮದ್ಯಪಾನ ಮಾಡಬೇಡಿ
- ತಂಪಾದ ಮತ್ತು ಒಣ ಸ್ಥಳದಲ್ಲಿ ಇರಿಸಿ
- ನೋವು ಮುಂದುವರಿದರೆ ವೈದ್ಯರನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿ
What the app gave back
- Take a pill twice a day
- Swallowed with water after lunch
- Do not drink alcohol during treatment
- Place in a cool and dry place
- Ask the doctor if the pain continues
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.
Mostly right, with one change that matters: "ಊಟದ ನಂತರ ನೀರಿನೊಂದಿಗೆ ನುಂಗಿ" came back as "Swallowed with water after lunch", where the label means after meals, on a tablet taken twice a day. The dose and the alcohol warning are correct.
Questions
Does Kannada camera translation work offline?
No, and no iPhone app can make it. The phone’s own text recognition cannot read the Kannada script offline. SofiLingo keeps the photograph and translates it the moment you are back online, and typed Kannada works offline in the meantime.
Does typed Kannada translation work offline?
Yes. Download the Kannada 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 Kannada 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 Kannada?
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 Kannada.
Take it with you
The first 15 translations are free, with ads and no card. Download the Kannada pack before you go and the phone can do the rest on its own.
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