Translate Swahili, with no signal at all.
Typed Swahili translation and the camera both run on your iPhone, so a menu or a sign in Swahili can be read in flight mode. Below are two real ones, printed, photographed and translated by the app, and left unedited.
Typing works with no signal
Download the Swahili pack once, over hotel wifi, and typed translation runs on the phone from then on — as it does in all 58 languages.
The camera reads it on the phone
Your iPhone reads Swahili from a photograph itself. Nothing is sent anywhere, and it works with the phone in flight mode.
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 Swahili 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 Swahili is known rather than guessed. What came back is below it, unedited.
Printed on it
- Hatari
- Usiguse nyaya
- Waweke watoto mbali
- Mpigie simu meneja wakati wa dharura
What the app gave back
- Danger
- Don't touch the cables
- Put children away
- Call the manager during an emergency
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 usable. "Waweke watoto mbali" came back as "Put children away", a little odd but clear, and "Don't touch the cables" and "Call the manager during an emergency" are exact.
Printed on it
- Daraja la Zamani
- Daraja lilijengwa mwaka wa 1580.
- Liliharibiwa vitani na kujengwa upya kwa mawe ya asili.
- Leo ni mnara unaotembelewa zaidi katika eneo hili.
- Kupiga picha bila mweko kunaruhusiwa.
What the app gave back
- The old bridge was built in 1580. was destroyed in battle and rebuilt the natural stone. Today is the most visited tower in this area. Photography without being permitted.
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 whole placard was read as one block, and the translation lost a word that matters: "Kupiga picha bila mweko kunaruhusiwa" came back as "Photography without being permitted", which reads as a ban. It also calls the bridge "the most visited tower".
Questions
Does Swahili camera translation work offline?
Yes. Your iPhone reads Swahili from a photograph itself, so a scan works in flight mode and nothing is sent anywhere.
Does typed Swahili translation work offline?
Yes. Download the Swahili 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 Swahili 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 Swahili?
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 Swahili.
Take it with you
The first 15 translations are free, with ads and no card. Download the Swahili pack before you go and the phone can do the rest on its own.
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