DeepL: translate & write 4+

UPDATED! DeepL (Pro), how I love thee, let me count the ways: This is my favorite translator, with more accurate word definitions than I’ve found elsewhere (proven in my language classes, translating scores of documents I submitted for my residency permit, and for communication with my non-English speaking family), including suggested variations on word and phrase translations. The addition of features found in the other big translator—scanned live translation, photos, documents—means I can FINALLY delete that other app, much to my delight! If you use the online/desktop versions of this app, DeepL also has an editable and recallable glossary, and for those with a Pro account: formal and informal translation options (such as found in languages like German). You can even click on a word or phrase in the translation to trigger a pop up of suggested edits. Another bonus: the makers have designed this app with privacy in mind, collecting no personally identifying data. And one more thing: the big-name translator uses almost four times as much memory as this app. Thank you DeepL team!

This app isn’t cheap. But I have found it worth the price tag as its translation abilities from English to Portuguese are the best I’ve experienced. I live in Portugal and am very dependent on this app. But, sometimes it misses the right words and gets it all wrong. I have found its dictionary function invaluable to double-check certain words, so I can be sure its right before I send a message. So I was absolutely SHOCKED when this functionality disappeared recently, making the app no better than any other app (most far less expensive) out there. I sent a message and was informed that the dictionary function indeed has been disabled for the phone app. Why? This functionality was so useful and to disable it makes no sense. Also, its not what I purchased. I now need to go to a different app to look up certain words, which is ridiculous given that DeepL clearly has the ability to offer this as a phone app. Many of us use translation apps on our phones, not desktops, so this is very very disappointing and makes me lose confidence that with a paid subscription DeepL won’t make other decisions that take functionality away. I won’t continue paying for this app as it’s considerably less robust than when I purchased it almost a year ago.

This is my personal opinion on this app. In general, I think it’s great, and I would rate it five stars… apart from the fact that there are limited languages. Of course, that’s not the biggest deal, but that’s just what I believe. For example, Korean isn’t available (as stated by a few other reviews I’ve seen), so I commonly use translators that aren’t as accurate, and unequivocally they barely make sense with translations. Another conflict I have with limited languages is the image translator, since occasionally I need to translate photos — I was sad to see the language I needed was not available, and once again had to resort to inadequate translators. (Which thought some languages were other languages…) Other than that, the app is great and I love it! :)

Edit: Okay, I have seen the new update and they added more languages! My points about this being a great app still stand and I would recommend this to anyone who needs a reliable translator.