Tova Translate
Scan. Speak. Translate
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Read any sign. Talk to anyone. Tova translates 118 languages with real Hanyu Pinyin, Jyutping & romaji. Works offline in China.
Tova Translate is the camera, voice, and text translator built for travel in China, across Asia, and beyond.
WHAT MAKES TOVA DIFFERENT
• Real Hanyu Pinyin for Mandarin — above every character, in real time
• Real Jyutping for Cantonese — not Mandarin pinyin mapped onto Cantonese
• Real romaji for Japanese — above every kana and kanji
• Real revised romanization for Korean — above every hangul syllable
• 118 target languages, 11 camera scripts, full per-character readings
WORKS OFFLINE IN CHINA — NO VPN
When the backend is unreachable, Apple's on-device Translation framework kicks in automatically. No setup, no detours.
LIVE CAMERA OCR
Point your camera at a sign, menu, or contract. Tova detects the text and overlays per-character readings in real time. Works across Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Arabic, Hebrew, Devanagari, Tibetan, and more.
TWO-WAY VOICE TRANSLATION
On-device speech recognition with natural voice playback. Speak naturally — Tova hears you, transcribes you, translates you, and reads the result back.
BOARDROOM MODE — 3-WAY LIVE TRANSLATION
Three speakers, three languages, one conversation. Tova hears all three voices and translates between every pair in real time. Perfect for international meetings, cross-cultural family dinners, and multilingual group travel.
OFFLINE PHRASE PACKS
29 curated travel phrase packs plus the complete CC-CEDICT Chinese dictionary. Download once, use forever.
SAVED PHRASES
Build a personal phrase library you can play back anytime.
TIERS
• Free — Camera OCR, two-way voice, 118 languages, offline in China
• Pro — Saved phrases, premium engines, common replies, glossary, Boardroom 3-way mode, document OCR, PDF upload
Tova Translate is free on the App Store. Pro subscriptions auto-renew until canceled in iOS Settings.
STUDY WHAT YOU TRANSLATE — TOVA LEARN CHINESE
Send any Chinese word straight to Tova Learn Chinese, our free companion study app. Tap the Learn icon on a result and the characters, pinyin, and meaning carry over automatically, ready to practice.
Terms: https://tovatranslate.app/terms/
Privacy: https://tovatranslate.app/privacy/
Ratings & Reviews
NEW: Study the Chinese you translate
Send any Chinese word straight to Tova Learn Chinese — our free companion study app — and its pinyin and meaning carry over automatically. Just tap the Learn icon on a result.
• Stability and performance improvements
• Bug fixes across the camera, voice, and translate tabs
Questions? support@tovatranslate.app
The developer, ZHUOER TANG, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Used to Track You
The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
- Contact Info
- User Content
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Purchases
- Diagnostics
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- ZHUOER TANG
- Size
- 127.3 MB
- Category
- Travel
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 16.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 16.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 16.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 13.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
English and 2 more
- English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Contains
Advertising
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Tova Team — 10 seats $999.00
- Tova Team — 5 seats $599.00
- Tova Team — 3 seats $399.00
- 7-Day Travel Pass $4.99
- Tova Pro Annual $49.99
- Tova Pro Monthly $7.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 Tova