Microsoft Translator

If you’ve ever been faced with an important-looking notice that you can’t understand, an impenetrable piece of foreign paperwork, or even an exotic menu, Microsoft Translator could be just the app for you!

It does exactly what the name suggests: it translates things from one language into another. I have no idea how good its conversion of Slovenian into Kiswahili might be – and I suspect few users will ever need to find out – and some of its translations of more common languages are, shall we say, less than fluent. But they are good enough for most practical purposes.

What’s really impressive about this free app is that you don’t have to key in the text you want to translate. Just point your phone’s camera at the notice or menu and a working translation appears on the screen, almost instantly.