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Apple today announced that iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey feature system-wide translation, allowing users to translate text by simply selecting it and tapping or right clicking on the Translate option that appears.

iphone-ipad-mac-system-wide-translate.jpg

iPhone, iPad, and Mac users can also translate selected text in photos as part of a new Live Text feature in the latest software versions.

Apple also announced that the Translate app is available on the iPad starting with iPadOS 15, after launching on the iPhone last year. On both iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, a new Auto Translate feature lets users translate speech without tapping the microphone button in a conversation, and selecting languages is now easier with convenient drop‑down menus.

translate-app-ipados.jpg

For a more detailed overview of new iOS 15 features, read our announcement coverage.

Article Link: iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey Introduce System-Wide Translation, Translate App Expands to iPad
 
Great. Apple translate seems to be on par with Google in terms of error rates for the languages I use. Not great, not terrible. Now I can ditch Google Chrome for good on desktop. The OCR is very impressive as well (if it works well).
 
Well it didn't even read the Russian right - but still managed to translate it correctly
 
I remember doing this with google translate on a Portuguese Menu and it was a pain in the ass concerning usability
 
I'm curious whether Monterey is a "feature" OS or a "stability" OS (where the latter focuses on stability/bug fixes rather than new features). Based on the name I'd guess it's the former. My favorite OS's thus far (Snow Leopard, High Sierra) have been stability OS's. I don't believe we've had a stability release since High Sierra.

Two-year compatability jump for the MBP: Big Sur required >=2013, while Monterey requires >=2015.
 
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World Lens returns!

On that positive note; I make that two reasons to update to iOS15 (assuming email pixel works without turning all images off). Three if you split this into separate scan and translate features.
Anything else I can add to this tally?

Now we just have to hope they haven’t further crippled usability with more convoluted gestures.
 
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I'm curious whether Monterey is a "feature" OS or a "stability" OS (where the latter focuses on stability/bug fixes rather than new features). Based on the name I'd guess it's the former. My favorite OS's thus far (Snow Leopard, High Sierra) have been stability OS's. I don't believe we've had a stability release since High Sierra.

Two-year compatability jump for the MBP: Big Sur required >=2013, while Monterey requires >=2015.
I consider Mojave a stability release, it was rock solid for me from day one. Even High Sierra was a hot mess for the the first month or two. (In my experience)
 
That live text feature is amazing. When the app first came out, apparently the app was bad for translating. I don't know if its improved or not but it's great that it's now system-wide and now on iPad.
 
Man I gotta love the Apple Ecosystem.
I'm not made of money, but if I were I'd invest in an apple watch too (currently only have the macOS, apple tv, iPhone triad)
 
I wonder if this will include spell check -- the spelling correction on a Mac is deplorable.
 
I consider Mojave a stability release, it was rock solid for me from day one. Even High Sierra was a hot mess for the the first month or two. (In my experience)
I understand many found Mojave stable, but I don't know if it was designed specifically with a focus on "under the hood" improvements. If you go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_version_history and search for "hood", you'll find only two OS's that (at least unofficially) are identified as focusing on the latter: Snow Leopard and and High Sierra.

Likely the reason I didn't have the teething pains you did with HS is because I nearly always wait unit about x.3 or x.4 before installing a new OS. That's not just to allow time for Apple time to straighten out their issues; it's to allow for the app developers to do this as well.

What have you found about the performance of Big Sur vs. Catalina? I know there were a lot of complaints about Catalina, but maybe all the significant issues were fixed by 10.15.7.
 
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I understand many found Mojave stable, but I don't know if it was designed specifically with a focus on "under the hood" improvements. If you go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacOS_version_history and search for "hood", you'll find only two OS's that (at least unofficially) are identified as focusing on the latter: Snow Leopard and and High Sierra.

Likely the reason I didn't have the teething pains you did with HS is because I nearly always wait unit about x.3 or x.4 before installing a new OS. That's not just to allow time for Apple time to straighten out their issues; it's to allow for the app developers to do this as well.

What have you found about the performance of Big Sur vs. Catalina? I know there were a lot of complaints about Catalina, but maybe all the significant issues were fixed by 10.15.7.
Catalina was a mess for me to the end. Each time I upgraded I decided to restored Mojave within a few hours. Big Sur had its quirks, but has been stable since the last clean install I did. Ymmv
 
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Well this is worth gold for us who live overseas.

Google translate is pretty much working these days in Indonesia, good enough to figure out websites, in theory this should be better since Apple is getting so much data into Siri...

I run the brave browser for all local websites, so that I can use google translate.. maybe this will alleviate it... the lens feature is amazing too.

I mean yeah if you're living at home, maybe you don't care so much

But when you're on a trip or live elsewhere, this is going to be one of the top 5 most useful features on your phone!
 
Does anyone remember, years ago, that Google had an augmented reality app for the iPhone that would change the language of any text in the field of view? It was darned impressive if you held it up to a menu board in the street or hovered over a newspaper, to see it magically change into a different language. I think they ditched it after a year or two, sadly.
 
When Dutch will be added? they forget is a language talked by a nice amount of people, still waiting also for Homepods.

They cover France, Germany, Spain, and Belgium and The Netherlands totally forgotten.
 
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