SayHi Translate

By Matthew Bullis 

App Details

By:  SayHi, LLC

Price:  $0.99

Devices:  Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4/4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd, 4th, and 5th generation) and iPad.  Requires iOS 5.0 or later.  This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

Description:  This one-dollar app is the second one I tried for translating to other languages. The first one dollar app, called ITranslate, does the same thing, but I couldn’t get that to work with VoiceOver. This SayHi Translate app is a little bit fiddly, with a few unlabeled buttons, but they can easily be labeled with VoiceOver, once you find out what they do. Once you set the primary and secondary language, you get two buttons at the bottom of the screen. Because VoiceOver tends to speak over you when you’re trying to speak the phrase, turn off its speech with a three-finger double-tap. This turns off speech, but not VoiceOver itself, which is handy if you want to use a braille display and no speech. Tap the bottom of the screen on the left to get that button into focus for your primary language, and then double-tap. In my case, the primary language is English, and I chose French as a secondary. I speak in English, and a speech server returns an audible result in French. If I then tap the right bottom corner, then double-tap, I must speak in French, as that’s the secondary. I do so, and the speech server returns the English result. The conversation history is flickable in the top area of the screen, so you can adjust your phrasing or pace in future, if the phone doesn’t quite understanding you. This is quite a handy tool, and fun besides.

SayHi Translate is compatible for blind, low vision, or sighted.

Pros:

• SayHi is able to translate nearly all of the most commonly used languages
• VoiceOver compatible--unlike most other translation apps
• Fun & handy app usable for convenience or pleasure for just $1

Cons:

• Some of the buttons are not labeled
• VoiceOver speech interferes with the recording, so you must disable speech by double-tapping with 3 fingers
• There is a slight learning curve, as it takes time to get used to