# Worldictionary — Instant Translation & Search

> Camera-based instant word definition and translation app. (iPhone/iPad app by Penpower Technology Ltd..)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/worldictionary/id429372600 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Penpower Technology Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/333211048)
- Category: Reference, Productivity
- Price: $2.99 with in-app purchases
- Rating: 1.00/5 from 2 App Store ratings · 297 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 17+
- Requires: iOS 11.0 · 75 MB
- Languages: American English, Dutch, French (France), German (Germany), Italian, Japanese, Korean, European Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified, China), European Spanish and 1 more
- Released: 2011-04-08
- Data updated: 2026-06-30
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/worldictionary/id429372600/reviews.md

## What is Worldictionary?

* The Best Translation App *
• Secured a spot among the Top 10 apps in the Reference/Business categories in 109 countries
• Winner of the Taiwan Excellence Award 2012
• Winner of the Outstanding IT Products Award 2011
• Over one million users worldwide

* Product Overview *
  Point the iPhone’s or the new iPad’s camera at any word and Worldictionary will instantly define and translate it. No need to manually type words or take pictures. This app will be your indispensable travel tool primed to give you translation on-the-go.

* Demo Videos *
http://worldcard.penpowerinc.com/demo/worldcard/worditionary_demo.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa6OYajfomA

* Product Details *
- Instant View & Translate 
• The instant 'View and Translate' feature allows you to get instant translation simply by pointing your iPhone’s camera at a word you want to look up.
• Worldictionary recognizes and translates amongst multiple languages, ranging from Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Czech, Slovak and Romanian. No need to type a word to look it up!
• You can also select an image from your iPhone to get the translation immediately without typing words in.

- Detailed & Full Sentence Translation 
• To proceed with looking up additional words or knowing more about the usage of particular words, you can first take a snap of the text and then focus on the words one by one and look them up. 
• Provides full sentence translation and pronunciation.
• The 'Advance Search' function lets you search through Google, Wikipedia and YouTube to expand your search. 
• Works with the world's leading dictionary( Collins, Dr.eye and Transtar dictionary), lets you get the most authoritative word explanations.

- Smart & Helpful Functions
• Save your search records automatically. You can even build your own word database to increase translation efficiency.
• You can also manually enter and translate words.
• Provides an anti-shake function for better image quality. 
• Provides in app purchase offline dictionary.

* Customers’ Reviews *
• Brilliant app! - Thanks for developing such a handy tool. I have already used it to translate menu items and will definitely use it on my first trip abroad. Well worth the price. (Apr 22, 2012 by lht61ha)
• Amazing app for a phone! - Very easy to use translator app that works brilliantly with text. All the various functions, including recognizing words and translating from text, are very useful. 5 star. (Apr 22, 2012 by Simon Medlicott)
• Worldictionary, one of the most revolutionary iPhone app ideas. (Mar 20, 2012 by Sven Luiv)

## Key features

- Instant camera translation
- Multi-language support
- Full sentence translation
- Advanced search (Google, Wikipedia, YouTube)
- Offline dictionary purchases
- Save search records

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: $2.99.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Transtar Chinese<->English Dictionary | $1.99 | one-time |
| Transtar Chinese<->Japanese Dictionary | $1.99 | one-time |
| Collins English<->Spanish Dictionary | $4.99 | one-time |
| Collins English<->TraditionalChinese Dictionary | $4.99 | one-time |
| Collins English<->French Dictionary | $4.99 | one-time |
| Collins English<->Simplified Chinese Dictionary | $4.99 | one-time |
| Collins English-Arabic Dictionary | $4.99 | one-time |
| Collins English<->Korean Dictionary | $4.99 | one-time |
| Collins English<->Japanese Dictionary | $4.99 | one-time |
| Collins English<->German Dictionary | $4.99 | one-time |


## What do users think of Worldictionary?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 🚀 Instant translation
- 👍 Accurate translations
- 🌐 Supports many languages
- 📚 Helpful for learning languages
- 🔍 Useful for travel and business
- 💡 Innovative camera-based translation

**Cons**

- 🐛 Inconsistent accuracy, especially for Asian languages
- 🔍 Translates one word at a time, not full sentences
- 🔒 Requires internet connection for full functionality
- 💰 Expensive for some users

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Struggles with text on colored backgrounds
- Occasional crashes or freezes

**Most requested features**

- Offline dictionary support for more languages
- Ability to translate full sentences or paragraphs
- Improved accuracy for Asian language character recognition
- More intuitive user interface and onboarding

## Recent user reviews (10 of 297)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/worldictionary/id429372600/reviews.md

### 5/5 — 신세계입니다

*2020-03-18*

영자신문을 즐겨보는데요. 
갑자기 단어를 사진찍어서 뜻이나오는 앱이 있으면 대박이라고 생각한 순간!! 찾아보니 이런 앱이 이미 있었네요!! 
필요해서 찾게됬는데 이런 앱이 이미 있다는게 고마울뿐입니다. 무료체험해보고 구매 바로 했어요!!
모르는 단어가 나오면 타이핑해서 찾는데 시간이 걸렸는데 순식간에 뜻이 나오니 시간절약도 되고 영자신문읽는데 속도도 붙습니다!!
다만 번역부분이 조금 아쉽습니다만. 시간대비 단어찾는데 들이는 시간을 세이브할수있어서 이 앱을 포기할순없네요. 추천합니다. 
시간을 금으로 생각하시는분들을 위해~!!

### 1/5 — 非常差！退钱吧

*2017-09-04*

识别率超级低！low

### 1/5 — Unintuitive . . .

*2017-07-08*

and barely works.

### 1/5 — DOES NOT WORK.

*2017-06-18*

Save your money

### 1/5 — bitte aus dem appstore löschen.!

*2017-03-24, version 5.0.3*

die app ist von ansicht schon eine gute idee... aber ist in wirklichkeit weggeschmissenes geld... egal was man übersetzen möchte von chinesisch zu deutsch oder ins englische... nichts entspricht der wahrheit oder richtigkeit.. ! alle übersetzungen sind komplett falsch..!! sieht eher so aus als wenn sich jemand selbst alle chinesischen zeichen ausgedacht hat was angeblich was heisst ich weiss nicht wer dieses wörterbuch geschrieben hat von chinesisch zu deutsch aber es ist alles komplett falsch wer das geschrieben hat muss ein iq von einer mülltonne haben diese app ist der größte müll im appstore...! apple sollte diese app dringstens aus dem store löschen da diese app absolut gar nichts bringt und an sein geld echt nur zum fenster rauschmeisst aufjedenfall die größte verarsche mit dieser app.!!!

### 5/5 — 素晴らしいの一言

*2016-08-24*

アメリカの大学に通っていますがわからない単語を簡単にですがすぐに知れ、読み物にかかる時間が大幅に短くなりました

### 5/5 — 良い

*2016-08-22*

非常に良いです。

### 1/5 — update is still terrible

*2016-08-01, version 5.0.1*

went from very good to useless recognizing japanese (even after latest bugfix)

### 1/5 — Péssimo

*2016-04-13*

Espero que vc leia isso antes de fazer igual ao otario aqui!
App não funciona direito e confuso e não vale nem 1 centavo

### 1/5 — Not useful at all.

*2016-01-26, version 4.7.5*

Wasted of money

## Frequently asked questions about Worldictionary

### What does Worldictionary do?

Worldictionary is an app that instantly defines and translates words by simply pointing your device's camera at them. It supports a wide range of languages and provides detailed definitions, full sentence translation, and pronunciation.

### What are the key features of Worldictionary?

Key features include instant camera translation, support for numerous languages, full sentence translation, pronunciation, an advanced search function that integrates with Google, Wikipedia, and YouTube, and the ability to save search records. Users can also purchase offline dictionaries.

### How much does Worldictionary cost?

The app itself is free to download and use. However, it offers in-app purchases for additional offline dictionaries, which provide translation capabilities without an internet connection.

### What languages does Worldictionary support?

Worldictionary supports a comprehensive list of languages including Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Czech, Slovak, and Romanian.

### Can I use Worldictionary offline?

While the core functionality requires an internet connection for real-time translation, Worldictionary offers in-app purchases for offline dictionaries. These offline dictionaries allow you to translate words without needing an active internet connection.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 5.3.1 — 2020-12-04

- Performance improvements and bug fixes.

### 5.3.0 — 2020-03-13

- Performance improvements and bug fixes.

### 5.2.1 — 2019-10-14

1. Support iOS 13
2. Bug fix

### 5.2.0 — 2019-05-09

- Add Hindi as a new recognition language
- Performance improvement
- Bug fixes

### 5.1.2 — 2018-12-07

- Bug fixes

## Apps similar to Worldictionary

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Japanese Technical Dictionary](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/japanese-technical-dictionary/id1067551626) | — | $1.99 | Reference |
| [The CIA World Factbook](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-cia-world-factbook/id412637620) | 3.6 (17) | $1.99 | Reference |

## More apps by Penpower Technology Ltd.

- [WorldCard Mobile](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/worldcard-mobile/id333211045)
- [蒙恬名片王Mobile](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mobile/id333212604)
- [WorldCard Mobile - 名刺認識管理](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/worldcard-mobile/id337702869)
- [WorldCard Mobile (한국어 버전)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/worldcard-mobile/id341991991)
- [WorldCard Mobile Lite (한국어 버전)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/worldcard-mobile-lite/id368491895)
- [蒙恬名片王Mobile Lite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mobile-lite/id368729798)

All apps by Penpower Technology Ltd.: https://appshunter.io/developer/333211048

---

*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-30.*