Press
Last updated: 10 October 2026
SofiLingo is an iPhone app that translates what's in front of you when you travel: menus, street signs, timetables and labels. It is built for being abroad without a data plan. Typed translation works offline in all 58 languages, and the app says plainly which languages the camera can read without a signal and which it can't.
It launched on the App Store on 15 September 2026 and is made in Ireland by www.caddora.ie.
Fact sheet
| Name | SofiLingo |
|---|---|
| What it is | Travel translation app: scan, speak or type |
| Platform | iPhone, iOS 15.5 or later. No Android version. |
| Available | App Store, from 15 September 2026 |
| Languages | 58, each translating to and from every other |
| Typed translation offline | All 58, once a language is downloaded (about 30 MB each) |
| Camera without signal | 25 languages read on the phone. 16 more read better online and fall back to the phone without signal. 17 need a connection; the photo is kept and translated when you're back online. Every language. |
| Speech | Uses Apple's speech recognition; an iPhone can hear about half of the 58 |
| Account | None. No sign-up, no email address. |
| Price | Free, with ads: watch a short video when you need more translations. Holiday pass $4.99 for 14 days removes them — one payment, does not renew. There is no subscription. The App Store charges in local currency. |
| Maker | www.caddora.ie, Ireland |
| Press contact | hello@caddora.ie |
What's different
It's honest about offline. Most translation apps say "works offline" and leave travellers to discover the exceptions at a restaurant table. SofiLingo publishes a language-by-language list of what works without signal, generated from the app's own code so it can't drift out of date.
Nothing you capture is lost. Scan a sign in a language that needs a connection and SofiLingo keeps the photo, then translates it the moment you're back online.
No account, and no subscription. There's nothing to sign up for. The app is free with a rewarded ad, and the 14-day Holiday pass is a single payment built for one trip, so there's nothing to cancel when you get home.
How it works
Point the camera at text and tap to translate. Type a phrase and show your screen to the person you're talking to. Or say it out loud and hear the answer spoken back.
Download the languages you need over hotel wifi before you leave. Every scan is saved on the phone, so you can look up that menu again later or translate it into a different language at no extra cost.
More detail on the site
Each of these pages covers one thing properly, and the language pages carry the app's own unedited output — printed pages photographed on an iPhone, with the misreadings left in.
- Translating with no internet — what survives flight mode, and what does not.
- Translating with the camera — including why the viewfinder deliberately does not translate as you sweep it.
- Translating a restaurant menu — with a plain answer on allergies.
- A translator for going abroad and speaking a phrase out loud.
- What leaves your phone — what stays, what is sent, and who receives it.
- How this differs from Google Translate — including where Google is better, which is most of the time.
- How this differs from Apple Translate — the travel languages Apple's app leaves out, and where Apple is better.
- How this differs from DeepL — translating without a signal, and why DeepL's translations are better than ours.
- Languages, with measured examples: Spanish, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Italian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Hindi, Marathi, and the full table of 58.
Privacy
Typed text and translations never leave the phone. Photos are sent for text recognition only in the languages the phone can't read well, and only when there's a connection. There are no analytics. The free tier carries ads; the Holiday pass removes them. The full policy is at sofilingo.com/privacy.
From the maker
I was in Greece, standing in front of a parking sign I couldn't read. The translation apps on my phone either needed a signal I didn't have or didn't cover Greek at all. It has happened to me before in other countries, where my translation app didn't work without a signal. SofiLingo is the app I needed at those times: it says up front which languages work without signal, and when one doesn't, it keeps your photo and translates it the moment you're back online.
— John Sheehy, founder, Caddora
About SofiLingo
Short
SofiLingo is an iPhone translation app for travellers without a data plan. It reads menus, signs and timetables with the camera in 58 languages, needs no account, and is made in Ireland by www.caddora.ie.
Long
SofiLingo is an iPhone app that translates what's in front of you when you travel. Point the camera at a menu, sign or timetable, type a phrase, or speak it aloud. Typed translation works offline in all 58languages, and the app publishes exactly which languages the camera can read without a signal. There is no account, translations stay on the phone, and the Holiday pass is a single 14-day payment that never renews. SofiLingo launched on the App Store in September 2026 and is made in Ireland by www.caddora.ie.
Launch listings
SofiLingo has been listed on these launch directories.
Press kit
- App icon, 1024 × 1024 PNG
- Six App Store screenshots, iPhone
- This fact sheet as a PDF
Download the press kit · Icon only · Contact: hello@caddora.ie
