If you miss the old YouTube app on your iPhone, the Video Tube app may be just what you are looking for. Video Tube allows you to watch YouTube videos with an interface that is similar to the original iOS YouTube app. Though similar, Video Tube has a few extra features that may be of interest, but it also falls short in some important places.

When you open Video Tube you are presented with the “Features” on YouTube. Other tabs, “Popular,” “Downloads,” “History,” and “Search” are available. The “Search” function is simplified and has no auto-complete capability. The “History” tab shows your recently opened videos.

Once you open a video one of two things can happen, you are prompted to play the video and it changes to fullscreen mode, or the video begins to play automatically in smaller form. There is no consistency or a way to tell what the app is going to do. If it is a video that can only play in fullscreen mode, you cannot view the video and read the info/comments simultaneously. While the video is in smaller form (whether playing or paused) you can view the video “Info,” “Related” videos, “More from” the use, and “Comments.” Unfortunately, you cannot log in to YouTube to rate videos or leave your own comments.

At the top of the screen you have options to share the video by sending a link via email, sharing on Facebook, or sharing on Twitter. Also, you have another option to to download the video to your phone. Some videos are not available for download and you will get a message on screen that states that you do not have permission to download the video from YouTube.

Video Tube has ads at the bottom of app at all times, and they can become very intrusive when you are trying to read the video info or comments. A premium version of the app is available for $2.99 to remove the apps.

PROS

• “History” tab that allows you to reopen your recently viewed videos quickly.
• You will like it if you prefer the original iOS YouTube app interface.
• Option to download videos.
• High quality videos and sound.

CONS

• Large ads at the bottom of the viewing screen that makes reading info and comments more difficult.
• Cannot log in to YouTube to rate and leave comments.
• Issues with enlarging videos. If a video can play while viewing the info and comments, then you must tap the enlarge button to watch the video fullscreen; you are not able to turn your phone to enlarge the video. On the flip side, some videos you cannot watch in smaller form, you can only watch in fullscreen.

Video Tube has a lot of useful features and great potential to rival the new Google YouTube app, but the cons are too large to ignore. It does not seem worth purchasing just to remove ads, when you still cannot log in to your YouTube account. Video Tube may never have that functionality, however. Since it is not the official YouTube app, the restrictions on what the developer can do may be holding Video Tube back.

Download and try Video Tube for yourself here.

The post Video Tube iPhone App Review appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

GAMEPLAY AND CONTROLS

The basis of Kingdom Royale is to build resources by creating buildings and units, and then upgrade these buildings and units to make your kingdom stronger. After creating enough units with gathered resources, you can then attack outlying kingdoms for more resources. Some of these lands are even held by real players.

When you attack a land, you enter a battle phase where you choose which class of unit you want to battle with; you have a choice of magic, melee or ranged. Each class has strengths and weaknesses versus other classes, so choose wisely.

Before you enter battle you can choose to have friends help you by using the Gamevil Online system. This can make the fight much easier. When you encounter a land controlled by a player, also known as a rival, you can invade the land and deploy units and build to protect it from other players.

Kingdom Royale is controlled by simply tapping the screen. Even in battle, you only need to tap the unit you want to attack with, and then tap the opponent you want to attack.

Everything takes time in the game, the higher the level your buildings and units become, the longer it takes for production of these to complete. If any of your units die in battle, it also takes three hours before they are resurrected. This is where “freemium” comes in. You can purchase “crowns” to instantly resurrect units, instantly build buildings and units and purchase special combat items.

GRAPHICS AND AUDIO

The audio in Kingdom Royale is very good quality. The music changes depending on whether you are in battle or if you are in your kingdom. The graphics of the game are consistent with Japanese RPGs (think Final Fantasy style mages and knights), but the graphics look particularly stunning in high resolution on the iPhone.

PROS

• Stunning anime-style graphics
• Freemium game that you do not feel required to pay

CONS

• Consistent “Unstable Connection” message upon opening the game even though I am in an established connection
• Long wait times the higher level your units and buildings get, but that is the price to pay for a micro-transaction based, free game.

Overall, the gameplay of Kingdom Royale is great, and never once have I felt pressured to buy any “crowns.” The “crowns” obviously help speed up the game, but if you are willing to wait and keep checking on your kingdom throughout the day you can easily play the game fully without using any real money.

Download Kingdom Royale and try it for yourself here.

The post Game Review: Kingdom Royale for iPhone appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The Motorola Droid RAZR M might not be the “top offering” from Motorola, but it is a decent-sized phone with an attractive design that is certainly worth checking out. For those of you looking for a phone that isn’t a pushover but still manages a screen that isn’t larger than the state of Texas, you’ll probably like what Motorola has to offer in this affordable package that features a 4.3-inch screen size.

Let’s dive right in and check out the RAZR M.

We will start by checking out the brief video that shows off the look, feel and some of my initial impressions about the device.

Design

The Razr M falls somewhere between sexy and practical. The design isn’t too flashy, but it is far from boring. The 4.3-inch screen size is really impressive when you stop to really look at how thin, light and compact the body on this phone is.

Only 8.3mm thick, which isn’t bad at all. This phone is also really comfortable in your hands. A video or written review can’t do justice on this point. It might not scream “touch me” like devices such as the S3 and iPhone 5 do, but once it is in your hands– you won’t want to let it go. It isn’t as awkward to hold as many devices and it really feels solid, strong and well-built.

For a more detailed look at the sides and angles of the phone, we have a few pictures above or you can simply check out the video.

Hardware

The Droid RAZR M is more than capable when it comes to specs. It’s 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 won’t blow you away in a benchmark test, but it real-life use it is extremely capable. This is the same processor found in the flagship Samsung Galaxy S3, by the way. It also has 1GB of RAM, a 540 x 960 pixel display, 8GB of internal storage, 2000 mAh battery, an 8MP rear cam and a .3 front cam.

Other goodies in the Droid RAZR M include microSD, NFC, DLNA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and 4G LTE.

I used the Droid RAZR M for several calls and found the call quality great, no fuzziness or distortion at all. This includes its speakerphone as well.

While I didn’t get 4G LTE from home, I didn’t have to travel more than 20 minutes to get it and found it quite snappy offering about 6-12 mbps for downloads.

Best of all, I love the battery in this thing. While Motorola claims 20 hours of talk time, I found that I was able to use this with moderate use for about two days, so that’s certainly not bad. My current smartphone requires charging every single day or it is totally dead— so this was a nice change.

Software

Android 4.0 ICS is running on the RAZR M, so no Jelly Bean here. Considering Google and Motorola’s close relationship, I find that a bit odd. Still, 4.1 is supposedly on its way in the future. For now, you get a near-clean version of Android 4.0 that includes a custom lock-screen, a dock and a few other small changes.

The software is very responsive and capable. The on-screen navigation keys were also great and worked as expected. I have yet to have a smartphone that didn’t have some kind of capacitive or physical button, but I really like the feel and function on the RAZR M and I’m totally sold on the idea of nothing but a screen on the front of a smartphone.

If you HATE customized UI experiences, you should be fine with what Motorola did. They didn’t modify much, and what they did change makes sense. As someone who hates resource-hogging shells, I didn’t have a problem with the RAZR M at all.

Camera

How did the camera fare? A picture says more than anything I can write. The picture above is crisp and clear. Perfect? No, but not bad at all. Still, if you really LOVE photos, you will probably prefer shooters found in competitors like Samsung, Apple or HTC.

If you take a few pictures now and again but don’t need “the best”, this will suite your needs without a problem. Also, the video taking abilities aren’t half bad either.

Bottom Line

Let’s face it, the Droid RAZR M isn’t a powerhouse, especially when compared to the DROID RAZR HD and HD MAXX. It’s camera isn’t the best and it might not compare to devices like the iPhone 5 when it comes to raw power. What you do get is a great everyday performer that feels great in your hands. There isn’t much bloatware and you get a near-stock version of Android 4.0. You also get microSD for expansion, features like NFC and a reasonably good battery life.

Probably the most impressive part about the Motorola Droid RAZR M is the price tag. While it might not be perfect, I’d honestly expect this to cost at least $150 with a two-year commitment. Nope, it’s just $49 on Verizon Wireless. This handles almost every game and program you’d throw at it and it looks and feels great.

You get a mid-range device at a near-budget price. In short, this is a steal. Camera lovers, won’t like it. Those that want giant screens might find it small. On the other hand, if you like the idea of edge-to-edge screens and a small-yet-sexy design, you are likely going to walk away impressed.

Pros:

• edge-to-edge display
• extremely reasonable $49 price with contract
• attractive overall design
• comfortable grip

Cons:

• Not the best camera around

The post Motorola Droid RAZR M Review appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Dungeon Story

GAMEPLAY AND CONTROLS

The game starts with one dungeon and one hero. The game has a small tutorial before you begin, but it contains everything you need to know. You quickly learn that you can unlock new heroes at certain levels and unlock new dungeons once you complete the dungeon quest, which requires you to play through the dungeon until you find a specific item. As of now, you can unlock nine playable heroes, each with their own strengths, and five dungeons.

Hero progression plays a large part of the game. When you are not in a dungeon you have the opportunity to increase your hero’s stats which will make him stronger against the new, powerful enemies you will encounter.

The controls of Dungeon Story are straightforward. Tap a special ability when you need it, and touch and drag your finger across the items you want to match on the puzzle board.

Dungeon Story also has an online “Arena” mode using the iPhone Game Center, which unfortunately I could not play. Every time I attempted to play online, a match could not be found. Perhaps something can be done to make online play more attractive to the players of Dungeon Story.

GRAPHICS AND AUDIO

Most of the time I found myself turning off the sound to the game. I could not listen to the monster sounds every time they attacked, and there is no music while you are in a dungeon. The music that plays while you are in the menus is fitting for the theme of the game, however.

The graphics of the game is where I feel the game falls short. The text and graphics are somewhat generic. Knowing how fun this game is, the quality of graphics should live up to the quality of gameplay.

It would also be nice to visualize the heroes and monsters. If cartoon characters of a wizard, knight, adventurer, etc could be put into the game, that would immerse the player even more.

PROS

• Very responsive touch controls.
• Being able to see how much damage you will deal. This prevents you from overextending damage and wasting puzzle pieces.
• Addictive and fun gameplay of a match three game with character and dungeon progression.

CONS

• Audio that I wanted to turn off most of the time.
• The need to make online play more attractive.
• Graphics leave something to be desired.

Overall, the Dungeon Story is very fun regardless of the few flaws. Pantazis Deligiannis Games is already planning its next update to the game which includes updated fonts, new battle strategies, a new dungeon, and new quests and rewards. As long as they continue to listen to fans and provide updates, Dungeon Story will remain one of my favorite iOS games.

Purchase Dungeon Story from the App Store here.

The post Dungeon Story Game Review appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

When you open the app, you can swipe the main screen to the right to reveal options. You can sign in and view all of your subscribed channels and recommended videos, change your account settings, add channels or choose which category of videos to browse. If you just want to quickly look up a video, you can tap the search button at the top, right of the screen to reveal a search bar to type or speak your search query.

After opening a video, you are able to view the description, suggested videos and comments all while watching the video. If you are signed in to YouTube, you can easily “thumbs up,” “thumbs down,” and add your own comments. Google even added a quick way to add a video to lists and share via multiple avenues, such as Google +, Twitter, Facebook, email and text messages.

PROS

• More personalized to suit your needs. You can manage your account and easily view your subscribed channels, as well as view your suggested channels based on your subscriptions.
• More sharing options are available. Along with the aforementioned sharing options, you can copy the link, add to a “Watch later” list, add to favorites or add to a playlist.
• Better search options are now in the new YouTube with the ability to browse by category or search by voice.
• Cleaner interface than before. The Apple YouTube app was very plain and a bit too simple. The Google YouTube app has spruced up the style to give you all the new features, but in a clean, straight-forward fashion. You will not have any confusion with where certain options are located.

CONS

• The app now can include advertisements. While I, personally, have not viewed any ads on the new YouTube app, Google now has the ability to place ads in the app. Ads are Google’s main source of income, so the change should come as no surprise.
• The transition was not clear and some users may not know about it. The iOS 6 update removing the Apple YouTube app was not made clear.

Overall, the new YouTube app from Google is a vast improvement over the Apple YouTube app, which basically has not changed since it was released. Google makes managing your account, channels and sharing simple and easy, and it looks good while doing it. I would not mind watching some video ads too help Google keep the new YouTube app running well; especially because the app is completely free.

Download the Google YouTube app here.

The post App Review: YouTube for iOS appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

My Dragon

GAMEPLAY AND CONTROLS

Most of the controls involve simply tapping options on screen. Some of the time you are required to swipe to pet your dragon or to train it to do a new trick. Any time swiping is required, a guiding graphic appears on the screen to assist you.

My Dragon starts with a very short tutorial that still leaves much to be learned when it is completed. Coupled with an overcrowded interface, it can take awhile to learn all of the options and things you can do with the dragon pet.

The biggest components of My Dragon are the quests. In unique fashion, the quests are completed by random rolls for collection items. At the end of the quest you keep the items, which are added to critter collections (critters appear daily to give you bonuses after you complete their collection). You must meet certain pre-requisites to do quests, however, which would be your resources.

The resources needed to do quests are energy, happiness, and stash points (costume points). You feed your dragon to increase energy, play with him to increase happiness, and purchase costumes to increase stash points. That seems easy enough, but resources deplete rather quickly and currency runs out even faster.

Very early on in the game you are encouraged to buy currency and items with real money. The other currency, dragon scales, are earned regularly. You can also use hearts, which are earned by visiting friends’ dragons, to purchase costumes.

GRAPHICS AND AUDIO

My Dragon does provide nice visuals which is to be expected from Glu Mobile. The environment, dragons, and costumes are colorful and bright.

The sound of the game is most entertaining with the medieval style music and the cute sounds of the baby dragon.

PROS

• Unique questing style
• Dressing up a dragon in silly costumes

CONS

• Very limited game play time before the necessity to buy currency with real money kicks in
• Crowded and confusing interface

The fact that My Dragon is a free app, I understand the necessity of relying on micro transaction purchases to fund the developer. I cannot shake how early you are pressed into buying currency and items, though. My Dragon is clearly a game geared for children, and that makes me feel even more uncomfortable with how soon micro transactions are encouraged. The crowded and confusing interface, even after completing the tutorial, can make it difficult to understand, as well.

Overall, the game has many flaws. While you can play without purchasing anything, you really only get about ten minutes of game time before you run out of resources. That is OK, if you like that, but I would rather not have a game taking up space on my phone for just ten minutes a day.

Download My Dragon here for iOS

The post My Dragon Review for iOS appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The biggest difference between Legend and the first Blood and Glory game is the addition of a storyline. You are the gladiator, battling through the arena to reach and defeat the Emperor in battle. Follow the story with stylized comic strips between each tournament.

GAMEPLAY AND CONTROLS

Defeat each enemy with swipes and taps using well-timed potions and attack combos. One of the keys to winning a battle is knowing when to block, parry or dodge attacks because you have a limited amount of blocks. The opponents are not target dummies; each has strategies of their own that you must learn to defeat them. Thankfully, the response time in-game of your taps and swipes is very accurate, so do not worry when you decide to block last minute rather than dodge.

At the end of each winning battle, you gain coins and experience that increases your level and your ability to purchase items from the store. Coins and rubies are used to purchase gear. Rubies are the hardest currency to obtain; you can only get them via daily bonuses, free offers or buying with real money. With each level you gain skill points which you use to increase your attack, block and health points.

The difficulty of the game increases exponentially around the fourth to fifth tournament. This is where I started to use up all of my resources and even used some of the free offers (such as “liking” Glu Mobile on Facebook) to get more rubies. Sadly, however, your opponents’ health is way higher and they are much stronger; you are no longer earning enough experience of currency to keep up. While it is possible to defeat the game without spending money, it would require daily dedication to acquire the daily bonuses and repeatedly defeating enemies you already defeated.

GRAPHICS AND AUDIO

One of the main draws to Blood  Glory Legend is the astounding graphics. The detailed textures are clearly seen in high resolution on an iPhone. The fluidity of movement in your gladiator and the opponent bring you closer to the battle. To top it all off, the battle music and cheers of the crowd makes you feel like you are in the center of the arena.

PROS

• Amazing high resolution graphics
• Encouraged to use all learned skills
• Encouraged balance attack, block and health point gains

CONS

• “Pay-to-win” is very apparent, almost forced unless you can dedicate a lot of time and patience

Overall, the game is great to look at and fun. I was tempted on more than one occasion to buy currency with real money, which is a testament to how drawn in you become in Blood and Glory Legend. I understand that the game is great for a free game, and the developer needs to finance the game and future games, the feeling like you have to use real money to progress cannot be ignored.

Download Blood and Glory Legend here for your iOS device.

The post Blood and Glory Legend Review for iOS appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

In a world of super pinball and special fire pinballs, Pin Tiki Ball keeps pinball mostly traditional. While the game just released on September 5, 2012, it shows a lot of promise to expand in future updates making the game more and more fun with each version. That is, as long as Operatio Apps continues to move in the right direction.

Gameplay and Controls

Pin Tiki Ball only has one level to play at the moment. Yes, that seems somewhat dull, but that one level contains a lot for you to accomplish. If you open the little book at the top, right of the screen, it shows you all the special area you can unlock such as stopping the lava from flowing and secret caves. It is more difficult than you may imagine. Also, by hitting palm trees with the ball, you unleash pieces of fruit that you smash for bonus points.

The name of the game is much like traditional pinball, which is getting the most points. By using three flippers that are controlled by a simple tap of the screen you can hit the ball at any of the aforementioned bonus spots. The more points you get the higher your score and you can eventually earn a place on the Pin Tiki Ball Game Center Leaderboards. Even though you want to try for the bonuses for high scores, Pin Tiki Ball has its own list of achievements you can complete, as well. If you complete an achievement or beat your high score, you can share it immediately over Facebook with your friends.

Graphics and Audio

Pin Tiki Ball sports amazing 3D-esque HD graphics. The colorful environment and movement of the pinball “table” really make the game more enjoyable. One downside is that whenever the ball moves to the back of the “table” the camera zooms in to where the ball is. Understandably, the player may want to see what is going on, but at times the camera gets stuck zooming in and out while the ball is moving back out to the center of the screen.

Game audio is a simple and soothing tribal music along with sound effects that make you feel like you are on an island. The music and sound allow you to just sit back, relax, and have fun with the game.

PROS

• Facebook integration
• Amazing 3D-esque graphics
• Leaderboards via Game Center
• Nice sounds

CONS

• Only one level
• Slow flipper and ball movement
• Badly timed camera zooming

The current version (1.0) is the release version of Pin Tiki Ball, and already Operatio Apps has a list of fixes and additions for the next version (1.0.1), which includes faster game movement. This will definitely help give the game a more “real” pinball feel. I hope in the future Operatio will also release more levels; even if they release more levels as “packs” and want to charge a small fee. One level will get boring quickly.

In the end, though, the game is about fun and simply getting the most points. In that aspect, Pin Tiki Ball delivers.

Download Pin Tiki Ball here for your iOS device.

The post App Review: Pin Tiki Ball for iOS appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Echofon is  a Twitter utility that makes things simple and basic, and that is not a bad thing. Those qualities are exactly what has kept me loyal to Echofon since I purchased my iPhone. It does not have Facebook integration, nor does it get fancy with too many ways to customize. With a sleek design, Echofon sticks to what Twitter does best.

The app was released by naan studios, Inc. who have made it free in its current 5.2.3 version. However, you can upgrade to the “Pro” version for $4.99 to remove advertisements at the top of the app. To me, the ads are not intrusive; I never had a need remove them.

Echofon achieves near perfection in every area of Twitter. It offers shortcuts to compose and jump to the most recent tweet, view and edit Lists, read mentions in conversation mode, read Direct Messages, and Search for tweets, trending topics or users and gives you the option of which image service to upload pictures to. You can even change your profile on the fly or add additional accounts.

The most convenient features of Echofon for Twitter are picture previews in the timeline, being able to connect to a link from the timeline and viewing mentions in conversation mode. Viewing in conversation mode makes it appear as if you are texting with another user.

PROS

• The app has a simple, yet sleek design. You can understand how it works after just at a glance, but it is not hard on the eyes either.
• The customization options are just enough. Echofon does not over complicate the customization with giving you too many choices, but it gives exactly what is needed.
• It is easy to use. This ties into the simplicity of the app. You do not need instructions to know how to use it.

CONS

• The only part of the app that is hard to understand is knowing what the shortcuts are. I had to do a search to find out about the shortcut to jump to the most recent tweet (which is to tap the status bar), because scrolling through hundreds of tweets every morning was not my cup of tea.
• “Failed to load Direct Messages” error is a constant problem. While this error is not really an error, receiving the message itself is the error, it is still bothersome to receive it when entering the app. It does not always occur, but it is enough to be noticeable.
• Pricey “Pro” upgrade. While removing ads is nice, the $4.99 price tag seems a bit hefty. It would be more fair if it was a few dollars lower so more people could support the developer.

Overall, I can highly recommend Echofon for any iPhone owner that is glued to Twitter 24/7. It posts and updates quickly and gives you the options you need without making it too complicated. The flaws are minor and can easily be addressed by naan Studios. Otherwise, it is a close to perfect Twitter app.

Download Echofon on iTunes here.

The post App Review: Echofon for Twitter appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Google Translate might not be the most sophisticated or powerful translation app out there, but it has quite a few useful features, especially when you stop to consider that it is entirely free. Google recently updated the app to version 2.5, introducing several keys features that further improved an already impressive app. What is new in 2.5? The biggest changes include a new picture-to-text method that is useful for translating objects like signs. How does Google Translate 2.5 hold up, especially when compared to similar apps like Words Lens? Let’s take a deeper look and put Google’s language translator to the test.

Before we get started, it’s worth noting that the app is available for iOS and Android, though the specific version under review is the Android app.

Translating By Voice And Text

Google Translate has an extremely easy to use interface, which means popping it up and translating text quickly is a breeze. When inputting language, Google can “autodetect” or you can simply put in the exact language you are speaking or typing. As far as translating it to a different language, there are tons of options- this not only includes the usual suspects like Spanish, French, German and Chinese but a wide variety that extends to languages such as Afrikaans, Hindi and Bulgarian. In total, Google utilizes the ability to translate to and from over fifty languages.

Once you have your translation, you can either simply read it, or even have the app play it back to you in the translated language. Ultimately this makes Google Translate’s basic text and voice features ideal if you need a quick phrase to say to someone while traveling abroad, even if the translations are far from perfect.

With more common languages, Google does a terrific job creating understandable phrases that wouldn’t sound odd or out of place if you said it to someone of a different language or culture. At the same time, some of the less common languages are prone to minor misinterpretations during translation. As an example, the language Basque often confuses “get well” with “improve”. Either way, you should still be able to get the gist of what is being said in most cases.

The bottom line is that Google Translate has had a solid voice-to-text and text-to-speech service for a while now, and Google Translate 2.5 doesn’t change all the much in this aspect. The only significant change to this part of the service is that you can now type words like “hello” and instantly the tool will give you a translation on-the-fly, similar to searching a term through Google’s search engine works.

Picture Translation

The most significant change in this update is the new picture translation feature. This feature allows you to take a photo of an object, like a sign, and get a translation. How well does it work? First off, you need to be careful how close you are to the words that you want to be detected in a picture. The angle of the picture matters too. I tested this out by browsing several websites for things like signs in foreign languages. Sometimes I had to take pictures a few times before Google would recognize that there were potentially words in the picture to translate.

Overall, it wasn’t hard to make this work, it just sometimes took two tries, though either way it only took a few seconds of my time. Once you take the picture, you simply rub the words you want translated and Google translates them. In contrast, Word Lens uses augmented reality to create an instant translation without any further interaction from the user. Google’s method works well enough, even if it isn’t as seamless as the Word Lens approach.

I noticed that the actual translations on basic and common signs sometimes turned out great, but other times were just a little off.  For example, a German sign read “Drachenfliegen nicht gestattet”, and showed a picture of a kite with a line through it. Logic dictates that it meant “No kites allowed”, or something like that. What was my translation? “Dragon Fly not allowed”. On the other hand, many other signs like “Stop” worked just fine. More than 75% of the pictures gave me logical text translations, but even when the signs weren’t quite right, they were still understandable.

Conclusion

There are some strong positives in Google Translate, but it does have its less-than-stellar aspects, too.

Let’s start with the downsides to the app:

• The Google Translate app uses Google servers for all the translations, which means you will need an international data plan to use this abroad. If you don’t have an international data plan or access to Wi-Fi, the app will essentially do absolutely nothing.
• Google’s new picture translation service isn’t as seamless as alternatives like Word Lens, but it does a pretty solid job in giving us reasonable translations.
• Translates aren’t always quite right, though they still are pretty darn good.

Picture translation might not be perfect in Google Translate 2.5, but it’s totally free! It’s hard to complain when you get so many excellent features without any charge. In contrast, Word Lens has AR translations that might be (a little) quicker and more visually appealing, but the language packs cost $5 a piece, and there aren’t nearly as many language options provided for that platform.

As for the positive:

• Compared to the last version of Translate, the new update really makes translating quicker and easier than ever.
• The addition of instant translation as you type words is very handy and works great.
• This is a free app with no adds, hard to beat that.
• Overall translate quality might not be perfect, but at the price of free, you can’t complain either.

The bottom line is that Google Translate 2.5 is rather accurate, has an easy to use interface and is free with no adds. If you don’t want to use a premium app, and have basic translation needs, you can’t go wrong with Google Translate. You can snag the app for free by heading over to Google Play.

The post App Review: Google Translate 2.5 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.