I have loved this app since I first tried the free version years ago and upgraded to Pro within a few weeks. Have repurchased it when I lost control of my iCloud account. Its grammatical and idiomatic rendering is in most languages superior to Google translate, the transliteration feature (so a Roman-alphabet-person can figure out how to pronounce languages written in other character sets, whether alphabetic or not) is invaluable for language learners. It isnt a complete substitute for a professional human translator, by any means; it still stumbles over novel expressions and neologisms, portmanteau words, and sometimes will give a literal translation for a figurative expression that is well-known to a native speaker as indicating something else, but in general, for on-the-go cross-cultural communication it can be invaluable. And hey, it even has Latin now!
It has come in handy in emergency situations where people who didnt understand instructions in English could be helped even when no one fluent in their language was available, such as when a train was stopped and passengers needed to debark and take another form of transit to their destination. I can easily see this app being very, very useful to police and other public safety personnel to defuse tense situations, especially where a translator is unavailable and it is important that the public understand what action is required of them, what is occurring, etc. Especially in areas with high concentrations (or sudden influxes) of refugees or immigrants with great linguistic variety, it can be very challenging to deal with crowds and individuals who dont understand you when you need them to in a hurry. While a bilingual human translator is usually preferable, it is not always possible to find one in an exigency. This app can fill the gap. It is particularly useful in dealing with the immense number of Chinese dialects since the sense can usually be adequately communicated (at least to those who can read) simply by showing the characters on the screen. The sound option for many of the languages lets the app speak for you even if you cant pronounce the words. It is very useful for checking your own understanding against if you are learning a language. WORTH THE MONEY.