Michal Ždanský PC Translator I consider it one of the best translation dictionaries on Windows that I could always rely on during the time when I was mostly translating. Its basis is a huge database containing several million meaning pairs, including professional names and slang phrases. The application was never particularly graphically interesting on Windows, but it did its job. Unfortunately, PC Translator was never released for Mac OS, although it can be used a bit a more complicated way get into the native dictionary app in OS X.
For a long time, I missed a comprehensive dictionary even on iOS. You can find a large number of Czech-English dictionaries in the App Store, and Lingea, for example, has its application here. I finally docked at dictionary from BitKnights, which offers just over 100 pairs, has a decent design and costs a fraction of other similar apps in the App Store. I've always missed PC Translator's mammoth database. It quietly appeared in the App Store sometime at the end of last year.
PCT+, as PC Translator for iOS is called, has a largely identical database to the Windows version. Langsoft lists 850 pairs and a total of 000 million words, making it the most comprehensive English-Czech dictionary in the App Store. In contrast, the Windows version contains 3,8 pairs and 925 million words. However, for most people with higher demands, the difference will be negligible. Here you will find a huge number of technical words, phrases, sometimes even proverbs, just everything you would expect from a professional dictionary.
The application can automatically recognize the language of the input and, if necessary, turn the direction of the translation accordingly. Unfortunately, the search is limited and you cannot, for example, search for a phrase based on a word that is not included at the beginning of it. The application will only ever refer you to a certain place in an endless alphabetical list. However, it is the same for the Windows version, moreover, it is not a function that would be missing in any fundamental way.
It is nice that the dictionary database can be edited or a new meaning pair can be added directly. In addition to translations, you can also find pronunciation in the vocabulary, and the application will also play it for you. However, the synthetic voice is quite poor quality and the creators might do better to use the built-in speech-to-text function with significantly better synthesis (that is, if there is an API for it).
While the app is adequate in terms of features, the graphics side is a chapter unto itself. That is, if you can talk about any graphics at all. At first and second glance, the app looks like it belongs more to five years ago. It will only offer a basic look with unattractive light blue bars, even less attractively placed buttons (some are not even in line), no retina resolution (!), generally the user interface looks amateurish and has most of the features of "my first app". I would definitely expect more from a dictionary that costs sixteen euros.
I am not saying that 400 crowns is a high price for a dictionary with such a database. Adequate PC software costs even 9x more. However, I would expect an app with this kind of price tag to receive proper care. So far, it looks like it's being developed by a programmer who got his hands on Xcode for the first time. And it's a shame. In terms of content, PCT+ English-Czech has no competition in the App Store, but the appearance of the application can attract even the most interested people who would like to pay extra for a comprehensive database.
One can only hope that the developers will use the new elements from iOS 7 and come up with a graphical interface worthy of 2013 and a price of 16 euros. Among other things, PCT+ is also available for the iPad (as a universal application), but I would rather not comment on its form, as it is rather a shining example of how tablet software is not made.
For those who were not deterred by the appearance, the dictionary is available in addition to the English-Czech version for Spanish, German, Russian, Italian a French language at a price from €8,99 to €15,99 depending on the language.
[app url=”https://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/slovnik-pct+-anglicko-cesky/id570567443?mt=8″]
I tried PC Translator once (around 1995-96?). He translated "sound board" as "sound board". He probably didn't guess the connections correctly :).