🗣️ Do it before you fly — you can't fetch it after landing
Download the offline translation pack
Do it before you fly — you can't fetch it after landing
Step by step
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Why this has to happen before departure
Offline translation needs a language model that is stored on your phone, not in the cloud. On Android that model is delivered by Google Play services. Google services are not reachable from mainland China, so once you land the download will simply hang — you cannot fix this after arrival. On iPhone the language pack comes from Apple's servers, which are reachable in China, but downloading it before you go is still the safe move.
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How to download it — about 44 MB
Open this app → Me → Advanced · translation engine → Offline translation pack → tap Download. Wait for the status to read "Ready · works offline". Do this on Wi-Fi at home; it is a one-time download of roughly 44 MB. If you skip it, the pack row will show "Not downloaded yet" and the translation screen will keep telling you the pack is missing.
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What you get once it's ready
Full offline translation: photograph a menu, a road sign or a ticket and get the meaning without any data connection. This matters in the places where you have no signal — subway platforms, mountain cable cars, remote ticket offices — and it keeps working when your roaming data runs out or your eSIM expires mid-trip.
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If the download fails
A failed download almost always means the download source is unreachable, not that your phone is broken. Check the status row again after switching networks. If you use the app's own bring-your-own-key cloud translation, that channel needs a working connection and is billed by your provider — it is a fallback, not a replacement for the offline pack. Once you are inside China, a VPN that reaches Google services is the only way to retry the download.
Good to know
The offline pack covers English ↔ Chinese. Other interface languages are translated through the same pack, so you only need to download it once.
If something goes wrong
pack-download-hangs
Tapping Download leaves the row on "Downloading…" and it never becomes ready
Likely cause: The model is fetched through Google Play services. Inside mainland China those servers are unreachable, so the transfer stalls instead of failing cleanly.
What to do: Do the download before you leave, on a network outside China. If you are already in China, connect through a VPN that can reach Google services, then retry.
pack-shows-not-downloaded
The advanced settings row says "Not downloaded yet" even though you thought you had downloaded it
Likely cause: The model can be removed when the app's storage is cleared, or when the phone's storage is cleaned up by the system.
What to do: Re-download it while you still have access to a network that can reach Google services. The download is one-time and about 44 MB.
Sources
- Google ML Kit on-device translation (models downloaded via Google Play services) (2026-09-10)
- Apple Translation framework — downloading languages for offline use (2026-09-10)