How can I translate within Apple Books?

Question

Level 1

4 points

How can I translate within Apple Books?

I’m using iOS 18.6.2 and usually purchase my eBooks through the Apple Store. Since I’m German and not a native English speaker, I sometimes need to translate certain words or passages. However, it seems this feature is no longer available.

Interestingly, the translation option works fine with PDFs I upload into Books, but with Apple’s ePub files both translation and copy functions are disabled. The only workaround is to take a screenshot of the text and use Live Text in Photos to translate it—which feels quite inconvenient.

Does anyone know a solution or could you recommend an eBook reader that has an integrated translation function? How does the Kindle handle this?

iPhone 16 Pro Max, iOS 18

Posted on Aug 24, 2025 02:02 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,502 points

Aug 24, 2025 02:48 AM in response to Tony_DUS

I translate German, French, and Italian in Books all the time with no problem.

When you select a word in a book and get the popup menu to choose an action, do you not see both "Look Up" and "Translate" in the list? Make sure to tap at the end of the popup to see all the options. Either of those should work.

Is the German dictionary checked in settings > general > dictionaries?

Do you have this problem with all books or just certain ones?

I also do it in the Kindle app without problems.

Reply

Answer 2

Tony_DUS Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 24, 2025 03:32 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

No .. I do not see "Look Up" and "Translate" in the list.

Yes .. I have selected the German dictionary.

This problem appears with most of the books (e.g. Richard Rohr "The Tears of Thins", Jeremy Refkin "The Zero Marginal Cost Society") but not all.

Reply

Answer 3

Tony_DUS Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 24, 2025 07:13 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

This issue does not concern only one particular book. The problem occurs with all the new books I purchased in the Apple Store, where the function does not work. Furthermore, there is no indication in the store that the Translate function is not supported. The explanation that this is due to coding unfortunately does not provide any real assistance. Why does Apple sell books for which its own software tools do not function properly?

Reply

Answer 4

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,502 points

Aug 24, 2025 09:51 AM in response to Tony_DUS

Tony_DUS wrote: Why does Apple sell books for which its own software tools do not function properly?

I don't think that is their intention. Look up and translation work fine in all of the French books I am currently reading. Apple basically publishes whatever gets uploaded and takes a 30% cut of the proceeds. Books which have some feature that does not work right probably get eliminated mainly via the refund request or review process. You do see some complaints about broken books in these forums.

Are you unable to duplicate the look up dictionary translation picture I posted earlier from the Rohr book? If not, that presumably indicates a local problem. Have you tried removing and redownloading one of these books to see if there is any difference?

(I was using an iPad when I did that, will try with my iPhone later to verify)

Reply

Answer 5

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,502 points

Aug 24, 2025 04:28 AM in response to Tony_DUS

I got a sample of the Rohr book, and Look Up works but Translate is missing. If both do work on some of your books, it could be a problem with the coding of the ones where it doesn’t.

Reply

Answer 6

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

121,502 points

Aug 24, 2025 03:48 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Reply