Google has updated its Translate app on Android and iOS, with a focus on speeding up the translation process.

The headline feature in this update comes courtesy of Quest Visual, the company which behind the Word Lens app, acquired by Google in May last year.

The Word Lens feature enables users to point their devices camera at text written in a supported foreign language, such as a sign or menu, and see a translated version overlaid on their screen. What is perhaps most impressive – and important for any travellers with a limited roaming plan – is that this works even without access to the internet.

Currently, seven languages are supported by this feature – English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish – and Google promises it will add more in future.

The update also brings an improved real-time conversation mode, which can automatically detect and translate the languages being spoken without requiring a button press, which is intended to allow for a faster and more fluid conversation.