Phrase Localization Platform

What do you like best about the product?

I use Phrase Localization Platform for language translation. I find its features awesome because they make it easy to update or fix content, and sharing is a breeze, which helps everyone participate in tasks. I love the simple design of Phrase and the many helpful tools it has. It supports all languages, and I really appreciate the QA tool that helps catch my mistakes and easily fix them. I also love how Phrase protects privacy and allows me to choose who can see and edit my work, which is very effective when working with a team. The initial setup was extremely easy.

What do you dislike about the product?

It's already a very good platform so keep up the good work!

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

Phrase Localization Platform helps me easily update or fix content and share it, allowing everyone to participate effectively. It supports all languages and the QA tool helps catch and fix mistakes. I can control privacy, deciding who can see and edit my work.

What do you like best about the product?

It looks fancy and familiar, so in the editor, it's convenient.

What do you dislike about the product?

The menus and submenus are a mess. They are not intuitive. I am Phrase certified/trained and yet I still struggle to do simple things that other CAT tools provide easily. There's no establishing view.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

It segments out the text for translation which is handy. A lot of clients are now using Phrase too, so being able to use their iterations is necessary.

What do you like best about the product?

I like the Phrase Localization Platform API because it has all the necessary calls to automate the flow.

What do you dislike about the product?

Well, after uploading the file with the sentences to translate, I have no way of knowing when the pre-translation has finished being processed. And what happens is that after uploading a file, when I download the pre-translations, sometimes there are still some left to be generated and I'm missing them.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

Simplify the technical part by allowing me to upload a file for automatic translation, obtaining a first version reviewed by humans and making the necessary changes.

What do you like best about the product?

Phrase is one of the online CAD and translation management tools. It takes time to get used to the complex project interface. But once I was used to it, it became relatively easy to upload my document and start translating. They were quick to adapt various machine learning and artificial intelligence tools. But you still need to learn basics such as getting an API and finding the right place to put it. I think the translation memory and term base management features are very basic, without more cutting edge semantic alignment tools. Depends on what you are looking for really.

What do you dislike about the product?

For me the most annoying thing was their unexpectedly strict customer retention policy: If you are like me and you review your subscriptions at the last minute, I have some bad news for you. Phrase will charge you for the next years subscription, if you do not cancel it at least 30 days prior to the date of the renewal of your subscription. 30 days! I have been using numberless subscription services in the last decade, but this one was the most hideous. And when I wrote the Phrase team to request for a good will cancellation, they just repeated the Terms of Service and its relevant articles in their emails. I am very disappointed.

Another problem has been the very basic AI integration: In my experience current LLMs such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude usually work better than DeepL and Google Translate. At least on certain documents they are able to come up with better alternative translations or wordings. But Phrase won't allow me to use my tailored prompts for the translation. Which means I have to copy and paste between my windows which is very time consuming if you rely on AI tools rather than machine translation. And the solution they offer through Custom AI won't cut it.

Another problem is the translation memory tool which is very basic. I had some documents I translated years ago but with Phrase it is not easy to turn them into translation memories. Phrase's "align" tool is basically a sentence splitter and I found it very frustrating to use when working on long documents in particular.

Phrase is not practical for people like me who has to work on a lot of footnotes. I lost count of times when I had to go back to the translation interface to find the missing footnote. This is because the footnotes are indicated with a number in a small blue box and I tend to overlook them when I am in a translation flow. And once I complete the translation and export it, I am definitely sure that I will come across to some missing footnotes. It wasted a lot of time for me.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

I only need to do written translations occasionally, such as at the end of the reporting year which tends to be very busy. That's why Phrase's three-month subscription was quite convenient for me. It allowed me to use the service for a set period and then cancel until I need it again. However, Phrase's strict renewal policy is a problem, because like me, if you forget to cancel your subscription 30 days before the renewal, you'll be charged for a full period. And for me there was no use.

What do you like best about the product?

I greatly appreciate that the Phrase Localization Platform reduces the initial sunk cost into a translation platform, making it economically feasible for freelance translators like me. I admire how the Translation Management System (TMS) allows me remote access to my translations, including on mobile devices, making workflow seamless and convenient. The platform is characterized by its simple and straightforward user interface, following the 'Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS)' design principle, which minimizes complexity and makes it easy to use. I value its reasonably priced first usage tier for freelancer accounts, which enables accessibility without a heavy financial burden. Additionally, the web-browser access is browser-agnostic enhancing usability; while Comet Browser works best for me, it performs well across various browsers. The option to import and export translation memories (TM) and glossaries is particularly neat and straightforward, facilitating flexibility and preventing user lock-in. I have found the setup process remarkably intuitive despite coming from various other tools. The platform's ability to compartmentalize and deploy accumulated assets across platforms is extremely beneficial for my work. Although it has its challenges, I am inclined to recommend it highly due to its overall functionality and practicality, having already recommended it to numerous students and colleagues.

What do you dislike about the product?

I find it frustrating when the loading screen gets stuck sometimes at login or when trying to open an uploaded file to begin translation. This issue often occurs on WiFi, but it seems to resolve when I switch to mobile data tethering, although identifying the exact cause is difficult. Additionally, I think the platform could benefit from a more intelligent use of color-coding outside the translation UI to enhance overall design and make it more informative for users. Moreover, while I found the initial setup intuitive due to my experience with similar tools, my students, who are aspiring linguists and translators, find it confusing and non-intuitive, possibly due to its deviation from the design languages of their familiar operating systems (MAC/WIN).

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

I find the Phrase Localization Platform reduces upfront translation costs, allows remote access, simplifies importing/exporting of TM and glossaries, and maintains simplicity while being browser-agnostic, which is beneficial for my freelance work.