Pleco Chinese Dictionary (free and paid add-on)

[Photo/Agencies]

Language skill does not seem that important until you step out of Beijing and Shanghai. Having a handy dictionary stored in your handset makes a world of difference when exploring many other Chinese cities.

Pleco Chinese Dictionary allows you to look up words in English, pinyin and Chinese character stroke order. The add-on upgrade costs $14.99 and includes an optical character reader, advanced handwriting recognition and spoken translations. Pleco Chinese Dictionary is available for iOS only.