Does R Steves recommend an app for translating in Croatia?
We traveled through Croatia several years ago. English widely spoken. We then spent a week in Montenegro, much less English and many signs in cryllic. We never used an app, had no problems communicating using the polite terms-please, thank you, can you direct me to the toilet, etc. Take a phrase book and a positive attitude.
I used Google Translate for Croatia but English is very prevalent. I thought I would try my Croatian on our trip since my father's family came to the US from Zadar. I asked a question. The person responded with "what?" I stuck to English after that.
Just use Google Translate, but I doubt you will need it much if at all. You can speak English into it and have it speak Croatian to a native speaker if need be - but most people especially in the tourist industry or younger people will speak at least some English if not speak it fluently.
Croatians are very western-facing. In touristic areas, English is common. They are quite matter-of-fact about their skill in English. It is always polite to master a few Croatian phrases - hvala (thank you), dobor dan (good day/hi), and so forth. I have been to Croatia many times and never had a language issue. Of course, if you go away from the tourist areas, you will have less success with "english-only".