Wikimedia Foundation 4.0.6

A barebones mobile UI for the world’s largest online encyclopedia

There’s no question that Wikipedia is one of the most valuable assets the Internet has to offer, but even though it’s non-profit and relies on donations, the foundation has poured quite a bit of money into designing a mobile app for iOS devices.

Cool UI

Wikipedia Mobile is simplistic and barebones. While it wasn’t that long ago when Wikipedia Mobile had a terrible UI, things have improved greatly in more recent updates, giving a more streamlined and more intuitive interface to a platform that we’re already accustomed with.

The app is fast and allows for quick browsing. The sidebar that can be accessed via the special icon at the top right corner allows you to view the table of contents and navigate between the various areas with more ease.

You can even edit the articles that are open for such modifications whether you are logged in or not. Accessing the “W” menu gives you access to some new areas. For instance, you’ll be able to check out the chosen article for the day, get to read some random article or check out articles about the nearby areas. You may also visit recently viewed articles and saved pages.

To better integrate with iOS 8, the Wikipedia app comes with the save page icon placed at the bottom of the screen, right next to the page sharing shortcut.

Nothing special about it

The Wikipedia iOS app launches to “today’s featured article,” and offers two viewing modes. The articles are in their original form (i.e. as you’d find them on Wikipedia.org on your desktop computer), and you can tweak the font size and other settings.

Users can share articles to social networks, search information by location and history, and save content for offline reading. Links can also be shared via email or opened in Safari.

Wikipedia Mobile delivers the desired effect, within a proper UI that makes navigating easy and intuitive. With a few more tweaks, the app could become perfect.

Add to watchlist:

Reference Physics Math Chemistry Biology Astronomy

Portable version:

Wikipedia for Android

https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/wikipedia-mobile/id324715238?mt=8

In a hurry? Add it to your Download Basket!

softpedia rating

4.5/5

user rating

UNRATED

0.0/5

0/5

17 Original Screenshots

Hits & Misses

hits

more than 20 million articles in 280 languages
save articles for offline reading, share to social networks
nearby search

misses

poorly designed interface
iPad version could take more advantage of the bigger display

Bottom Line

Design / UI9 The UI looks great and is easy to handle.	Function8 Plenty of features, although it could use a bit more touching up.	Security9 It uses your location for certain features and fetches your Facebook credentials when needed. Nothing too worrisome, though.
Battery9 Despite being poorly optimized (or not at all optimized) for iOS 7, Wikipedia Mobile is so lightweight that it draws very little power. It’s sad that this is actually one of its few key strengths.	Price10 Free with no ads whatsoever and no in-app purchases. No donation alerts, no “please rate our app five stars.” That’s so rare these days, you can end up feeling guilty for using it without compensating the Wikimedia people.	Compatibility9 The low firmware requirement (iOS 4.3) also helps its grades and gives it green light to run on everything from iPhone 3G and up.

Editor's Review

EXCELLENT

Reviewed by Filip Truta, last updated on December 6th, 16:18 GMT.

Specifications

price:: 100% Free
current version:: 4.0.6
reviewed version:: 4.0.5
developer:: Wikimedia Foundation
category:: SCIENCE & EDUCATION
os version req.:: 6.0
age rating:: 4+
in-app purchases:: No
hits:: 821

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