Our Verdict
Wikipediais the great contestation colonist . I ca n’t tell you how many times my friend and I have had heated debates over some piece of nonmeaningful trivia , only to end it with , “ We ’ll see who Wikipedia thinks is right . ”
There is a whole class of applications in the App Store that put Wikipedia in your pocket and on your iPhone or iPod touch . In this Wiki apps roundup — the first of two I ’ll be writing for iPhone Central — I’ll take a flavour at three paid Wikipedia client for the iPhone : WikiPDA , Wikipanion Plus , andLook Up : Encyclopedia for Your Pocket .
You get what you pay for
Feature Rich : Wikipanion Plus cost more than the other two apps survey here , but its queue musical mode and search within a page features set it aside . mightily off the bat you ’ll notice that , at $ 5,Robert Chin’sWikipanion Plus costs more than the other two apps . ( Note that there ’s also afree version of Wikipanionavailable in the App Store . ) Why such a big difference in price ? Wikipanion Plus has a couple of corking feature article that set it aside from the less expensive apps : queue mode and hunting within a page .
No doubt you ’ve found yourself in a berth standardized to this : you think to yourself , “ I inquire what the mean rain twilight in Lima , Peru is . ” A fast Wikipedia search say you that Lima gets about 1 to 6 cm of rain a year . Several hour afterwards your guiltless meteoric query has be you a few hours and you ’ve somehow ended up on Kevin Kline ’s Wikipedia page ( did you know his mediate name is Delaney ? ) . All of this unfounded wandering on Wikipedia is n’t exactly friendly when you have set bandwidth ( say you ’re on your iPhone but not within the scope of a Wi - Fi internet ) , and that ’s where Wikipanion Plus ’ Queue modality shine .
I Finally launch What I ’m seem For : Enter a search terminus , and WikiPanion Plus will play up it in chickenhearted . Tapping on a link with Queue mode enabled does n’t take you to the Thomas Nelson Page , alternatively it pops up an alert inform you the linked Thomas Nelson Page has been added to your queue . you could add more Page to your queue with a tap , or visit the link immediately by tap and holding down on the link . ( If you are not in Queue mode , solicit and hold adds a connexion to the queue instead of chatter it directly . ) Once links have been tote up to your queue you have two choice : you’re able to visit the connection in any order , or download all the link pages for offline see ( majuscule for plane drive ) . you could also typeset Wikipanion Plus to mechanically download and keep the queued varlet in the background as you polish off say up on particle gas .
Feature Rich: Wikipanion Plus costs more than the other two apps reviewed here, but its queue mode and search within a page features set it apart.
Another feature that sets Wikipanion Plus apart is the power to look for within a page , which has long been a browser app standard . Tap the gear ikon and a computer menu slides open with a few clitoris on it , the top most being lookup in Page . Tap it , embark your search condition , and after a little crunch your hunting terms are foreground in jaundiced .
It ’s All Here : Like Wikipanion Plus , seem Up : Encyclopedia For Your Pocket displays the entire Wikipedia entry . The $ 3 Look Up fromSven Schrammfollows the same path as Wikipanion Plus when it comes to expose wiki entries , though at a slightly cheaper price . The entire clause is displayed , which is easier to habituate . But as I head out earlier , it also intend heavy file sizes for download . see Up also adds a dedicated button for listing a mesa of contents for the article you are presently read so you could skip to different sections easily . Look Up also advance autocompletion for search results which I found to work a little faster than the same feature film in Wikipanion Plus .
Cheap doesn’t mean bad
At $ 1,NextAroundYou’sWikiPDA is the meretricious of the flock , so it make water sense that it does n’t have as many feature of speech as either of its pricier competitors . It does n’t do much more than give up you to search Wikipedia from your iPhone , but in a slightly different way than the previous two apps .
Fact - Finding Mission : WikiPDA piles pages quickly by using a mobile - well-disposed format . WikiPDA centralise on making cargo times very tight by using Mobile River - favorable format Wiki varlet . ( I particularly appreciate this when using the app via EDGE . ) WikiPDA systematically debase pages faster than both Wikipanion Plus and take care Up , which present more traditional pageboy resultant role . Speedy lading times are achieve partly by page each clause , which means it takes more campaign to read a long clause on WikiPDA . Other than that , its only features are a story of the Page you visited and multilingual support . ( All three apps propose the same speech living as Wikipedia itself . )
Which Wiki-ware wins?
Wikipanion Plus is the most feature - rich and best - designed Wiki search app of the bunch ; it is also the most expensive by a with child margin . If you find yourself constantly using Wikipedia on your iPhone , then Wikipanion Plus is the app for you . If , however , you only turn Wikipedia occasionally , need the answer quickly ( perhaps to settle bar bets ) , and do n’t care about gimcrackery in the least , I would suggest WikiPDA . If you come somewhere in the middle , as I surmise most people do , Look Up : Encyclopedia for Your Pocket is a neat compromise between feature film position and pattern .
All three apps are compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch modality function the iPhone 2.x software update .
[ Scott McNulty is a aged contributor for MacUser and blogs atblankbaby . ]
I Finally Found What I’m Looking For: Enter a search term, and WikiPanion Plus will highlight it in yellow.
It’s All Here: Like Wikipanion Plus, Look Up: Encyclopedia For Your Pocket displays the entire Wikipedia entry.
Fact-Finding Mission: WikiPDA loads pages quickly by using a mobile-friendly format.
