The official Wikipedia app is finally available for Android users, after years of being only accessible to those with an iPhone.
The app, which is free to download in the Android Market, provides mobile access to Wikipedia's database of more than 20 million articles in 280-plus languages. It can be installed on any device running Android 2.2 Froyo and up.
The app allows users to save articles to read them offline at a later time, find entries based on location, and share articles. Users can also view specific articles in a different language, instead of having to switch the language of the entire site.
The app, which has been available since late last week, was one of the ways users accessed Wikipedia during the 24-hour blackout in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA).
As of Thursday, the app had been rated more than 600 times, and had an average rating of 4.4 stars out of five. The app has mostly positive user reviews, though some have complained that it continues using the GPS function in the background after exiting the app, causing the battery to drain.
The Wikipedia app has been available for the iPhone since 2009. Wikipedia also has its own mobile site.
Wikipedia has been busy lately protesting SOPA and PIPA, two controversial anti-piracy bills making their way through Congress. Though the English version of the site was dark all day on Wednesday, it actually saw a boost in traffic, likely from gawkers who wanted to see how Wikipedia was responding to the blackout.
No comments:
Post a Comment