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Does anyone use the actual mobile app? If so, why do you prefer it over the mobile web version? (I have not tried it and am curious)

Tomte 5y ago
Not anymore, the website suffices for me, but what stood out in my opinion is that a) the app is beautiful and b) it shows articles of places/features nearby.
- lacksconfidence 5y ago
  > it shows articles of places/features nearby That functionality is likely the same data as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Nearby https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Nearby but with a better interface
  - Tomte 5y ago
    Yes, probably. I never noticed that. In the app it's in your face (first start asks for location services with explanation what for).
occz 5y ago
I do. Given that it's a native app, it behaves a bit better on mobile than its web-counterpart. Links to Wikipedia open in the app, so the experience is not that disrupted when switching from web (or other apps) to the app.
meibo 5y ago
The official app is genuinely well made and has nice features like selecting your favorite languages, saving entries in lists, tabs, and offline reading. I think it's one of the few things on my phone that I actually prefer the app version of.
chizhik-pyzhik 5y ago
I use it so I can read wikipedia in dark mode
sdumi 5y ago
I use it because I like to have all my wiki tabs in one place. I can also save tabs for offline reading. The app is very nice to use and it feels faster than the browser: one of the few cases where I like the app more than the web equivalent.
kitsunesoba 5y ago
I do. As others have said, it's built well and feels smoother to use than the site does. Note that this is not an issue of speed, wikipedia in the browser is plenty fast. It's smoothness — the app's navigation model is better adapted to the use case, it's themed to match the OS perfectly, and there's no extraneous browser chrome or other little browserisms dragging down the experience. If the iPad version got a Mac Catalyst port I'd probably use that on the desktop too.
gpas 5y ago
I use it, it's very well made. It's easy to search in different languages from the same field, it has tabs, favourites, themes...everything works.
franga2000 5y ago
I don't have it anymore but I used to (like 2 years ago). It was genuinely one of the most well-made apps I've used. Everything was just so smooth and well-optimised for touch control. One of my favourite features were the summaries (like ther hover cards that sometimes appear on desktop now) and reading lists, which are basically bookmarks but hyper-optimised for Wikipedia articles. All of it was something you could already do with a browser, but it was just way more streamlined.
askvictor 5y ago
I use it, mainly for dark mode. Only think that really annoys me is rendering of tables - text within doesn't re-flow to fit the mobile screen. Not sure if this is also a problem in mobile web as I don't really use that.
jobigoud 5y ago
Top improvements of the mobile app vs the mobile site for me: - Access to the talk pages which are interesting to read on certain articles. - Improved multi-language support (You can select your preferred languages and quickly switch while searching) - The "My lists" feature. - It has its own tabs so it's easier to manage. I'm using "Wikipedia Beta" app.

Tomte 5y ago

Not anymore, the website suffices for me, but what stood out in my opinion is that a) the app is beautiful and b) it shows articles of places/features nearby.

lacksconfidence 5y ago
> it shows articles of places/features nearby That functionality is likely the same data as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Nearby https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Nearby but with a better interface
- Tomte 5y ago
  Yes, probably. I never noticed that. In the app it's in your face (first start asks for location services with explanation what for).

occz 5y ago

I do. Given that it's a native app, it behaves a bit better on mobile than its web-counterpart. Links to Wikipedia open in the app, so the experience is not that disrupted when switching from web (or other apps) to the app.

meibo 5y ago

The official app is genuinely well made and has nice features like selecting your favorite languages, saving entries in lists, tabs, and offline reading. I think it's one of the few things on my phone that I actually prefer the app version of.

chizhik-pyzhik 5y ago

I use it so I can read wikipedia in dark mode

sdumi 5y ago

I use it because I like to have all my wiki tabs in one place. I can also save tabs for offline reading. The app is very nice to use and it feels faster than the browser: one of the few cases where I like the app more than the web equivalent.

kitsunesoba 5y ago

I do. As others have said, it's built well and feels smoother to use than the site does. Note that this is not an issue of speed, wikipedia in the browser is plenty fast. It's smoothness — the app's navigation model is better adapted to the use case, it's themed to match the OS perfectly, and there's no extraneous browser chrome or other little browserisms dragging down the experience. If the iPad version got a Mac Catalyst port I'd probably use that on the desktop too.

gpas 5y ago

I use it, it's very well made. It's easy to search in different languages from the same field, it has tabs, favourites, themes...everything works.

franga2000 5y ago

I don't have it anymore but I used to (like 2 years ago). It was genuinely one of the most well-made apps I've used. Everything was just so smooth and well-optimised for touch control. One of my favourite features were the summaries (like ther hover cards that sometimes appear on desktop now) and reading lists, which are basically bookmarks but hyper-optimised for Wikipedia articles. All of it was something you could already do with a browser, but it was just way more streamlined.

askvictor 5y ago

I use it, mainly for dark mode. Only think that really annoys me is rendering of tables - text within doesn't re-flow to fit the mobile screen. Not sure if this is also a problem in mobile web as I don't really use that.

jobigoud 5y ago

Top improvements of the mobile app vs the mobile site for me: - Access to the talk pages which are interesting to read on certain articles. - Improved multi-language support (You can select your preferred languages and quickly switch while searching) - The "My lists" feature. - It has its own tabs so it's easier to manage. I'm using "Wikipedia Beta" app.