5 ms·

If you're looking for an alternative dictionary on mobile, check out Vedaist (https://www.vedaist.com/ https://www.vedaist.com/). The dictionary entries are bas

by rrevo 5y ago

If you're looking for an alternative dictionary on mobile, check out Vedaist (https://www.vedaist.com/ https://www.vedaist.com/). The dictionary entries are based on Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page) and I'd expect more modern meanings compared to the Webster's 1913. The UI is a subjective choice though. The mac default dictionary is great for offline use and passive learning. With vedaist features are geared towards active learning with gamification. Disclosure; I'm the creator of the Vedaist project.

Lammy 5y ago
Does Vedaist for mobile support fully offline usage? I really really dislike being spied on every time I use a dictionary that's hooked up to some API. I bought Dictionary-dot-com Pro a few years ago because it was the only such app I could find for iOS, but then they removed the offline functionality I paid for in a 2.0 release anyway :/
- nsomaru 5y ago
  I use the chambers dictionary in iOS for offline access
  - Lammy 5y ago
    $10 well spent. Thanks for the recommendation!
- rrevo 5y ago
  Nope, sorry. Vedaist has online features like sync and the word catalog of almost a million words would be too large for fully offline usage. But I've also implemented product analytics which you (and many others) dislike. I'd recommend wiktionary.org. Although it is an online dictionary it's part of the Wikipedia family and hence are better compared to other companies with regards to privacy.
  - NateEag 5y ago
    A million words shouldn't take tons of storage, right? How big is your database? I spend around 500 megabytes on offline maps for OsmAnd and don't really worry about it. I would have naively guessed a million word definitions wouldn't be larger than that. Why do you say it's too large for fully offline usage?
    - rrevo 5y ago
      Wiktionary dumps are around 1gb for a million words and definitions (https://dumps.wikimedia.org/enwiktionary/ https://dumps.wikimedia.org/enwiktionary/) uncompressed. However this is just raw text. We have images as well like https://www.vedaist.com/en/w/clarsach.html https://www.vedaist.com/en/w/clarsach.html. Audio pronunciations in wiktionary are sound files. Binary resources take a lot more space. For mobile apps, if the size increases a lot then the first download experience is not great. After a certain size the app is not usable for low end smartphones. Hence I'm not sure about fully offline for a rich/modern dictionary mobile app. Downloading partial information offline like a temporary cache is possible though.
      - NateEag 5y ago
        Ah, that makes sense. Thank you for enlightening me!
    - nelgaard 5y ago
      Ereaders have offline dictionaries. My Ereader has one based on Webster 1913. It works fine but it is of course missing words in modern books. But now you can get Wiktionary on many Ereaders which is just great.
- fold3 5y ago
  On android, you have Livio which is offline, tracker free and free of charge as well. That's pretty disappointing that MacOS has an unmatched dictionnary app but iOS is forgotten while there is decent options on Android.
  - reaperducer 5y ago
    Not a standalone app, but on iOS you can highlight any word and select "Look up..." to get a definition. I use it frequently while reading the New York Times. I believe it works offline, too, since the device I use for the Times is almost never hooked up to the internet.

by rrevo 5y ago

Lammy 5y ago

Does Vedaist for mobile support fully offline usage? I really really dislike being spied on every time I use a dictionary that's hooked up to some API. I bought Dictionary-dot-com Pro a few years ago because it was the only such app I could find for iOS, but then they removed the offline functionality I paid for in a 2.0 release anyway :/

nsomaru 5y ago
I use the chambers dictionary in iOS for offline access
- Lammy 5y ago
  $10 well spent. Thanks for the recommendation!
rrevo 5y ago
Nope, sorry. Vedaist has online features like sync and the word catalog of almost a million words would be too large for fully offline usage. But I've also implemented product analytics which you (and many others) dislike. I'd recommend wiktionary.org. Although it is an online dictionary it's part of the Wikipedia family and hence are better compared to other companies with regards to privacy.
- NateEag 5y ago
  A million words shouldn't take tons of storage, right? How big is your database? I spend around 500 megabytes on offline maps for OsmAnd and don't really worry about it. I would have naively guessed a million word definitions wouldn't be larger than that. Why do you say it's too large for fully offline usage?
  - rrevo 5y ago
    Wiktionary dumps are around 1gb for a million words and definitions (https://dumps.wikimedia.org/enwiktionary/ https://dumps.wikimedia.org/enwiktionary/) uncompressed. However this is just raw text. We have images as well like https://www.vedaist.com/en/w/clarsach.html https://www.vedaist.com/en/w/clarsach.html. Audio pronunciations in wiktionary are sound files. Binary resources take a lot more space. For mobile apps, if the size increases a lot then the first download experience is not great. After a certain size the app is not usable for low end smartphones. Hence I'm not sure about fully offline for a rich/modern dictionary mobile app. Downloading partial information offline like a temporary cache is possible though.
    - NateEag 5y ago
      Ah, that makes sense. Thank you for enlightening me!
  - nelgaard 5y ago
    Ereaders have offline dictionaries. My Ereader has one based on Webster 1913. It works fine but it is of course missing words in modern books. But now you can get Wiktionary on many Ereaders which is just great.
fold3 5y ago
On android, you have Livio which is offline, tracker free and free of charge as well. That's pretty disappointing that MacOS has an unmatched dictionnary app but iOS is forgotten while there is decent options on Android.
- reaperducer 5y ago
  Not a standalone app, but on iOS you can highlight any word and select "Look up..." to get a definition. I use it frequently while reading the New York Times. I believe it works offline, too, since the device I use for the Times is almost never hooked up to the internet.