Wikipedia brings iOS update with 3D touch, voice search and better customisation

Wikipedia has given a facelift to its iOS app, introducing more personalisation to the content. The app now also supports 3D touch for iPhones (6s and 6s Plus).

The Wikipedia mobile 5.0 version is an overall improvement from just a content consumption perspective. The online encyclopaedia hosts more than 36 million articles in nearly 300 languages and it is bringing all of that to the mobile format, with a lot of emphasis on user experience and personalisation. Wikipedia is trying to leverage the inherent capabilities of the devices like speech-to-text, voice recognition and 3D touch to interact with users to keep them hooked to the app.

"Wikipedia Mobile 5.0 is an all-new version of the official Wikipedia app for iOS with simpler navigation, updated design, new touch-friendly ways to discover content and more," notes the app description in the Apple App store.

The app has a new "feed" section loaded with content that measures the relevancy to the reader and picks the articles based activity history, location, and recommendations on articles and images. The feed contains article of the day, top read articles, a picture of the day, random articles, nearby articles and recommended articles.

Another feature, "Spotlight Search", is a voice-enabled search option, supporting offline reading and could be used to find saved articles from the app. The app's language search supports all the 300 languages that Wikipedia supports.

A reader can also swipe, tap and navigate through the articles and images using the 3D touch; they can even save articles for later reading. The 3D gesture feature, however, is available only for the latest Apple devices running on iOS 9 like the iPhone 6s and the 6s plus. Wikipedia also supports connecting multiple devices through Handoff feature, in which readers can share content across iOS devices and continue reading from where they let off. Other improvements include high-resolution image galleries and popular pictures.