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Why I built a dictionary app

wordnote.app

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Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#142

Post by kworks »

cal85 wrote: post #91

This looks great, congratulations to the author. I will be using it. In case you’ve never read it, this 2014 blog post is an all time favourite of mine. It really opened up my thinking about words and definitions: You’re probably using the wrong dictionary - http://jsomers.net/blog/dictionary Ever since reading that, I have tended to use the 1913 Webster’s as my primary dictionary, supplemented by various modern ones…

James Somer's excellent blog post (and mcphee-draft-no-4) provoked a fundamental shift in the way I rewrite. Can't understate its effect. Not the least of which is that I now turn to the 1913 Webster's several times a day.

Agreed that the UI on the present iOS app is less than ideal. That said easy mobile access to those sublime definitions is super helpful. Gratitude to the dev.

Will definitely be using Wordnote (great work!) and I echo the wish that the 1913 Webster's be incorporated somehow.

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#143

Post by tawfiqh »

dombili wrote: post #70
wodenokoto wrote: post #64

While iOS comes with high quality, built-in dictionaries, it still lacks an app. Since the dictionary works as a pop-up on any selectable text, then if I look up a word and there's a "see other word", there is no way to jump to the next word. If the definition contains a word I don't understand, there is no way to click through to that word. This is the dictionary I'd like to see on my phone.

Exactly and I don't know why dictionary apps don't take advantage of it. I wonder if it's against App Store guidelines to make a dictionary app based on the built-in dictionary. There are a lot of dictionary apps out there but I think most developers miss the forest for the trees. I don't know why there's still not a single dictionary app that is blazing fast, use the built-in dictionary and have some common sense de…

Yep! Kotoba is quick and easy to use.

It has the added benefit of being integrated with the system dictionary, so if you add any extra dictionaries to the system, such as foreign languages, they will also be immediately supported in Kotoba.

Unfortunately: "App Store guidelines disallow using the built-in system dictionary to create a dictionary app"

Write up on daring fireball here: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2018/06/19/kotoba

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#144

Post by mprovost »

> So I created a script to download the definitions of the most 300.000 common words in English and insert them into an SQLite database.

It seems like if you're limiting yourself to 300k words starting with the most common ones isn't the best heuristic for filtering. Surely people are going to look up less common words more often? Or maybe even the most likely words to be misspelled.

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#145

Post by donkeyd »

blowski wrote: post #110
dionidium wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I look up words for which I already know the primary definition all the time. Sometimes it's just to confirm that it doesn't mean something subtly different than I remember. Sometimes it's to find alternate/secondary uses. Sometimes it's to confirm spelling. Sometimes it's a jumping off point for synonyms or related words. I wouldn't assume you were totally unfamiliar with a word just because you looked it up.

I’m amazed how often I “know” the primary definition, only to discover I’m wrong when I look in a dictionary. Same with pronunciation of words I’ve only seen written.

> Same with pronunciation of words I’ve only seen written.

I had the opposite experience when visiting the US for the first time. I saw a bag of 'luh-too-ché' in the store. For about 10 second my mind was wondering what it was. Then I realized that the word that is (to my Dutch brain) pronounced as 'ledice' is not spelled that way, it's spelled 'lettuce'. I came to the US with C2 level proficiency (thanks to subtitled media and MMORPGs), but I still had a lot to learn!

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#146

Post by nbzso »

ourmandave wrote: post #135
nbzso wrote: post #131

Nice tool. I would like to announce our movement. It is called "Life without a smartphone". We are the minority of today. We love to use real computers and open web for our daily work and avoid using smartphones, data silos and user hostile products. Our "extreme" view is that no amount of optimization and local storage will save your mind from dark patterns of your smartphone. P.S. We love to be downvoted to oblivio…

Do you have an app I can download to learn more?

Yep. It is called "Get a life" and is available for free outside all app stores:)

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#148

Post by jxdxbx »

I've been looking for a GOOD dictionary app that works with StarDict files for years. I am not interested in the crummy free internet dictionaries that people use when I've got the complete OED. (The actual OED, not some random dictionary that has "Oxford" in its name).
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