Why I built a dictionary app • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#61

Post by blondin » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 5:14 AM UTC

congratulations to both wordnote and stictionary!

but wow, this is very eerie—i have not written an app but thought about it!

i am using a combination of three iOS applications right now to achieve what both these apps are offering. the built-in dictionary of course, notes, and reminders. after looking up words using the built-in dictionary, i put them in notes. then about once a week, i do a review and set reminders for a few select words.

i have been doing this for a few years now. it's heartwarming to see these ideas validated not in one but two applications.

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#62

Post by dombili » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 5:16 AM UTC

I tried to give this a shot as the blog post resonated with me but I simply couldn't get the app to work on my iPhone (13, iOS 15.6). When I first launched it I waited the database to setup ("Loading language database...") for more than two minutes. Knowing for sure it couldn't take that long, I restarted the app but it was the same issue. I then re-installed the app but then the app just gave me a blank white screen.

It's a new app, shit happens, and if there's a way I can do to help you diagnose the issue on my end, I'd be happy to.

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#63

Post by tiffanyh » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 5:22 AM UTC

liquidise wrote: post #31

Well this is... eerie. I just released Stictionary[1] on Friday. It is an offline, ad free, dictionary that remembers words you look up. It gives a word of the day and provides (admittedly underfeatured atm) flashcards to review your word lists. It includes optional syncing to keep your word lists across devices. I've been holding off posting about it while i complete the website[2]. Love to see someone else had such…

Why does Apple App Store say your app is 4 years old if you just released it this past week?

Same goes for the OP?

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#64

Post by wodenokoto » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 5:26 AM UTC

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.

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#65

Post by DecayingOrganic » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 5:27 AM UTC

tiffanyh wrote: post #63

liquidise wrote: post #31

Well this is... eerie. I just released Stictionary[1] on Friday. It is an offline, ad free, dictionary that remembers words you look up. It gives a word of the day and provides (admittedly underfeatured atm) flashcards to review your word lists. It includes optional syncing to keep your word lists across devices. I've been holding off posting about it while i complete the website[2]. Love to see someone else had such…

Why does Apple App Store say your app is 4 years old if you just released it this past week? Same goes for the OP?

That is the App Store's age rating, not the actual age of the app.

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#66

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 5:29 AM UTC

kccqzy wrote: post #2

Actually, iOS already has built-in support for dictionary and thesaurus. In any native text input field, select a word and choose Define or Look Up. The choice of dictionary is customizable; I usually choose New Oxford American Dictionary and Oxford Dictionary of English (not to be confused with the venerable Oxford English Dictionary). They are high quality dictionaries. They are basically the same except that the p…

[deleted]

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#67

Post by StillLrning123 » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 5:30 AM UTC

prawn wrote: post #43

liquidise wrote: post #31

Well this is... eerie. I just released Stictionary[1] on Friday. It is an offline, ad free, dictionary that remembers words you look up. It gives a word of the day and provides (admittedly underfeatured atm) flashcards to review your word lists. It includes optional syncing to keep your word lists across devices. I've been holding off posting about it while i complete the website[2]. Love to see someone else had such…

It's very stupid, but I check dictionary definitions in an incognito window because I'm horrified of someday people coming across my browser history and thinking "Wow, he didn't know the definition of that ?! What an idiot!" The idea of a dictionary that tracks my searches horrifies me in a silly way. Ha!

I look up words all the time. Etymology is fun. I use several languages though, so I often get confused about nuances and subtleties.

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#68

Post by lbqjfw » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 5:31 AM UTC

Congratulations! Cool app and nice writeup.

Related: what do people use for bilingual (translation) dictionaries (i.e. X-English or English-X)? Most of the apps I have found for the languages I use are full of ads and not very usable. (Translation apps like Google Translate are much better and more usable, but there are some use-cases where a dictionary really is better).

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#69

Post by gnicholas » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 5:31 AM UTC

prawn wrote: post #43

liquidise wrote: post #31

Well this is... eerie. I just released Stictionary[1] on Friday. It is an offline, ad free, dictionary that remembers words you look up. It gives a word of the day and provides (admittedly underfeatured atm) flashcards to review your word lists. It includes optional syncing to keep your word lists across devices. I've been holding off posting about it while i complete the website[2]. Love to see someone else had such…

It's very stupid, but I check dictionary definitions in an incognito window because I'm horrified of someday people coming across my browser history and thinking "Wow, he didn't know the definition of that ?! What an idiot!" The idea of a dictionary that tracks my searches horrifies me in a silly way. Ha!

I look up everything in an incognito window!

But for dictionary/thesaurus I usually use spotlight to access MacOS' built-in resources, which is faster.

Re: Why I built a dictionary app

#70

Post by dombili » Mon, Aug 01, 2022, 5:32 AM UTC

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 design choices (literally not came across a single dictionary app that doesn't enable keyboard as soon as you open it -- it's a dictionary app, why do they think I open the app?!).

Kotoba (https://github.com/willhains/Kotoba) is almost perfect but there's no way to download it from the App Store and I don't want to deal with the hassle of sideloading on iOS as a non-developer.