Wikipedia icon
The Wikipedia App Offers a Polished, Ad-Free Portal to Collective Knowledge

by Wikimedia Foundation

4.4
IOSReference
This app provides seamless, on-the-go access to the world's largest free encyclopedia. Designed to help users quickly find and explore information, it mirrors the website's depth while offering a cleaner, more intuitive mobile experience. A powerful tool for students, curious minds, and researchers needing reliable reference material anywhere.

Detailed Review

The Wikipedia mobile application, developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, stands as the official gateway to its vast repository of crowd-sourced knowledge on iOS. It occupies a unique position in the reference category by being entirely free, devoid of advertisements, and sustained by donor contributions. For a resource of its scale and influence, the app's primary function is to make Wikipedia's content more accessible and readable on mobile devices, a task it accomplishes with a focused design philosophy. Core functionality centers on robust search, article navigation, and content discovery. Users can search in over 300 languages, save articles for offline reading, and explore curated content through 'Today's Featured Article' and 'Read in another language' options. A notable feature is the tabbed browsing interface, which allows multiple articles to be open simultaneously, mimicking a desktop browser experience. The app also integrates directly with the platform's editing tools, enabling registered users to make contributions or correct typos directly from their phone, though this is a power feature used by a minority. In practical use, the app excels in scenarios like settling a trivia debate in a cafe, assisting a student with last-minute research on public transit, or diving into a historical topic during a commute. The interface presents articles in a clean, readable font with easy-to-tap table of contents links for long entries. Images and infographics render clearly, and internal links are intuitively highlighted. The experience is deliberately streamlined, focusing on reading and discovery without the clutter common to many informational apps. User feedback, as seen in app store reviews, consistently highlights several trends. Praise focuses on the modern, fluid user interface, the app's reliability as a daily learning tool, and profound appreciation for its ad-free, donation-supported model. Specific features like tabbed browsing receive positive mentions for improving workflow. However, some critiques emerge regarding this very feature, with requests for better bulk tab management and occasional mentions that the close buttons on tabs can be fiddly. Reviews indicate a strong emotional connection, with many users describing the app as 'essential' and a 'gift to humanity.' Overall, the Wikipedia app delivers a highly refined and respectful mobile adaptation of its web counterpart. Its strengths are foundational: unrestricted access to knowledge, a clean and improving interface, and a principled lack of commercial interference. The limitations are minor and largely interface-centric, such as tab management granularity. For any iOS user seeking a dependable, fast, and ethically operated reference tool, this app remains a definitive recommendation and a standout example of utility-focused design.

Key Features

  • Tabbed Browsing: Allows users to open multiple articles in separate tabs for efficient research, switching between topics without losing place in a previous article.
  • Offline Reading: Lets users save complete articles, including images, to a reading list for access without an internet connection, ideal for travel or commutes.
  • Multilingual Search: Provides instant access to Wikipedia's content in more than 300 languages, with easy switching between language versions of the same article.
  • Article Discovery: Features 'Today's Featured Article' and 'Read in another language' sections to surface interesting content and encourage exploratory learning.
  • In-App Editing: Enables logged-in users to edit articles directly from the mobile app, contributing corrections or additions to the encyclopedia in real-time.
  • Customizable Reading: Offers adjustable text size and a theme switch between light and dark modes for comfortable reading in any environment.

Why Users Love It

Completely free with no ads
Intuitive, clutter-free interface

Perfect for: Perfect for students, lifelong learners, professionals, and anyone who needs reliable, instant access to factual information.

Screenshots

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Ranking History

Track Wikipedia's performance in Reference over the last 30 days

Top 5
Top 10
Top 15
Below 15

Current Rank

#45

Best Rank

#45

All-time high

Average Rank

#46

30-day average

User Reviews

1234fur
Oct 24, 2025

I’m so glad these folks keep at it. Invaluable right now when search engines are serving up slop great I’m so glad these folks keep at it. Invaluable right now when search engines are serving up slop

Noot-Noot12536
Oct 28, 2025

Wikipedia is the only place on the internet I can find that truly has no bias whatsoever. The fact that bad faith actors are trying to tear that away from the people proves that fascism is on the rise. The only place with true and historical facts. Wikipedia is the only place on the internet I can find that truly has no bias whatsoever. The fact that bad faith actors are trying to tear that away from the people proves that fascism is on the rise.

GeeqDoubt
Oct 15, 2025

Can’t even think how long I’ve been using this app but it works great and continues to keep pace with modern interface design. Great app - with continued improvement Can’t even think how long I’ve been using this app but it works great and continues to keep pace with modern interface design.

Generic white male 5’6
Nov 13, 2025

People take hours on hours out of their day to provide insane Amounts of information about anything in the world to anyone in the world Wonderful People take hours on hours out of their day to provide insane Amounts of information about anything in the world to anyone in the world

Stef382940
Oct 16, 2025

What more can I say, I love this site. I love art history and Wikipedia is a great source for me to learn all about it, been using it since 2010, one of the best encyclopedias ever made. My autistic art history enjoyer self loves this What more can I say, I love this site. I love art history and Wikipedia is a great source for me to learn all about it, been using it since 2010, one of the best encyclopedias ever made.

App Details

Developer

Wikimedia Foundation

Platform

ios

Rating

4.4

Last Updated

12/4/2025