Wikimedia Apps/iOS FAQ

If you are looking for Android FAQ, please check faq>Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia Apps/Android FAQ|here

General info
What is the difference between iOS app and mobile web app?

Wikipedia Mobile web application is accessible via any web browser, it provides different features than the app, such as the ability to create watchlists, collections, and receiving notifications.

The iOS app provides a different reading experience optimized for iOS devices, the ability to see pages about things that are nearby, and the ability to save pages for offline reading—to name just a few.

Who develops the iOS app?

Please check out our Team page to find out more.

How do I access an article's table of contents?

The table of contents may be accessed either from the table of contents icon or by dragging from the edge of the screen:

How do I use my phone's fancy 3D touch features with the Wikipedia app?

If your iPhone supports 3d touch you can access various shortcuts from the app icon:

Explore
How do I hide an article recommendation?

You can remove article recommendations from Explore by tapping the “…” icon:

Offline reading and data
Can I save articles for offline reading?

To save an article for reading later, just tap the "bookmark" icon in the bottom bar while viewing the article.

To view your saved articles, tap the "Saved" tab.

Can I access Wikipedia for free with your app?

Yes. If your mobile carrier supports Wikipedia Zero, then go to settings and enable Wikipedia Zero warnings to be notified when you are accessing Wikipedia data for free and when you may incur charges.

Does your app track me? Do you use my data?

Only if you opt in during app setup or via enable data collection in the Settings menu.

For opted in user the app will track some of your actions, and send reports of crashes. In no case will we share that information with 3rd parties.

Specific details on what information is collected can be found on the usage reports details page.

These reports are only sent when you activate the option. It can be easily deactivated from the Setting menu.

We also have crash reporting to help us fix bugs.

If a crash is detected, you will be prompted with the option to send us the crash report if you like.

(Please say yes! It helps us a lot.) All collected data is anonymous.

How does Nearby work?

When you click Nearby, the app requests access to use the GPS so we can determine your location.

Then, we query Wikipedia for a list of articles that are nearby.

The iOS application itself doesn't store your location or send it to our own servers.

As an iOS user, you have already agreed to Apple's Terms and Conditions for the iOS version running on your device.

Please refer to section 4, Consent to Use of Data, for more information about how they handle your Location and other usage data.

What information does the usage report contain?

You can refer to the page on event logging to see the various interactions and data we record.

Keep in mind that not all events are logged on all platforms.

If there's a specific scenario that concerns you, please reach out to the team so we can give you a definitive answer by referencing the code.

We use a service called HockeyApp to report crashes in the iOS application. When you choose to send us a crash (which we're immensely grateful for!), it tells us where in the code the crash originated from (the stack track across all active threads), and other diagnostic information such as the iOS version and device type.

See also: Does your app track me?

Languages
How can I remove languages?

We’re working on making it easier to delete languages, but for now you can hide the languages search bar completely if you primarily use a single language:

Links and OS Search
How can I open Wikipedia links from Safari/Mail/etc in the app?

To open a link in the app, long press the link. You'll then be offered the option to "Open in Wikipedia Mobile".

(Note that links to Commons, Wikitionary or other Wikimedia project are not supported at this time.)

How do I STOP the OS from opening Wikipedia links automatically in the app?

iOS uses your past link opening choices to determine how to handle links.

To stop this:


 * 1) When iOS asks to open a link in the app: cancel.


 * 1) When iOS opens the link from Safari in the app, use the back button in the upper left of the screen to return to Safari.


 * 1) When iOS opens the link in the app, tap the Share button on the bottom toolbar, then select "Open in Safari"

How do I open an article from the app in Safari (or any other browser)?

When reading the article simply press the share button on the toolbar.

You should see options to open the link in Safari (or other installed browser) as well as the option to copy the URL to paste into other apps.

Readability and adjustments
Can I change font size and background color?

Not at the moment, though we plan to work on user-configurable font sizes in the near future.

In the mean time, you can enable a triple-click home button shortcut to force the entire iOS interface to use dark mode:

Can I play audio or video in the app?

Unfortunately, neither audio nor video are currently supported in the app.

iPad
Does the app work on iPad?

The app is a Universal app and supports all iOS devices which run iOS 8 or 9. However the app was designed with smaller devices in mind, though full iPad support is in the works.

Can I use the app in split view mode (side by side with another app)?

Not currently but we plan to add support for Split Screen mode and other iPad specific features in future updates.

Sharing
How do I share an article, image or link?

On the article or image, tap the share button.

Then choose the social network or app you want to share to.

You can also save images to your Photo roll or copy URLs from here.

How do I share-a-fact (an image with a quote or fact included)?

To use the “share-a-fact” option, select the quote or fact text you want to share.

Then long press the selected text and choose Share from the popover menu. The share-a-fact preview will show you how your image will look.

Developing and bug reporting
I am an iOS developer, may I fork your app?

Please do. Our repository is available on GitHub.

Please see the README for information on how to contribute.

Where do I report bugs?

Instructions on how to file a bug are here. Please include as much information about your device, the app version you're using, and screenshots if you can.

Editing
Do I have to be logged in to edit?

No. You can edit without creating a username or logging in, but note that your IP address will be associated with your edits, and will be visible to anyone who reads the page's history.

Can I upload pictures?

No.

Can I view a page's history and talk pages?

The application doesn't currently support viewing history and talk pages

I'm logged in but my edits are recorded under my IP address?! Help!

In the current (5.0.x) versions of the app the IP may appear in the edit history even when a user is logged into the app.

Simply log back out and log back in and your credentials will update as expected. This will be fixed in an upcoming release.

Getting in touch
If I have a question or a suggestion, how do I reach out?

You can email us at: mobile-ios-wikipedia at wikimedia.org