Wikimedia Apps/iOS FAQ

General info

 * How do I report a typo, inaccuracy or error in an article?

Wikipedia is the world's largest encyclopedia anyone can edit!

If you see a typo or other error in an article, simply click the edit icon.

This will show the raw Wikitext of the article which you can then edit and save.

If you make lots of edits, we recommend you log in via the settings screen, so that you can keep track of your work, talk to other editors and join the worldwide Wikimedia community.


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

The table of contents may be accessed from the table of contents icon in the lower left


 * 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.

Today Widgets

 * How do I use Wikipedia Widgets?

As of the iOS 10 release, the app supports widgets on the iOS Today screen.

To add Wikipedia's widgets, go to your device's Today screen and scroll down to find the Edit button.

On the edit screen, look for the Wikipedia icon, and add the widgets using the plus icon.

You can also move widgets up and down the list to set Wikipedia's place on the screen.


 * What widgets does Wikipedia provide?

Currently we have 2 widgets:


 * Where you left off - Continue Reading right where you left off. This widget provides a quick bookmark to let you reopen your last article right from your lock screen.


 * Top read - See what people are reading on your primary language Wikipedia.


 * How do I remove Wikipedia Widgets?

Scroll to the bottom of the Today screen and tap Edit.

Tap the delete button next to the widgets you want to remove, and press Done.


 * Does using widgets affect my privacy status or allow Apple to see what I'm reading on Wikipedia?

No. All data displayed in the widgets comes via the Wikipedia app.

The app's privacy policy, and your choices to share (or not) your usage with us fully applies to the widgets as well.

Explore

 * How do I hide an article recommendation?

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


 * How does the app make these recommendations?

When you read or save an article we ask the Wikipedia search engine to provide 3 articles "similar" to the one you just read.

We do this using a standard search interface and do not build user profiles or track specific users actions on our servers in order to recommend content.

Deleting your local Recents list (tap Recents, then Clear in the upper left), will delete your device's local reading history.


 * When does new content appear on the Explore page?

New recommendations are added after you read or save a page in the app.

A block of daily content (Featured Article, Top Read, Picture of the Day, etc) are inserted the first time the feed is used each calendar day.

You can read more about the feed and how it works on this wiki page


 * Can I "turn off" or "opt out" of Explore or recommendations?

No.

Currently there is no way to opt out of using the Explore feed or being provided recommendations.

You can hide individual recommendations (see above).

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? :

No, the Wikimedia app no longer supports the Wikipedia Zero program, which the Wikimedia Foundation is sunsetting.

Starting in version 6.2, this feature is no longer supported in the iOS app.

Privacy and data sharing

 * 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 users 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

 * Can I have read articles from more than one language?
 * You can see content from multiple projects at the same time.




 * How can I remove languages?

Tap the More button on the search screen, or go Setting and select "My Languages".

Tap Edit on the "My Languages" screen to delete, add or reorder languages.

Using only one preferred language will hide the language search bar completely, or under Settings, set the "Show languages on search" switch to off:

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, Wiktionary or other Wikimedia project are not supported at this time.)


 * How do I STOP iOS 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 "wikipedia.org" button in the upper right of the screen to return to Safari, and stop it from automatically opening links in the app in the future.


 * 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?

You can adjust the article text size using the Text Size tool from any article's toolbar.

We do not currently support dynamic text, but plan to do so in an upcoming release.

We do not support color customization.

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.

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 page history and talk page are available in the "About this article" section at the bottom at the page.


 * 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: [mailto:mobile-ios-wikipedia@wikimedia.org?Subject=Feedback%3AWikipediaApp%2F6.3&body=Version%3A%20%0ADevice%3A%20%0A mobile-ios-wikipedia at wikimedia dot org]