![]() ![]() It’s impossible to flip open Webster’s unabridged or the Concise Oxford and not discover some interesting or obscure word. And, as with all of the other dictionary apps on the market, Webster’s lets you bookmark entries and keeps track of the last 15 words you searched.Įxploring these four applications, following my investigation of five upstart dictionary apps, was quite the letdown. Many of the entries include hyperlinked cross-references, as well. You can use the dictionary without a Wi-Fi connection, which should go without saying given the price. The app handles partial search terms, but not wildcards. The developer-Paragon Technologie, again-boasts fast access and low memory consumption, which is certainly true: This app is about as bare-bones as they come. ![]() So $60 is a decent deal, if you don’t care about presentation.īig Content, Tiny Package: Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged crams 700,000 definitions onto your iPhone, but it doesn’t devote much attention to presentation. The print version retails for $120, or around $80 on Amazon. But understand what $60 gets you: 12 pounds of content distilled into a 4.7 ounce package-263,000 entries, 700,000 definitions, 143,000 etymologies, 100,000 quotations, and an expansive thesaurus. But not if it comes with the same drab, second-rate interface of these two apps.įinally, I looked at Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, which, at $60, is an incredibly expensive application. I might pay $200 for an iPhone version of the OED, even if I had to sell a few additional pints of blood to pay for it. Oxford University Press offers an online version of the unabridged OED for $30 a month or an individual annual subscription price of $295. I’m saving up my pennies and looking for space for the 20-volume edition that most every professional writer covets. I have the two-volume Shorter Oxford English Dictionary in my office. I wanted to like both versions of the Concise OED. What’s The Word: Mobile Systems attempts to distinguish its Concise Oxford English Dictionary app with word-of-the-day and random word features.īut what a disappointment, either way. Given the choice, I’d go with the version with audio pronunciations on the theory that you get value added for the same price. Hearing the pronunciations can be helpful, although British and American pronunciations do sometimes differ. ![]() Paragon’s version includes 20,000 sound entries Mobile’s does not. You cannot adjust the display type size, or browse easily. Neither interface is very good, compared with the lively and appealing American Heritage app. There is also a difference in the apps’ sizes: Paragon’s app is 34.4MB versus Mobile’s 9.7MB version. Mobile’s version has a “word of the day” and “random word” function Paragon’s does not. The difference comes down to interface-bland and blander-and a couple of features. Neither of the Concise Oxford English Dictionaries nor the Webster’s app includes the supplemental material. The developers of American Heritage Dictionary had the wisdom to include all the printed dictionary’s front matter: the introduction, notes on usage and changes in the language, and all the rest of it. And the app’s straightforward search function yields partial results and supports wildcard searches. Thousands of entries in the American Heritage app helpfully include hyperlinked cross-references. The Oxford and Webster’s apps inexplicably and inexcusably do not. ![]() (I say “apparently” because the developer’s App Store page boasts “zoomable graphics,” and the app’s size would suggest they exist somewhere, but I only found a few maps.) You can adjust the display type size. The American Heritage app apparently lacks the color illustrations of its print counterpart, but it is still a good-looking program. WordBook can offer a slick, functional, attractive, high-quality app for $8, it beggars belief that a well-branded, well-pedigreed Oxford or Webster’s dictionary wouldn’t offer a better experience with superior content costing upwards of $60. Although I was pleased to have so much lexical firepower in such a compact form, I was annoyed at how poorly the other dictionaries present on the platform. But as apps go, onlyĮnfour’s American Heritage Dictionary stands out for its graphic appeal and functionality. Word mavens argue over the merits of each work I take an ecumenical view and have editions of all three close by. ![]()
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