Wikiwand is a proprietary software interface developed for viewing Wikipedia articles[1] available for several popular web browsers as a free browser extension or mobile app. It adds a proprietary interface with custom navigation, advertisements, and sponsored articles.[2]

History

Wikiwand (originally WikiWand) was founded in 2013 by Lior Grossman and Ilan Lewin. Officially launched in August 2014,[3] the interface includes a sidebar menu, navigation bar, personalized links to other languages, new typography, and access to previews of linked articles.[4] The list of contents is constantly displayed on the left-hand side.[5] The interface also includes display ads and sponsored articles.

In July 2020, a sample Wikiwand webpage had six display ads and 36 sponsored articles. Five display ads are in the main content section of the article, one is in the left-hand side navigation bar, and the sponsored articles are below the article content.[2] Wikiwand shares the users' personal information with Outbrain and other advertisers, as well as various service providers including Amazon, Google and Microsoft.[6] In 2021, visiting a Wikiwand page made the visitor's device exchange hundreds of requests and several megabytes of data with advertisers.[7]

According to Grossman, "It didn't make sense to us that the fifth most popular website in the world, used by half a billion people, has an interface that hasn't been updated in over a decade. We found the Wikipedia interface cluttered, hard to read, hard to navigate, and lacking in terms of usability."[8]

The interface is available on Chrome, Safari and Firefox as well as via Wikiwand's website. In March 2015, Wikiwand released an iOS app for iPhone and iPad.[9] In February 2020, an Android app was under development.[10]

In 2014, Wikiwand was able to raise $600,000 to support the development of the interface.[8]

References

  1. ^ Jillian Wong (21 August 2014). "'WikiWand' Gives Wikipedia Clean New Layout For A Better Reading Experience". Taxi. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Dieges & Clust". Wikiwand. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  3. ^ "WikiWand". Twitter. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  4. ^ Martin Brinkmann (14 August 2014). "WikiWand is a modernized Wikipedia frontend". ghacks.net. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  5. ^ "WikiWand makes Wikipedia beautiful". TNW. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Privacy policy".
  7. ^ "Wikiwand, oder wie sehen 600K Venturekapital nach acht Jahren aus?" (in German). 2021-04-08.
  8. ^ a b "Web App WikiWand Raises $600,000 to Give Wikipedia a New Interface". TechCrunch. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  9. ^ Zach Epstein (18 March 2015). "New free iPhone app transforms Wikipedia into a stunning interactive experience". Yahoo. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Wikiwand for Android". Wikiwand. Retrieved 11 February 2020.

External links