Dictionary.com is probably the best of the lot. But when it comes to the ones on smartphones, Dictionary.com’s app never really impressed me. It needed an internet connection to look for the definition of a word. To me, the idea of being connected to the internet to just look up the meaning of a word sounded ridiculous. What if one’s offline or out of the coverage area? Also, if I am connected to the network on my Android, I would just use Google Now instead of using an app. Keeping the concern in mind, in the past we have already discussed two Android dictionary apps that supports offline referencing. While both of them still work great, today we are going to add the name Dictionary.com app for Android in the list. The app has over two million definitions and synonyms making it one of the best places to refer to but the support of offline access to the recent update is what has made it really worth its salt in my opinion.
Using the App in Offline Mode
After you have installed the latest version of the Dictionary.com app or upgraded it from the Play Store, the first time you access it you will be informed that the app now works offline. You can then go ahead and download the additional files from the server. But make sure you are connected through a Wi-Fi connection before you start the download. If by any chance you skipped out on the welcome update message to download the offline dictionary, you can manually do it from the app settings User can find the option to download the offline dictionary under the Settings option in the left-hand slide menu. While downloading the offline content the app doesn’t show any progress bar and you can’t access any content as well. But if you have a decent internet connection, it won’t take long. Note: The Dictionary.com iOS app also supports offline mode after the update on 01 October 2013 but the additional data file was integrated with the app itself through the App Store. After you have downloaded the dictionary for offline access, you will see significant improvement in the speed. Now that the app is not relying on the internet connection anymore for basic referencing, the word suggestion and results will load faster than ever. The thing to note here is, while you are using the app in offline mode, you can only use the Definitions and Synonyms tab. For information like word origin and its pronunciation you have to be connected to the internet.
Conclusion
I am really impressed with the latest update. Although the app’s features are limited in the offline access, I don’t see a reason to complain. Most of the times all we need is the definition of a word and the app answers it whether or not you are connected to the internet. So go ahead, try out the new update and share with us how you liked it. The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
