I just downloaded it from the store, I'm quite happy with it. I also have Heavy Steam's version, which has poor formatting, no references, no tables, info boxes. The TiniWiki is very complete. Sure the download is big, but you also get future updates. Oh, also with Heavy Steam's version, it only lists like 20 results per search, I could not scroll for more results!!! TiniWiki searches the whole thing and it has both online and offline feature. So, if you don't want to download, you can just switch to online mode and it works just like Wikipanion. Also, the Wikipedia content in TiniWiki is lot more up to date compare to Heavy steam's. Maybe there are lot more articles?
I tried Spider man, spiderman, and spider-man and all came up as cross-referenced of the main topic, just like regular wiki. It seems fairly comprehensive that way, showing all possible matches to that point as you weed them out(kind of like the app store search.) Not that I watch american idol but I know it's a recent show. It has an elimination from May 6th listed, it shows two weeks worth after that but those could just have been "to be determined later" spots. So it's at the *very* oldest May 6th of this year(if everything is the same age), not bad. Seems a decent app, but I'm still pretty upset that I had to clear up so much space and jump through so many hoops to get the thing downloaded. I've uninstalled several larger apps just to fit it, and I won't be getting a 3gs anytime soon to help I'm hoping for a way to somehow pick and choose what data it stores, to cut down on that massive size.
Thanks for the update. Speaking of updates, does the dev seem serious about distributing updates? And I hope only the items that have been altered are updated. But I have a funny feeling you will have to start from scratch. I asked the dev of Encyclopedia about this and the short answer is that if there ever are any updates, you will need to uninstall the app, reinstall the app and start the download fresh.
Their site mentions a year of free updates and that they only need to patch in changes, not a total full download, so we'll have to see.
Sorry for the length of this, but I'm kinda passionate about these types of apps! Here is my $.02.... Introduction I've used Wiki2Touch on a jailbroken iPod Touch, the AppStore app Encyclopedia on a stock iPod Touch, and now, I have TiniWiki installed on a stock iPod Touch. I've had lots of time to push these to their limits, and I've provided lots of constructive feedback to the developers. Here are my impressions: Wiki2Touch: The user must download and process the Wikipedia dump file on his local PC and then transfer the file to the iPhone/iPod Touch. The on-board app is actually a Web server that Safari uses to access the data. It's an excellent implementation, and it utilizes all of Safari's goodies like landscape mode, bookmarking, etc. The data file weighs in at about 4-5GB, and you can optionally include images (using up another 3-5GB of space.) It provides probably the most flexibility, but unfortunately, you must Jailbreak your device to get it to work. I've done it without any issue, however I now prefer to just use "stock" configurations. Development has been pretty much abandoned, so there's no guarantee it'll work on the latest or later OS versions. I just LOVE this app, but I don't Jailbreak anymore, so I can't use it. Encyclopedia This is an AppStore-developed version based on an older Jailbreak version. It's simple, lean, and only takes up about 2GB of data space. This app has 2 main advantages: It's an official AppStore app, and it only takes up 2GB of space. The disadvantages are that it has limited search results, the articles are stripped down to just main article content with links. No tables, no sidebars, etc. Just the plain, main article content. And you really do need to learn how to effectively search to find what you are looking for, because its indexing is simple and not complete. The developers have said that they will be releasing a more up-to-date version soon. How soon "soon" is, I don't know. For just a few bucks and a few hours of downloading, it's certainly a useful application. TiniWiki It took me 3 weeks (yes, three) to download the file on-and-off. And to make matters worse, it would not install on my 8GB iPod Touch without removing EVERY other application. The iPT only has 7GB available memory, and TiniWiki's data file is 6.9GB in size. Fortunately, my iPod Touch was less than 30 days old, so I returned it and exchanged it for a 16GB model. (Yes, I am THAT freakishly dedicated to getting offline Wikipedia access!!) Once downloaded, I started putting it through its paces, and I am certainly pleased. Searching is quick, and it returns lots and lots of search hits, so you are very likely to find what you are looking for. It also follows re-directs extremely well, so getting to the "main" article is a snap. It has Landscape mode, and it renders tables and other links quite well. I would love it if the app remembered you place between sessions, but it's not a huge deal. Bookmarking makes going back to an article easy, though it does take you to the top of the article, not where you left off. Hopefully, this will be added in a new version. The developers said that updates will be available. The updates will come as smaller files, so you won't have to download 6.9GB again. My only real concern is that I'm not confident that the 6.9GB file has been completely backed up in iTunes. I'm dreading the next OS update. If it restires, I simply don't know if I'll have to download again or not. We'll see. Overall, I give this a solid high rating IF you have at least a 16GB device, and IF you are patient enough to tackle the download. One HUGE Point Of Note About These Apps Please remember that the intent of these apps is to provide OFFLINE access to data. The obvious trade-off is that some of the data can very quickly become outdated. Sure, the Barack Obama article on Encyclopedia is out of date by over a year, but so what? Isn't that to be expected from any offline application? If I'm looking up an article on King Solomon's Temple, the history of the state of Nevada, or the molecular weight of Gold, who cares that the data is not really that current? If you absolutely need up-to-date information, then use an online viewer such as the excellent Wikipanion+ that lets you cache downloaded articles for offline use. An Illustration Of Scope The foundation of my passion with these apps is that you have at your fingertips some 3,000,000 articles available any time, anywhere. To me, that's definitely worth the hassle. You simply cannot appreciate that until you start thinking about what it really means. Look at it this way: Some articles are very short being only a couple sentences while others span many, many pages. For sake of illustration, let's say that each article, regardless of its size, occupies just one piece of paper. A ream of paper contains 500 sheets, enough to print 500 articles. A case of paper holds 10 reams capable of printing 5,000 articles. Do the math, and you'll see that 3,000,000 articles would require 600 cases of paper. That's 12 rows of cases stacked 5 high and 10 deep--all indexed, searchable, and available any time at your fingertips. All I can say is "Wow!" -Jim Barr, JimsTips.com
