Wikiwand
 | |
 | |
| Type of business | Private, Startup company |
|---|---|
| Available in | English[note 1] |
| Headquarters | San Francisco Bay Area |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) | Lior Grossman, Ilan Lewin |
| Employees | 10+ |
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | none |
| Launched | 2013[1] |
| Current status | Online |
Wikiwand, formerly stylized as WikiWand,[2] is a proprietary interface developed for viewing Wikipedia articles.[3] Its interface includes a sidebar menu displaying the table of contents, a navigation bar, personalized links to other languages, new typography, access to previews of linked articles, display advertisements, and sponsored articles.[4] The interface is available on Chrome, Safari and Firefox as well as via Wikiwand's website. Wikiwand shares the users' personal information with Outbrain and other advertisers, as well as various service providers including Amazon, Google and Microsoft.[5]
History[edit]
Wikiwand was founded in 2013[1] by Lior Grossman and Ilan Lewin.[6] It officially launched in August 2014.[citation needed]
In 2014, Wikiwand was able to raise $600,000 to support the development of the interface. 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."[2]
In March 2015, Wikiwand released an iOS app for iPhone and iPad.[7]
In February 2020, an Android app was under development.[8]
In 2021, it was noted that visiting a Wikiwand page made the visitor's device exchange hundreds of requests and several megabytes of data with advertisers.[9]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Articles from Wikipedia in 331 languages are available.
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Wikiwand - Press". Retrieved 27 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Web App WikiWand Raises $600,000 to Give Wikipedia a New Interface". TechCrunch. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Martin Brinkmann (14 August 2014). "WikiWand is a modernized Wikipedia frontend". ghacks.net. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
- ^ "Privacy policy".
- ^ "Wikiwand - About us". Retrieved 27 December 2022.
- ^ Zach Epstein (18 March 2015). "New free iPhone app transforms Wikipedia into a stunning interactive experience". Yahoo. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
- ^ "Wikiwand for Android". Wikiwand. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
- ^ "Wikiwand, oder wie sehen 600K Venturekapital nach acht Jahren aus?" (in German). 2021-04-08.
External links[edit]
