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Type of business | Private, Startup company |
---|---|
Available in | English |
Headquarters | San Francisco Bay Area |
Area served | Worldwide |
Founder(s) | Lior Grossman, Ilan Lewin |
Employees | 10+ |
URL | www |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | none |
Launched | 2013 |
Current status | Online |
Native client(s) on | iOS |
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[edit]
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]
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."[6]
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.[7] In February 2020, an Android app was under development.[8]
In 2014, Wikiwand was able to raise $600,000 to support the development of the interface.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "Dieges & Clust". Wikiwand. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
- ^ "WikiWand". Twitter. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
- ^ Martin Brinkmann (14 August 2014). "WikiWand is a modernized Wikipedia frontend". ghacks.net. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
- ^ "WikiWand makes Wikipedia beautiful". TNW. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
- ^ a b "Web App WikiWand Raises $600,000 to Give Wikipedia a New Interface". TechCrunch. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ^ 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.