Qwiki – iPad App Review
Can you spend hours lost in random facts and articles on Wikipedia? If you can, or if you would like to, Qwiki is an app that presents information in a way you haven’t seen before on the iPad. The Qwiki app is a seamless port of the popular Qwiki website, which is a futuristic fact site that combines images, videos, and narration to describe and explain over three million topics.
When you first open the Qwiki app, it will direct you to the home page where you will be able to dive right into exploring popular topics, from actors and cities to natural wonders and monuments. Once you tap on something that interests you, you’re taken to a slideshow of pictures, which you can flip through while a pleasant automated computer voice reads you an article on the subject you’ve chosen.
These small segments are generally brief, from 20 seconds to a couple of minutes, but they’re also very informative. Each topic is explained in a concise way that teaches you just enough without overwhelming you. After each interactive slideshow, Qwiki presents links to sites where additional information can be obtained, such as Wikipedia or Fotopedia, if you want to know more.
Qwiki’s layout is intuitive and interesting. It never lingers too long on a particular photo, and although there can be some photos that aren’t completely relevant to a given topic, most are spot on. Qwiki pulls information from thousands of sites on the Internet, which explains why an occasional picture is off topic. During the picture slideshow, Qwiki gives you the option to touch any photo you would like to view fullscreen or take a better look at.
The Qwiki app presents over three million topics, with tons of pictures and videos, and the content delivery is blazingly fast. Qwiki never stutters and has no loading problems. Each article takes mere seconds to load, so you’re never going to spend time waiting. This makes going from topic to topic easy and quick, and combined with the interactivity of pictures and narration, Qwiki becomes an excellent home learning tool.
You can explore topics in several ways – through the home page, through the recommended subjects provided after each article, or through the interactive map, which can be accessed from at the start page. When you touch the map, it expands, allowing you to explore any part of the world while sitting at home on your couch. The map is controlled by dragging to move and pinching to zoom in and out. For each location, Qwiki provides map markers that link to popular articles on cities, landmarks, monuments, and more.
Qwiki is a great app that turns learning into an experience. You can use Qwiki to find out about any subject in a way that is interactive, fun, and informative, making it perfect for all ages.
What I liked: The articles were the perfect length. They were short, but not too short, and if I wanted more info, I could use the provided links. The quick explanations of each topic allowed me to move from subject to subject easily and I never got bored.
What I didn’t like: At times, the computer generated voice can stumble over some words with varying pronunciations, such as bow, though it had no problem at all with Greek and Latin words. Sometimes, Qwiki is not specific enough. For example, I could search for tamarins, but not emperor tamarins. However, new topics are being added all the time, so this may not be a permanent problem.
To buy or not to buy: Absolutely. Trust me, you’re going to be amazed by the way Qwiki presents information. Get it today to start exploring the world in a new way. Also, the price is definitely right – it’s free!
- App Name: Qwiki
- Version Reviewed: 1.0.2
- Category: Reference
- Developer: Qwiki
- Price: Free
- Score:
