Fantastic dictionary and app, well designed, and worth the $. Yet...

UPDATE: THE APP FREZES AFTER CHANGING THE WEB LINKS!! PLEASE FIX!!

Did not want Google as 2nd web link, so I copied and pasted the URLs-- then it froze up! Suggestion: please provide a way of re-ordering the URL links; copying, pasting, back spacing is a nuisance!

REVIEW

Well designed, excellent dictionary! This is based upon the highly-regarded Princeton Word Net lexical database, but with etymologies added in. Spiffy! It also includes the aforementioned web links, giving users quick access to online dictionaries, Wikipedia, and Google. Great feature that expands the power immensely.

Ive used this app for years on the iPhone, and it is indeed superb. I thought it would be a good idea to reward the developers by purchasing the version for the iPad. Plus, I wanted to have better looking text (crisp, not grainy) designed for the iPad screen.

However, the XL version for the iPad, while quite good overall, was, in its first incarnation, something of a step backwards. There were several usability problems that needed fixing. They have addressed some of these and Ive raised the rating,

In what follows, I describe the issues, the updates, and offer suggestions for improvement.

1. MUCH BETTER NOW. For those who have aging eyes, or hold the iPad at a reading distance, the largest text still could be larger. Many of us do not hold the iPad or the iPhone right next to our eyeballs! :-) Note: Im getting more comfortable with it, but still sometimes wish of a larger size. Th larger sizes seem better now, too.

2. One problem is that the etymology of the words is in a smaller font size and in a grey text that is harder to read. In fact, ironically, the iPhone version in its 2x mode is much easier to read and deal with on the iPad! This remains an issue-- why not make them colored, crisp, and in the same size, just spaced farther below?

3. Another major problem is that the background is a glaring white. For most words, the definitions do not take up much space on the screen. Consequently, the screen remains largely white and hard to look at. Thats blinding, especially at night!

I would urge the developers to give users the ability to change the color of the background paper/screen as well as that of the text-- much the way ebook apps do. In addition, there could be a Night Mode. Now, ones night adaptation and vision--and their partners sleep :-) --are blinded by the glaring white screen. Very unpleasant!

4. Please put a button on the bottom toolbar that would take us directly to our bookmarked words. Thats the way it works on the iPhone version, and its much more convenient. Now, its a multi-step process, and if its been a while since ones used the app, its a guessing game where that control is!

5. Finally, some suggestions. It would be nice to have a two-column mode in portrait orientation. The two-column arrangement with search on the left and words & definitions on the right would work well-- with both showing at the same time! It could be an option for the user.

6. THERE IS NOW A SOLUTION. By the way, is there any way of importing bookmarked and favorite words from the iPhone app into the iPad one? That would be particularly useful and help us continue to expand our vocabularies and word knowledge. Ah! There is. You have to email yourself the entries and then can import them! Thanks! Few other dictionary apps provide this, so this is helpful.

In any event, thanks for making such a great dictionary and app!

AstroPaul about WordBook (Universal), v5.1