Official Wikipedia app now available for Android

Ultimately the official Wikipedia application has arrived for the Android users. The Android users had to wait for the Wikipedia application for about a year from the release of the iPhone version.

The application is made available in the Android market for download free of cost. This application provides mobile access to Wikipedia’s database of more that 20 million articles and also in about 280 different languages. This application can be installed on any Android device with Android 2.2 or more.

This application allows the users with the option of saving the articles and to read them while the user is offline. The users will also be able to find entries based on location and even share articles. Now the users will be able view specific articles in a different language instead of having to switch the language of the whole site.

The application which was earlier available was one of the way users accessed Wikipedia. With those applications the users also protested during the 24 hour blackout, to Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protected IP Act (PIPA).

The application had been rated more than 600 times and had an average rating of 4.4 stars out of 5 stars. It mostly has positive user reviews however some have complained that it continues using the GPS function in the background even after exiting the application. This ultimately leads to drainage of the battery.

In the meantime Wikipedia really seems to be busy with the SOPA and PIPA, the two controversial anti-piracy bills and then making their way through Congress. Although, the English version of Wikipedia was really dark all day on Wednesday but it reported a boost in traffic. 

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