Wikiwand

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.

Wikiwand
Type of businessPrivate, Startup company
Available inEnglish
Founded2013
HeadquartersSan Francisco Bay Area
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)Lior Grossman, Ilan Lewin
Employees10+
URLwww.wikiwand.com
RegistrationOptional
Current statusOnline
Native client(s) oniOS

History of Wikiwand

Wikiwand (originally WikiWand) was founded in 2013 by Lior Grossman and Ilan Lewin.[2] 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]

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 (large blocks of small text), hard to navigate, and lacking in terms of usability."[6]

Availability

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] An Android app is currently under development.[8]

Business model

In 2014, Wikiwand was able to raise $600,000 to support the development of the interface. It has stated that it intends to raise revenue through advertising[6] and donate 30% of its profits to the Wikimedia Foundation.[6][9]

References
  1. Jillian Wong (21 August 2014). "'WikiWand' Gives Wikipedia Clean New Layout For A Better Reading Experience". Taxi. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  2. "WikiWand". CrunchBase. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  3. "WikiWand". Twitter. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  4. Martin Brinkmann (14 August 2014). "WikiWand is a modernized Wikipedia frontend". ghacks.net. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  5. "WikiWand makes Wikipedia beautiful". TNW. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  6. "Web App WikiWand Raises $600,000 To Give Wikipedia A New Interface". techcrunch.com. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  7. Zach Epstein (18 March 2015). "New free iPhone app transforms Wikipedia into a stunning interactive experience". Yahoo. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  8. "Wikiwand for Android". Wikiwand. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  9. "About - Wikiwand". Wikiwand. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015.
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