Recommended dictionary applications

[karlb]

Would it make sense to have one or multiple recommended dictionary applications for each platform (only counting those which support one of the pyglossary output formats), or is this out of scope for the pyglossary documentation?

Something like:
Linux: GoldenDict
Windows: GoldenDict
OSX: ?
Android: GoldenDict mobile, Aard Dictionary
iOS: Maybe Dictionary Universal? It's not free, though.

I'm currently wondering which formats I should provide to users who want downloadable dictionaries and this information seems to be difficult to find.

[ilius]

I think It's a matter of personal choice.
But I actually wish there one application on each platform that I would use myself and recommend to everyone too.
But I don't think there is.

For example GoldenDict has problem rendering Persian/Arabic text on Linux.
Edit: I changed the font via style/css, but didn't fix it.
The dark style I created for it does not work on Windows.

I like StarDict, but it's support for html is very limited (for example <span style=, <ul>, <ol>, <table>, etc don't work! even <p>)
The development seems to be discontinued so I don't have much hope getting them fixed.

GoldenDict Mobile (Free) doesn't have a dark mode/theme, and it doesn't seem to be Open Source.
Edit: looks like it does have Night Mode, but it keeps crashing on Android 10 after I enabled it, does not work at all.

There are a few acceptable closed source apps on Android like WordMateX (edit: not acceptable because I can't select/copy text, and word links don't work), but I haven't found a good Open Source app (for any usable format)
Also Aard2 is not good on Android (no dark theme, font's too small, etc)
There is this QuickDic that's nice, but the format is too complicated!

And I don't have iOS or Mac so I really can't recommend anything!

We might be able to add or link to a comparative list/table of apps.

[ilius]

If QDict adds dark mode and fixes internal link bug, I can recommend it to everyone for Android.

[bcdavasconcelos]

Chiming in with regards to macOS...

• Goldendict's dark mode does not work, but other than this, it was working well on macOS (until BigSur, now it crashes often)
• The native Dictionary app is OK, but you won't be able to search the content of the entries nor perform searches using RegEx.
• ABBYY Lingvo is unfortunately very poor in features.

For iOS, I also like Dictionary Universal, but don't use it very much (I don't use iOS very much in general).

[ilius]

I created issue goldendict/goldendict#1329 for GoldenDict's rendering problem.

[ilius]

I'm gonna close this for now.