BeneDict 📖 Dictionary Manager with Offline Mode for Android

[machinogodzilla]

Hello!

I'm the creator and user of BeneDict in my eyes the best dictionary manager for Android in the universe

If you are not interested in my fascinating personal story below, please skip to the list of highlights or take a look at the video that demonstrates the main features of the app.


Even though my posts at MobileRead have typically revolved around ereaders, which I use for work and study, I still prefer reading for pleasure on real paper. From the very beginning a dictionary and an encyclopedia have been my indispensable reading companions. In those old forgotten days before smartphones I would have a stack of them at hand and I'd leave no new word I came across unchecked.

You can probably file it under 'obsession' but I just have to know the meaning of every single one of them and fiction in particular has an abundance of them. That's probably why I read at a fraction of the pace of a regular human. I also quickly forget the meanings so I have to look them up again and again. But I really enjoy reading all those definitions to the point that sometimes I'll jump from one to another forgetting about the book I'm trying to read

Anyway, modern times, new possibilities! Now with a smartphone I can replace my trusty stack of reference books and take it with me everywhere. All I needed was an app but I couldn't find anything fitting my requirements or anyone who would respond to my requests to introduce the features I wanted. So I wrote my own. It took me well over a year of learning and working after hours and the fruit of that effort has now become available


You can see the complete list of features in the app store but here are the highlights:

• requires no Internet connection
• shows definitions from multiple dictionaries all at once
• tapping on words in definitions take you to definitions for those words
• audio pronunciation (in multiple languages)
• allows you to add, reorder, enable, disable and label dictionaries
• supports StarDict format
• Wikipedia and Wiktionary are available (in multiple languages) when data connection is present
• remembers definitions from online dictionaries, so they can be viewed again when offline
• and more!

Any questions or issues with using BeneDict please let me know! I'd love to hear your feedback! It's the very first release of my very first app straight off the foundry so there might be some surprises there that escaped my eye

It is a fledgling dictionary, a foundation, that for me ticks all the boxes for my initial set requirements. But there is more to come! I'm also open to requests for new features. Cannot guarantee a fast delivery as there is already a stash of almost a hundred of ideas, from small to ridiculous, that I had to park in order to finally let it leave the nest but I'm all ears to anything original, cool or crazy but most of all useful! One of the ideas that I would like to materialise sooner rather than later is support for Android based ereaders as well as iPhone, but first I want to make sure that what's there already is rock solid.

Similarly, if you know of a dictionary (or are an author of one) that you would like included in the app 'out of the box' give me a shout. I have some candidates in mind but first have to ensure that the licencing terms permit their inclusion in such software.

Meanwhile have fun and I hope you'll enjoy using the app as much as I enjoyed writing it!

P.S. Some screenshots from the app can be viewed in this gallery.