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Fora Dictionary for Android™

Fora Dictionary is an extensible multilingual offline dictionary application for Android devices.

Features

  • Suggestions
  • Installable packages (WordNet, FOLDOC, Factbook, Moby)
  • Automated downloads (ENG-DEU, DEU-ENG, ENG-HUN, HUN-ENG, ENG-CZE, ENG-TUR, CRO-ENG)
  • Multiple offline dictionary formats support:
    • StarDict dictionaries
    • XDXF dictionaries
    • DSL dictionaries
    • DICTD database dictionaries
    • Plain (tab-separated/TSV) dictionaries
  • Wikipedia (with suggestions and random)
  • Wildcard search
  • Fuzzy search
  • DICT protocol
  • Full rich-text content and hyperlinks support for definitions
  • Unified dictionary management for all types of dictionaries
    • Add
    • Remove/delete
    • Enable/disable
    • Reorder
    • Assign color
    • Show information
    • Recommend
  • Multiple dictionary arrangements using profiles (grouping)
  • Reader mode
  • Word history and elegant navigation
  • Word list
  • Random word
  • Lookup via system clipboard (clipboard monitor)
  • Text-to-Speech (available in EN_US, EN_GB, FR, DE, IT, ES)
  • Speech input (available in EN, ZH_CN, JP)
  • Customization
  • Export options
  • Email/SMS options
  • Query API
  • Tablet friendly
  • Portable, all-in-SD configuration

Downloads

QR-code for Fora Dictionary

If the QR-code doesn't work, below is a list of available downloads.

Name Application Version Source Notes
Fora Dictionary ForaDictionary.apk 14.1 Main application, contains no dictionaries.

Note: "Phone calls" permission is about a compatibility issue and completely irrelevant to the applications.

Instructions for manually installing packages

  1. Delete previous version(s) of the package, if any, using the Dictionary Manager.
  2. Install package application (note that some packages may require relatively larger free phone memory when installing).
  3. Extract the dictionary data and after successful extraction, uninstall package application to reclaim phone memory.
  4. Open the Dictionary Manager and select "Rescan storage" from menu to add the dictionary to the current profile.

Screenshots

Extending

There are 5 ways to extend Fora with various sources ("dictionaries"):

  • Packages (5 items): Ready-to-use offline dictionary installers tailored for using in Fora. The English Dictionary Package is based on WordNet-3.0 and is comprehensive.
  • Downloads (7 items): Several bilingual offline dictionaries to choose from.
  • Offline dictionaries: Any dictionary of supported formats can be used in Fora. All dictionary data is stored portably in the SD-card. You can even create your own dictionary/glossary as TSV/Plain dictionary using a text editor.
  • Wikipedia(s): Integrated Wikipedia article fetchers displaying concise Wikipedia definitions.
  • Network dictionaries: Configurable DICT-protocol dictionaries.

You can use any combination of the above dictionaries within the integrated interface.

Remarks

  • Storage: Fora Dictionary requires an SD-card present. It creates a directory in the SD-card named ".fora" in which it stores all dictionary and configuration files.
  • Packages: You can add dictionaries using pre-configured dictionary packages. Packages normally do not occupy space on phone memory, they are essentially self-extracting dictionary data archives. After extracting the dictionary, you can safely uninstall the package application to reclaim phone memory.
  • Management from user interface: All dictionary management tasks (add, remove, organize) are made from the application's user interface (sometimes at the expense of some patience).
  • Sidebar: Sidebar allows you quickly visualize and navigate results.
  • Hyperlinks and inline shortcuts: Fora supports most hyperlinks in dictionaries and features context-specific inline shortcuts.
  • Profiles: Fora Dictionary comes with a handy feature for power users. You can save and reuse complete dictionary arrangements as profiles.
  • Clipboard activation: If you need to lookup from other applications, for instance while reading something in the browser, you can copy the word to the clipboard while the application is running behind. Fora will pop up for lookup results.
  • Configuration portability: The configuration directory (".fora") in the SD-card is completely portable. That is, you can share individual dictionaries or the whole ".fora" directory with friends. When you place a new dictionary copied from another configuration directory, Fora will recognize it when you select "Rescan storage" from the Dictionary Manager menu.
  • Fora Reader interoperability: You can use your dictionaries in Fora Dictionary with Fora Reader on your computer.

Pro Edition

You can order a license code in order to turn off ads permanently. It costs $5 and it's delivered instantly to your email.

If you do not receive the license code email within a few minutes after purchasing, please check your Junk (or Spam) email folder just in case the email got delivered there instead of your inbox. To enter your license code, use Menu > More > About > License > "Enter License".

Dictionary Converter

Starting with v10.0, the desktop converter utility is bundled with the main application. See Dictionary Manager menu ("Extract converter") to extract the latest version of the utility. You can also download it here.

Terminology

Any source is treated as a dictionary. Below are descriptions of some terms used in management;

  • Database: Collection of all dictionaries of all types
  • Profile: An arrangement of dictionaries picked from database (kinda bookmarking)
  • Remove: Remove dictionary from current profile and retain it in database for using in other profiles
  • Delete: Delete dictionary from database and remove from all profiles (permanent deletion)
  • Existing: A dictionary in database ready to be included into current profile
  • Local: dictionary stored locally in the SD-card (offline dictionary)
  • Network: dict.org, etc. server dictionary (online dictionary)
  • Indexing: converting/importing a local dictionary into database (slow, but once)
  • Package: Dictionary installer (does not need indexing)
  • Download: Automated process of downloading & indexing
  • Rescan: Checking for new files copied & placed into SD-card
  • Switch: Change active profile

Known Limitations

  • Indexing: indexing some dictionaries is slow due to the application's architecture. This issue is mitigated with a desktop companion which can be downloaded freely (see above).
  • Reader: selecting text in reader is not comfortable since rendering components of the OS do not support it well. Improved in Android 2.3.

Uninstallation

Fora stores settings and dictionary data in the SD-card, hence, you will need to manually delete the ".fora" directory in the SD-card to clean up after uninstallation.

For Developers

You can throw an Intent with action "com.ngc.fora.action.LOOKUP" and string extra "HEADWORD" to lookup in Fora Dictionary (since v4.0). A query API is documented here (since v9.0).

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