Kiwix

Kiwix is a reader for Android that allows you to download contents from Wikipedia and other webs to read them offline whenever you don't have a connection.

The offline version of Wikipedia on your phone

Nowadays it is almost unimaginable not to have a cell signal, but there are occasions, such as when we travel by plane, when we do not have access to the internet. But if we just want to make a quick query in our favorite online encyclopedia, we can solve this problem thanks to Kiwix, the Android app that gives us access to an offline version of Wikipedia, as well as other reference sites of the likes of Wiktionary or TED fix talks.

It's an open source software project created by Emmanuel Engelhart and Renaud Gaudin in 2006 that, after being available on different platforms such as Windows, GNU/Linux or MacOS, is now available in APK format has landed on Android, allowing us to read the quintessential encyclopedia in any circumstance.

How Kiwix works

It basically works like a web browser, but instead of accessing online content, we'll access the ZIM files that we've previously downloaded and that will allow us to read the Wikipedia as if we were viewing it on Chrome or Firefox. However, how much does a downloaded version of Wikipedia weigh? Well, downloading the encyclopedia in just one language and no videos takes up around 80GB, so you'll need plenty of space on your SD card if you want to get a local copy of the full encyclopedia. By the way, it is available in over 100 languages.

Requirements and further information:

• Minimum operating system requirements: Android 4.0.
• Instructions for installing XAPKs on Android