Where is the built-in dictionary?

[mrzees]

I recently convinced my gf to get a Lumia Icon. More or less it has been an eye-opening experience for her. However ever so often she comes to me asking "How do I do ..." or "Where is the app for ..." More often than not, the app is there, but she would have to search and input the word "beta" to get it. Other times the WP8.1 DP has what she wants, but differently accessible. The one thing that she frowns on though, is the lack of a built-in dictionary. She says "maybe we can create an app for that." I'm pretty sure this would take tinkering with the OS itself, so that's a no-no. The little I could show her, is that if she was using internet explorer and highlighted a word, then hit the search button, she would see an option to define the word.
Sadly she wasn't impressed. Microsoft! You're creating trouble in my happy home, get a freaking in-built dictionary that works across apps and the OS.

 

[bijak_riyandi]

have you ever heard of Bing Translator?

 

[N_LaRUE]

Hope you don't mind me asking but what OS has a built-in dictionary? I'm not familiar with any.

 

[anon(9057135)]

I would have told her to go to android considering you can get 3RD party keyboards on the os. Not to forget she can make her phone home screen look like your phone via Launcher8.

 

[mrzees]

I have never bothered to own an iPhone, but she was smart enough to point out once she types a word on her Iphone5 she could easily highlight the word, and two options would appear of the word, COPY or DEFINE. While I didn't go so far as to determine if it was a cloud based definition, I would admit the feature seems extremely useful.

 

[Zulfigar]

Hope you don't mind me asking but what OS has a built-in dictionary? I'm not familiar with any.

Only one I could think of is IOS, at least after IOS 7.

Back to the op though, what exactly is it that your gf wants to do? Add and define words to the keyboard or just add them?

There's actually two ways of adding words, one is type it out and add it that way, or put them into the People Hub.

Though, the 2nd one is a bit weird, the option is there though.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Maybe W10 will add a lot of these missing features that people seem to want. If I want to know what a word means I simply search for it online. Not something I do often.

 

[mrzees]

I think she wants to check to see if she is using a particular word accurately. The key here is she doesn't want to have to leave the app or message she is typing to go to a separate dictionary app to do that quick check. I'm sure the lack of feature won't deter her from using the phone, 21 reasons to stay with her Icon.

 

[bijak_riyandi]

at this point, you can use Bing Translator to translate something and Cortana (remember, she's accessible through the Search button) to define something

 

[N_LaRUE]

at this point, you can use Bing Translator to translate something and Cortana (remember, she's accessible through the Search button) to define something

Cortana is not available for everyone yet.

 

[Poirots Progeny]

I'm surprised mobisystems doesn't make an official oxford dictionary and thesaurus app. They make them for every other platform. Would love to see it be integrated into the os - as a module or whatever.

 

[bijak_riyandi]

Cortana is not available for everyone yet.

OP clearly said that her girlfriend has a Lumia Icon which means they are in the United States of America

and anyway, Binging "define xxx" would bring up the definition results, nonetheless...

 

[N_LaRUE]

OP clearly said that her girlfriend has a Lumia Icon which means they are in the United States of America

and anyway, Binging "define xxx" would bring up the definition results, nonetheless...

The Icon doesn't have WP8.1 yet... that was a mess but I see it says 'Under testing' at the official update site but that may not mean anything. I wouldn't go near an Icon personally...

Hope the OP is confusing L930 with the Icon...

 

[mrzees]

No she is on Verizon, its the Icon. She heard about the Developer preview and went ahead and installed it since she couldn't deal with the absence of a proper notifications. For her its just the little things. She loves the live tiles, word flow and family room. For now its just the dictionary thing.

 

[N_LaRUE]

I'm still curious why a dictionary is so important considering she has autocorrect while typing. There are a couple of apps to check out if she wants one handy.

Advanced English Dictionary Free | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United Kingdom)

Dictionary | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United Kingdom)

 

[a5cent]

^ I suspect getting the definition of a word is what is important, not the spelling.



I can imagine this being very useful for someone that often reads/writes in a foreign language.

I could use something like this whenever I read/write in French. It wouldn't need to translate. Just give me the French definition and tense of any word on screen.

 

[N_LaRUE]

^ I suspect getting the definition of a word is what is important, not the spelling.

I can imagine this being very useful for someone that often reads/writes in a foreign language.

Though I agree with your usage (being new to or not using a certain language all the time) but unless you're reading a book on a Kindle like app or you happen to be a writer I don't see the point really.

I gone through the majority of my life without having to use a dictionary on a daily basis. So that's why I was a bit curious.

 

[a5cent]

^Yeah, I can't remember the last time I used a dictionary for German either.

If I'm not proficient in a foreign language, I'd want something that does translations. However, once I reach a level where I'm proficient enough to follow casual conversations and read most texts, a dictionary is just better. Every language contains words that you won't find in any other, often making literal translations misleading or even wrong (depending on context). A dictionary also does a far better job at conveying the 'flavor' of a word, which a literal translation rarely can.

I've looked up hundreds of words in English dictionaries. I would have appreciated such a feature back then, just for reading forums like this, doing foreign correspondence and such. It's not just for books

 

[GSOgymrat]

I have wondered if there is some technical reason why there is no built-in dictionary on any Windows Phones reading app. Kindle and Kobo don't have it even though they do on every other platform. On apps like Bookvisor and Mohoo Reader the dictionary is not built-in and only hyperlinks to Bing or Google. Are Kindle and Kobo apps so inferior on Windows Phone because of Amazon and Kobo or is there something about Windows Phone that makes a built-in dictionary problematic.

 

[N_LaRUE]

^Yeah, I can't remember the last time I used a dictionary for German either.

If I'm not proficient in a foreign language, I'd want something that does translations. However, once I reach a level where I'm proficient enough to follow casual conversations and read most texts, a dictionary is just better. Every language contains words that you won't find in any other, often making literal translations misleading or even wrong (depending on context). A dictionary also does a far better job at conveying the 'flavor' of a word, which a literal translation rarely can.

I've looked up hundreds of words in English dictionaries. I would have appreciated such a feature back then, just for reading forums like this, doing foreign correspondence and such. It's not just for books ��

Thing is most writing is done with a level of slang or at a low level of knowledge. Lots of slang doesn't appear in dictionaries unfortunately.

Most news and newspapers are written for people without a large vocabulary, which is why the news has a tendency to sound the same regardless which channel you watch or paper you read. The only difference is the point of view or bias. Catch phrases are used to emphasis points. Terminology gets used by people who 99% of the time have no idea what it means. Sad but true.

Using a North American terminology, most popular news is written or spoken at 5 or 6 year of schooling. That's pretty low.