Terminology – Dictionary, Thesaurus, Research Tool, and More…

Download Terminology (FREE! with $1.99 in-app purchase)

Today’s app is Terminology, which is a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a research tool all wrapped into one neat little app-package. There is a $1.99 in-app upgrade which removes the ads, offers a few bonus features, and supports a superb app developer.

That app developer is the whimsically named Agile Tortoise, who also makes the fantastic Drafts app.

I’ve previously reviewed the excellent Dictionary.com app before, and that’s a great resource, except you have to be online in order for it to work.

One of the greatest benefits of Terminology is that it includes a full OFFLINE U.S. English dictionary which is faster and more accessible.

You can look up a word and quickly receive a nice, concise definition, but it doesn’t STOP at word definitions … you also get a few synonyms, AND antonyms, AND some “related words” which is all so very helpful!

PLUS, you have instant access to other reference tools which I’ll come back to in a moment.

Getting Words into Terminology
There are several ways to look up a word in Terminology.

You can just tap “Search” and start typing – that’s the way most people think about using a dictionary app.

But Terminology can also look at your clipboard to see any words you may have there and look them up promptly.

But even better, you can select a word in OTHER apps (like Notes or Mail or Safari), and look it up in Terminology via the “Share” sub-menu.

When you tap the Terminology app in the top row, it will basically open up the entire Terminology app right there – you don’t have to separately jump out into the Terminology app.

You tap “Done” at the bottom to keep working in your app. In other words, you’re opening the entire Terminology app inside another app, without ever LEAVING the app you’re working in!

But possibly the coolest method is to use split screen on your iPad. Select a word, and then drag that word over to Terminology to view the entry. You can then even drag and drop the definition back over to where you’re working.

This only works on an iPad that supports split screen mode, but that’s pretty cool!

Audio, Navigation, Browsing History, Favorites, iCloud Sync
Not sure how to pronounce a word? Terminology can rock your ears with a computerized reading.

Terminology has a simple method for navigating around the app using the back and forward buttons at the bottom.

But even better is the “Browsing History” that gives you a list of everything you’ve looked up.

If you find a word that you’re particularly fond of, tap the little heart icon in the upper right to add it to your list of “favorites” which is accessibly by tapping the heart icon in the bottom middle.

You can also add your OWN notes to a word by tapping the little pencil icon in the top right.

Your browsing history, you favorites, and your notes, all get synced between your iOS devices via iCloud … along with Action buttons …

Action Buttons
The “Actions” appear at the top of Terminology as little buttons, and boy are they powerful!

Each Action button gives you immediate access to another service like Wikipedia, the Rhymer rhyming dictionary, the Urban dictionary, or even Google.

Of course, you need to be connected to the Internet in order for these to work, but wow this opens up all kinds of possibilities for word lookup from ONE app instead of having to jump around to multiple apps!

At the end of the row of buttons, there’s a little pencil icon which allows you to organize the Actions and add new ones.

Just tap the plus sign, and then select “Action Library” to peruse the Actions that come with the app. You can add as many as you want since the app lets you swipe horizontally to view them all.

I wouldn’t go TOO crazy here, but you can add all kinds of things like Giphy for looking up animated GIFs, WolframAlpha, Snopes.com, and even Google Scholar.

If you’re really geeky, you can create your own custom Actions. I’m geeky, but I found PLENTY to keep me happy with the built-in Actions.

Conclusion
Terminology is a super-helpful app to have as a powerful reference app on your iPhone and iPad. And it’s FREE for the basic app!!

You can pay a $1.99 in-app purchase that is totally worth it to 1) support a great app developer, but 2) the in-app purchase also removes ads, let’s you choose an alternate app icon, offers a dark theme if you’re into that and gives you that ability to create custom Actions.

You can download Terminology from the links below, and be sure to sign up at www.appsinlaw.com to be notified of new app reviews.

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Download Terminology (FREE! with $1.99 in-app purchase)