Fora Dictionary is a versatile dictionary viewer.

Features

• Fast and fully offline operation
• Compatibility with StarDict, DSL, XDXF, Dictd, and TSV/Plain dictionaries
• Typing friendly search with case, diacritics, and punctuation tolerance
• Fuzzy search
• Full-text search
• In-page popup translator
• History and word list
• Customization options

Downloads

Platform	Application	Version	Requirements	License	App Store
	ForaDictionary.apk	23.1.5	Android 4.4 or later	Freemium/$5
Updates	Change Log
Checksums	MD5 or SHA-256

Examples

No	Name	Languages	Package	Source
1.	WordNet®	English	WordNet.zip	https://wordnet.princeton.edu
2.	FOLDOC	English	FOLDOC.zip	https://foldoc.org

Disclaimer: The installable packages above are provided for the sole purpose of demonstrating the application's essential viewing functionality. The author of the application hereby rejects any and all liability for the contents of the packages.

Compatibility

Fora Dictionary is compatible with the following dictionary/file types:

• StarDict dictionaries (*.idx)
• DSL dictionaries (*.dsl)
• XDXF dictionaries (*.xdxf)
• Dictd dictionaries (*.index)
• TSV/Plain dictionaries (*.txt, *.dic)

The app can also view DICT protocol (online) dictionaries.

Setting up dictionaries

• Connect your mobile device to your computer.
• Copy dictionary files to the app's documents/files folder on the device. See Android help for details.
• Select the dictionary index file as listed in the compatibility section above (or an archive of it) using the "Import" option of the dictionary manager menu.
• Attach resource ZIP files (if any) using the "Attach ZIP" option of the dictionary menu. (optional)
• Create a full-text search index of the dictionary using the "Upgrade" option of the dictionary menu. (optional)
• Create profiles to group and organize dictionaries. (optional)

Resource files

Resource files of a dictionary can be put into multiple ZIP files with the following properties:

i) Classic (non-ZIP64) ZIP file type
ii) Flat (no sub-directories) file structure
iii) Maximum 65,535 files per ZIP file

Use "Attach ZIP" from the dictionary menu to copy and attach ZIP files to a dictionary.

Troubleshooting: If your device fails to play some audio files in resource ZIP files, you can use a batch converter utility like this app to convert the files to a canonical codec/format your device supports. Note that you must keep the filenames and extensions of audio files unchanged after the conversion since they are hardcoded in article texts.

Full-text search

The app supports searching full-text of all dictionaries for exact matches. The feature requires one-time upgrading of a dictionary which can take a very long time to complete, since every single word anywhere on the dictionary is made searchable during the process.

Synchronizing between devices

Copying/moving dictionaries between devices is done using one of the two available methods:

• "Export" dictionary to a *.zip file on the first device and then "Import" that *.zip file on the second
• Copy/move whole ".fora" folder or individual dictionary folders using a file manager

Search types

There are five kinds of searches you can perform on dictionaries.

• Regular search: Shows results exactly matching the query.
• Extended matching search: Shows results matching the query with case, diacritics, and punctuations ignored. Suggestions include in-phrase and phonetic matches.
• Full-text search: Shows list of articles containing exact matches of the query. The scope of search is not limited to headwords and includes all text in all articles (definitions, synonyms, examples, etc).
• Fuzzy search: Shows list of articles most similar to the query. The search works like a spell checker for words you're not sure how it's written/spelled.
• Wildcard search: Shows list of articles that match the criteria set with a wildcard query.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

Q: I bought an offline dictionary, can I use it in Fora Dictionary?
A: Probably, no. Most standalone dictionaries have it's own proprietary data format incompatible with general-purpose dictionaries. You need dictionary data in one of the supported formats.

Q: Suggestions are slow when a lot of dictionaries are installed.
A: Unlike traditional search auto-completion, the app performs a complete search and matching of the query (e.g. occurrences in multi-word phrases) on all dictionaries in profile when suggestions are activated. Grouping dictionaries into smaller sets based on usage context using profiles may be helpful.

Q: I can't find the dictionary I need or the dictionary isn't displayed properly when searching.
A: Importing the dictionary using the latest version of the app or using alternate formats may be helpful.

Q: I can’t find the ".fora" folder.
A: Probably it is considered hidden, please use a third-party file manager that can view hidden files/folders.

Q: How do I uninstall Fora Dictionary from my Android device completely?
A: The application stores settings and dictionary data on the external storage, hence, you will need to manually delete the ".fora" folder there to clean up after uninstallation.

Android 10+

Shared/external storage mechanism known as the SD-card has been retired starting with Android 10. The operating system now enforces all apps to use it's sandboxed folder for all it's app data. If you upgrade your device to Android 10+, you may need to copy/move and replace ".fora" folder from your device's shared storage to the app's sandboxed folder (typically Android/data/com.ngc.fora/files) using a file manager.

Known limitations

• Slow importing: The app converts every dictionary to it's own cross-platform format and sometimes this conversion takes a very long time. Some big dictionaries require this conversion to be done on a powerful desktop computer, and some bigger dictionaries take a long time even on a powerful desktop computer.
• Limited on-device upgrades: The optimization of full-text search upgrade is not available on mobile devices due to cross-platform memory management implementation and greedy nature of the operation. This setup-only limitation doesn't affect any usage features on any device.
• No embedded player: The app doesn't play resource files itself, but uses the device's default media player. The default player determines which kinds of files can be played.

For developers

Integration with other apps or the operating system is briefly described here.