WikiLinks 3 app makes Wikipedia even more of a mind-expanding time suck

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Wikilinks 3
Prepare to get even more lost in Wikipedia.
Photo: Wikilinks

If you’ve ever hopped onto Wikipedia just to “look one thing up really quick” and then come to an hour later with a comprehensive knowledge of the various forms of lightsaber combat, WikiLinks 3 might very well be your Kryptonite.

And even if you’re not the type to fall into a Wiki-hole of cross-references and endless chains of links, it’s still a cool app that offers an interesting way to get lost on the Internet.

If you want to try it out for yourself, WikiLinks 3 is out now on the App Store, and it’s currently free. After a quick setup, it basically just cuts you loose to browse, as dangerous as that is. You’ll see little bubbles with topics in them, and then branching paths (representing links in the article) to related subjects, so you get an easy-to read “map” of the website that happens to look exactly like how most people use Wikipedia. It also lets you look at pictures and videos from articles without interrupting your searching.

Check out the video below for a quick demo of how the app looks on iPad:

It’s really quick to tap around and finding other topics of interest as the network of associations just gets bigger and bigger. And if you’re anything like me, it’ll take some doing after a while to remember how exactly you came to be reading about tardigrades when all you meant to do was remember what Battle Cat from Masters of the Universe is called when he isn’t Battle Catting.

Cringer, by the way. I just saved you two hours of drowning in articles.

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