Best english-chinese dictionary for Google Android?

[westmeadboy]

Just got my HTC Hero yesterday and absolutely love it.

Looking for a good chinese dictionary (primarily for english-chinese lookup).

Preferably free because I can't see paid apps in the Android Market (because I'm in China!).

[regisb]

I don't have an answer for you, but I happen to be asking myself the same question. I'm considering buying an electronic dictionary but it seems a phone could be just as useful, and since I want to buy the HTC Hero anyway...

Please keep me posted if you find anythng interesting. If I find no suitable app then I might try to code one myself.

Cheers

Régis

[westmeadboy]

Very happy with my HTC Hero though have neither found a working pinyin IME nor a free dictionary supporting pinyin.

So at the moment I use mobile-targeted websites to do dictionary lookups. In particular, I use: http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/mobile.php

For translations I'm using ProTranslate though I haven't looked much at others so there may be better ones out there.

I've just started looking into developing a simple dictionary app - should be done in the not-too-distant future. I will pencil you in as a potential early adopter and keep you posted

[regisb]

Yeah, I was told just last Friday at Zhongguancun that there was no Chinese input whatsoever... This is a pain, because I need to be able to text in Chinese. So I tried to look for an android-based phone; I had heard about the Dell Ophone for a few days, but apparently the guys at Zhongguancun haven't (yet).

By the way, isn't it extraordinary that there is no open source Chinese character recognition system? I was thinking that the best think to do was to plug one to Android, somehow, but there isn't even one free implementation of any algorithm that I could find.

On what dictionary will your app be based? cc-edict? Anyway, I would be glad to give it a try!

[imron]

According to this post on Sinosplice, Google's pinyin IME is available for the HTC Hero.

[mayline974]

If you can use internet on your phone you can use:

http://m.nciku.com/

[westmeadboy]

Thanks imron - yeah, maybe The Google Pinyin IME was working all along - I just didn't realise how it worked (like the blogger experienced). Its working for me now though

That IME is not great though - hope they improve it!

@mayline974 - I've seen that one before - and IMHO I think its the best online dictionary out there. Also the mobile version has been well designed. Nice and simple.

However, I was thinking more of offline dictionaries - but the more I think about it, the more "online" seems to make sense...

[rraffensperger]

There are a few free dictionaries on the Android Market. One is from ChinesePod. Has English, Pinyin and Chinese. Not too extensive, unfortunately. The other I tried was ColorDict, which has a separate main application and then a bunch of dictionaries. There is one for English->Chinese, but not one for Chinese->English. Biggest drawback for me is no pinyin, just shows characters.

There is also a dictionary called LianghaoCidian, but it only allows lookup using radicals (from the number of strokes in the radical)

For the IME, there is one from HTC. Search in the xda-developers.com forums on android development and you probably can find it.

[westmeadboy]

I searched for the CIME and found one but when I tried to install it I got some invalid signature error. Can it only be installed on rooted devices?

[rraffensperger]

I don't think it has to be Rooted, but you will have to ask in that forum. They are the development experts.

[imron]

For those interested, Sogou's pinyin IME is now available for Android.

[westmeadboy]

Thanks for the heads up.

Google updated their pinyin IME a couple of weeks ago so I've been using that in the meantime.

Just tried out Sogou's one and, at first glance, it seems much much better.

In particular I like the way the pinyin appears in the edit box as you type (and is then replaced when you select a character). Generally there are loads more options too.

There are some oddities though. If I type "nih", then the first suggestion is "你好", but if I then type "a", the first suggestion is just "你". Then typing "o" gives "你好".

Using the Google IME typing "nih" or "niha" gives "你哈".

[Zoide]

Check out this thread for information on Chinese handwriting input for Android. I'm using the Motorola software and it's pretty decent. The HTC one might be better but it's not working on Android 1.6.

[cidian]

check out this one http://www.andapponline.com/public/product/Quick%2BYingHan%2BCiDian. It's free.

[westmeadboy]

And also Hanping English-Chinese Dictionary which is also free.

The advantage of this one is that you can also reverse-lookup Chinese.

Can get it from the Android Market or here.

[magreen]

I just released a free dictionary for Android today called Cidian.

The aim is to approximate the Word List and Flash Card functionary of the iPhone app 'Dian Hua', which was instrumental to my studying routine.

For more info, check out shanghaisocial.com

Any feedback is much appreciated. Thank you.

[Mayu]

There's a new free Android app reference tool: Xiaoma Hanzi, now available on the Android Market. It is dedicated to learning characters.

QR code:

Some screenshots are available on the Xiaoma Cidian Facebook page or by searching "Xiaoma Hanzi" on google.

[Phil Wareham]

Hi there! I'm trying desperately to find a comprehensive chinese-english-chinese dictionary for android, and searches on here have not helped much. I find it strange that there aren't more chinese learners in china with android phones discussing the same question. I'm about to buy an android phone mainly to use as a portable dictionary and would like to know in advance that something is available. Web searches tell me about goldendict, but I can't get anywhere with finding and adding dictionaries to the desktop version, so I don't want to rely on it. I work in guangzhou and am intermediate with the language, so my main way to learn is on the move. I don't want a separate electronic dictionary cluttering my pockets or a bulky paper one that I have to leave at home. If I could afford an iphone and pleco, I'd do that in a flash. What's the next best thing? Where do people find the dictionaries to add? What does everyone else use? Help! Thanks!

[tooironic]

I have been using an Android phone for the past few months and can recommend Hanping and 有道, both of which are free and can be found on Android Market. Enjoy!

[creamyhorror]

Are there any good apps on Android that accept Stardict-format dictionaries? I may be changing to an Android phone once my iPhone plan is up, so any tips are appreciated.

Also, are there any Stanza-like reader apps that display EPUB books and allow you to tap words to perform dictionary lookups (and are free or cheap)? Basically Peraperakun for Android. That would be really convenient.