How-to: Adding dictionaries to the iPhone 3G

Dec2008

I’m sure it’s no secret by now that I have an iPhone 3G. Paradoxically, it’s proven to be a great productivity tool while at the same time being a little too handy for procrastination.

Like many other PDAs, third-party applications can be installed on the iPhone. One app that I’ve found particularly useful is weDict, a free dictionary program. While there are a number of dictionary libraries available to install into weDict, there are very few translation libraries.

After doing quite a bit of trial & error, as well as searching online, I have managed to install an English-French dictionary library, and I thought I’d write up some instructions so that others can do the same.

This short guideline assumes that:

• Your iPhone 3G has been jailbroken. There are an incredible number of benefits to jailbreaking: you can install programs not in the Apple App Store; you can backup files that you choose; you can customize the layout of your phone; + many other things.
• You’ve enabled SSH, and know how to SSH into your iPhone.

To get a dictionary into weDict, follow these steps. [¹]

1. Find a dictionary from StarDict that you want to use: I went here (but here there are many options); and download the tarball.
2. Use Winzip, WinRar or StuffIt to extract the archive; you’ll see 3 files (.dz, .idx and .ifo).
3. Rename the XXX.dict.dz file to XXX.dict.gz, and extract the .gz file; you should end up with another file with a .dict extension.
4. Make sure the .dict and .idx filenames are similar; I used English_French.dict and English_French.idx
5. SSH into your iPhone.
6. Go to the directory called /private/var/mobile/Applications/???/WeDict.app/; the ??? will be different for every iPhone, so the best way to to go through each subdirectory of /private/var/mobile/Applications and look for the WeDict.app directory.
7. Copy the .dict and .idx files into the WeDict.app directory, and set the permissions (chmod) for those two files at 755; usually you can do this by right-clicking on the file and clicking something like “properties” where you can enter the number.
8. Now, close your SSH program and disable SSH.
9. Launch weDict on your iPhone and go into the Settings, where you can enable or disable the newly added dictionary.
10. Look up a word and enjoy.

That’s it. The process may seem a little tedious, but at the moment, this is the only way to put a dictionary library of your choosing on the iPhone 3G. It was worth it for me.

That being said, there are still other ways to install a limited number of additional dictionary libraries: if you go to Cydia (after jailbreaking) and tap Sections then Dictionaries, there are a few dictionary files that you can add. However, the selection is pretty limited at this time.

As an academic, one of the best parts of the iPhone so far is the ability to always have an English dictionary, thesaurus and English-French translations handy for a quick look-up. The only thing I need now is to be able to add my own words and definitions to the library.

1. For first-generation iPhone users, this guide may be more helpful. [↩]