WikiHow review

Mark Mackay

We review WikiHow for the iPhone, an application that tells you how to do just about everything

Published on Sep 4, 2009

The past couple of decades have seen the internet provide a new dawn of free information for the masses. No longer is information a luxury of the upper classes and Wikipedia is a shining example of this liberation. WikiHow is along the same vein as Wikipedia and in as much as it is user generated content except, as the title name hints at; it is all about telling you how to do stuff.

Pretty much the first thing you see on the opening screen is a bullet point stating ‘User generated content. Use at your own risk.’ This is important and you should exercise some caution. If someone creates a page telling you that curing your pet hamster’s limp can be done using a weighty hammer and some industrial strength double-sided adhesive, it’s probably not true.

A second bullet point tells you that survival situation tips are saved on the iPhone for offline use. This may conjure up fun images of survival legend, Ray Mears but WikiHow might just save your life one day. The survival Hows are saved in their own separate menu option accessible via the bottoms of the screen and include everything from how to administer CPR to how to regain control of a spooked camel. You’ll be glad to learn that the latter goes into considerable detail.

At the bottom of the page, links are provided for related articles. For example, the spooked camel WikiHow links to one telling you how to catch a wild horse and how to enjoy Dubai. Many WikiHows also include links to sources and citations to see where the creators got their content. Warnings are also provided that you may need to be mindful of before applying your new information.

A ‘Featured’ tab shows you the picks of the day. Unlike the survival menu the listed items aren’t shown with an image but opening them up will show you the stages of the how to, images and all. Most images are thumbnail format and can be clicked to show larger versions, but there is no landscape option via use of the accelerometer.

WikiHow has everything from how to make Japanese pizza to how to start your own sports team to how to milk various farm animals. If you can into the habit of remembering it’s on your iPhone then it could get you out of a jam, save someone’s life or provide entertainment down the pub with its random articles on camel control.