Releases: kiwix/kiwix-js-pwa
WikiMed by Kiwix (Linux/Windows) 3.3.4
Portable and installable builds for Electron and UWP
WikiMed by Kiwix is an offline medical encyclopaedia with content curated by MDwiki and Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine. Containing more than 67,000 medical and health-related articles, it makes medical knowledge available to people with limited Internet access or anyone who needs quick reference access to in-depth medical information. Other languages can be downloaded within the app.
These custom apps are packaged with the 15 June 2024 English-language WikiMed archive mdwiki_en_all-app_maxi_2024-06.zim
. They will run on 32bit and 64bit editions of Windows or Linux (tested on Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and OpenSUSE). The Windows builds are not compatible with Windows XP or Windows Vista. If you need an app compatible with those old platforms, get Kiwix JS Windows reader and download the latest WikiMed archive from within the app.
MS Store status: PUBLISHED
Winget status: PUBLISHED
Please choose the correct version:
-
Linux (installation instructions below):
- Portable (Electron)
- AppImage 64bit (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE): WikiMed-by-Kiwix-3.3.4-E.AppImage
- AppImage ARM64 for Linux on ARM only (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, opnSUSE): WikiMed-by-Kiwix-3.3.4-E-arm64.AppImage
- AppImage 32bit (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE): WikiMed-by-Kiwix-3.3.4-E-i386.AppImage
- Installable (Electron)
- Deb package 64bit (Ubuntu, Debian): kiwix-js-wikimed_3.3.4-E_amd64.deb
- Portable (Electron)
-
Windows:
- Store app for Windows 10/11 - recommended (self-updates)
- Install from the Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9PHJSNP1CZ8J
- Or, on a PC, open a command prompt and run
winget install wikimed -s msstore
- Or, if you cannot use the Store, sideload a signed package with
winget install kiwix.wikimed
- upgrade easily by runningwinget upgrade kiwix.wikimed
- Installable (Electron)
- Windows 10/11 Web installer (auto selects correct package, supports 64bit, 32bit, Windows on ARM64): WikiMed-by-Kiwix-Web-Setup-3.3.4-E.exe
- Windows 10/11 64bit modern MSIX install / uninstall: WikiMed-by-Kiwix-3.3.4-E.appx
- Windows 10/11 standalone 32bit installer (also runs on 64bit): WikiMed-by-Kiwix-Setup-3.3.4-E.exe
- Windows 7/8/8.1+ standalone 32bit installer: WikiMed-by-Kiwix-Win7-Setup-3.3.4-E.exe
- Alternatively, run
winget install kiwix.wikimed.electron
in a Windows 10/11 Terminal
- Portable (Electron) - just unzip, no install needed
- Windows 10/11 64bit: WikiMed-by-Kiwix-3.3.4-E.zip
- Store app for Windows 10/11 - recommended (self-updates)
Installation Instructions - Electron
- For the Windows Web installer, simply download and launch. It will select the correct architecture automatically and install itself, together with a shortcut in yourshortcut menu. When you want to update the app, just install a new version over it (it will uninstall the old one for you). Please note that the Web installer needs Web access during the installation. If this is a problem, then use the standalone installer.
- For the Windows Portable build, unzip the contents of the WikiMed-by-Kiwix-3.3.4-E.zip archive to any folder, or to a flash drive / thumb drive, and double click on
Start WikiMed by Kiwix
orStart WikiMed by Kiwix.bat
, or open thekiwix-js-pwa-win32-ia32
folder and double click onWikiMed by Kiwix.exe
. - For Windows 7/8/8.1, due to the deprecation of Chromium on these platforms, we now only provide one option: a standalone installer built with the last version of Electron that supported Chrome on Windows 7+. This is also a 32bit package (but will run on 64bit).
- For the Linux portable builds, download and save the correct AppImage file anywhere (e.g. your Desktop), and double-click it. If it doesn’t work, open a terminal and run
chmod a+x WikiMed-by-Kiwix*.AppImage
and then./WikiMed-by-Kiwix*.AppImage
.- On Debian, if you have issues running the AppImage on older versions of the OS, you can try adding the
--no-sandbox
switch to the command (see electron/electron#17972 (comment)). This is not necessary on recent versions. - On OpenSUSE, you may need to install Chrome in order to get the dependencies necessary to run the AppImage (because Electron apps run Chrome internally). With older versions of OpenSUSE, you may additionally need to use these commandline switches:
./WikiMed-by-Kiwix*.AppImage --use-gl=disabled --disable-gpu-compositing
,¹ but this is no longer necessary in recent versions.
- On Debian, if you have issues running the AppImage on older versions of the OS, you can try adding the
- For the Linux installable builds:
- Debian/Ubuntu: download the correct
.deb
package. Open a terminal,cd
to the directory containing the package, and typesudo apt-get update
followed bychmod a+x ./kiwix-js-wikimed*.deb
, thensudo apt install ./kiwix-js-wikimed*.deb
. To run the app from the command line, rather than from its installed icon, simply typekiwix-js-wikimed
in terminal. On Debian, if you receive the errorlibgbm.so.1: cannot open shared object file
, please runsudo apt install libgbm-dev
. On older versions of Debian, you may have to add--no-sandbox
to the command line when running the app, i.e.kiwix-js-wikimed --no-sandbox
. When you want to update, just install the new version, and it will install over the old version. - For OpenSUSE and Fedora, it may be easiest to extract the files from the AppImage instead of using the Deb package. The executable is
kiwix-js-wikimed
and on older versions of OpenSUSE you may need to add the commandline switches--use-gl=disabled --disable-gpu-compositing
.¹
- Debian/Ubuntu: download the correct
- Windows portable version: If you get a Windows Smartscreen notification on first launch, follow instructions to "Run anyway" if you trust this site. If you prefer, use the installable version WikiMed-by-Kiwix-Setup-3.3.4-E.exe which is digitally signed.
¹ With many thanks to Jay Midura for documenting the switches needed for OpenSUSE.
Release Notes
- This app is packaged with the 15 June 2024 English-language WikiMed archive
mdwiki_en_all-app_maxi_2024-06.zim
. The packaged archive is located in thearchives
folder (where this is accessible). See the readme in that folder if you wish to add a different archive as the packaged ZIM; - You can download WikiMed in other languages from the Configuration page;
- It supports dark mode, and opening different navigable windows by right-clicking or ctrl-clicking a link (see Configuration);
- You can print by pressing Ctrl-P or using the print icon (but see Known Issues below). If local printers are not available (after clicking on More options...) then print to PDF and use another app to print;
- You can open a new browsable window by middle-clicking, ctrl-clicking or long-pressing an article link (not available in every mode, see option in Configuration);
- There is support for Full-Screen mode in most browsers and frameworks, and orientation locking in some mobile browsers (e.g. Android).
- Electron versions of the app now support Full-Text searching;
- In title search, you can use wildcards
.*
or.+
(this works best if you start the search with a normal alphanumeric string). You can include a more complex regular expression by enclosing it within(?:my_regular_expression)
. See Configuration -> About for more details and limitations; - You can search for any file in a ZIM by prefixing the namespace, e.g.
I/isaac.*newton
for images of Isaac Newton (or in no-namespace ZIMsC/isaac.*newton.*webp
).
Known Issues
- The Electron app may need to be restarted TWICE to update fully to the latest code.
- Printing: In Electron apps, no preview is available prior to printing: we recommend you print to PDF first and then print the PDF, or use the PWA instead for printing (which has print preview). Before printing, ensure all sections you want to print are open (if you closed them).
- Please see https://github.com/kiwix/kiwix-js-pwa/issues for further known issues. If you find a new issue, please open a new issue on that page.
Instructions for sideloading (UWP)
You can sideload the app easily by typing winget install kiwix.wikimed
in a Command Prompt or PowerShell terminal (Windows 10 or 11). This will download and install the Electron-based appx. If you want to install the legacy UWP appxbundle based on EdgeHTML, then simply download the appxbundle (see below) and double click it. The app installer should launch and will let you install it.
For Windows Mobile or for sideloading manuall...
Supplementary installation files for WikiMed Electron
This contains only the supplementary installation files for the WikiMed Web-based installer. Please go to the main WikiMed release.
Supplementary installation files for Kiwix JS Electron
Autoupdate files ONLY. Please go to https://kiwix.github.io/kiwix-js-pwa/app for the main release.
Kiwix JS Linux/Windows 3.3.2
This build is out of date!
Please go to https://kiwix.github.io/kiwix-js-pwa/app for the latest release.
Wikivoyage by Kiwix (Linux/Windows) 3.2.8
This build is out of date!
Please go to https://kiwix.github.io/kiwix-js-pwa/wikivoyage for the latest release.
Supplementary installation files for Wikivoyage Electron
This contains only the supplementary installation files for the Wikivoyage Web-based installer. Please go to the main Wikivoyage release.
WikiMed by Kiwix (Linux/Windows) 3.2.6
This build is out of date!
Please go to https://kiwix.github.io/kiwix-js-pwa/wikimed for the latest release.
Supplementary installation files for WikiMed Electron
This contains only the supplementary installation files for the WikiMed Web-based installer. Please go to the main WikiMed release.
Kiwix JS Linux/Windows 3.2.4
This build is out of date!
Please go to https://kiwix.github.io/kiwix-js-pwa/app for the latest release.
Wikivoyage by Kiwix (Linux/Windows) 3.2.2
This build is out of date!
Please go to https://kiwix.github.io/kiwix-js-pwa/wikivoyage for the latest release.