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Add topicWikimedia Apps Newsletter – Second Quarter of 2026
[edit]Hello, and welcome to the second Wikimedia Apps newsletter of 2026!
In this edition, we’ll walk you through the main updates, launches, experiments, and improvements in the Wikipedia mobile apps during March, April,May, and June.
Liquid Glass migration
[edit]A major focus this quarter was the transition to Apple’s new Liquid Glass design system.
The team completed extensive design, infrastructure, and implementation work, culminating in the release of Wikipedia iOS 8.0.0 with Liquid Glass support. This represented one of the largest visual updates to the app in recent years and required coordinated work across navigation, interface components, theming, and platform-specific behaviors.
The Apps team plans continued modernization of the app’s design system and navigation patterns.
Following the successful rollout of the Activity Tab earlier this year, the team continued refining the experience based on user feedback.
One recurring theme was confusion around the relocation of reading history. Some users believed history had been removed or required an account to access.
To address this:
- Additional guidance was added explaining that History is now available within Search.
- Search from article view was updated to provide easier access to reading history.
- Ongoing improvements were made to onboarding and user education.
Development continued on the new "Which Came First?" daily trivia game.
The game became available on 11 June 2026.
Other iOS improvements
[edit]Additional work this quarter included:
- hCaptcha instrumentation and rollout preparation.
- Explore Feed Refresh design and infrastructure work.
- Performance improvements and stability updates.
- Resolution of numerous bugs affecting search, reading lists, login flows, article viewing, donations, widgets, and accessibility.
The Android team continued work on Hybrid Search, combining traditional keyword search with semantic search capabilities.
The experiment expanded to English, French, Portuguese, and Greek Wikipedias and completed its first MVP phase.
Results
[edit]- Increased search engagement.
- Stable retention.
- Strong signals supporting continued investment in semantic search experiences.
The experiment also generated valuable datasets and user insights that will guide future development.
Learnings
[edit]One key learning was that users need clearer explanations of how hybrid search works. Existing onboarding and provenance indicators were not sufficient at larger scale.
Android introduced a new Games Hub, providing a centralized location for games and interactive experiences within the app.
The hub lays the groundwork for future expansion of game-based engagement features, including the upcoming trivia experience.
Cross-platform
[edit]One of the largest initiatives this quarter was the rollout of Phase 1 of the Explore Feed Refresh on Android.
The redesign introduces a new Home experience built around two primary feeds.
Community Feed
[edit]
The Community Feed highlights curated Wikipedia and Wikimedia content, including:
- Featured Article
- Top Read
- In the News
- On This Day
- Picture of the Day
For You feed
[edit]
The For You feed introduces personalized content through:
- Article recommendations based on selected interests.
- Because You Read recommendations.
- Continue Reading suggestions.
Additional improvements
[edit]Additional work included:
- New onboarding flows.
- Feed preference selection.
- Redesigned settings.
- Re-onboarding for existing users.
- Improved feed controls and personalization transparency.
The redesign was released through a holdout experiment, enabling the team to measure its impact while continuing iterative improvements.
Early learnings
[edit]- Users respond positively to structured onboarding.
- Topic selection can help personalize discovery experiences.
- Recommendation quality remains a critical factor for user trust and satisfaction.
The Explore Feed Refresh was then released to 50% of app users before being fully released to all users starting on 15 June 2026.
The refreshed experience is planned to launch in the Wikipedia iOS app during July 2026.
This quarter we launched the Wikipedia 25th Birthday Reading Challenge across Android and iOS.
The challenge included:
- Challenge enrollment experiences.
- Daily reading goals.
- Reading streak tracking.
- Challenge completion flows.
- Home screen widgets.
- App Store and Play Store promotional events.
- CentralNotice promotion.
- Instrumentation and analytics support.
- Translation support across target languages.
Following launch, the team implemented several improvements based on early feedback and usage patterns, while resolving onboarding and widget-related issues.
Early results showed encouraging participation, increased account creation, positive community reception, and opportunities for continued iteration.
Following the conclusion of the 2025 Year in Review experience, both teams completed a comprehensive analysis of the feature.
Key findings
[edit]- Both apps achieved an 86% return rate.
- Account creation increased significantly year over year.
- Approximately half of all new accounts during the campaign period were created through Year in Review.
- User satisfaction exceeded targets, with over 95% of surveyed users reporting neutral or positive experiences.
- Donations increased substantially, particularly among users exposed to personalized experiences.
Learnings
[edit]- Personalization significantly improves engagement.
- Logged-out users benefit from receiving limited personalized experiences.
- Account-gated personalization remains a strong driver of account creation.
- Users continue to request richer insights, improved sharing capabilities, and cross-platform statistics.
The findings will help shape future iterations of Year in Review and other personalized experiences within the apps.
Looking ahead
[edit]This quarter focused on launching major experiences while laying the groundwork for future growth.
The rollout of the Explore Feed Refresh, launch of the Reading Challenge, continued investment in Hybrid Search, and preparation for new games all reflect the team's broader focus on helping users discover, engage with, and contribute to knowledge in new ways.
We're excited to continue iterating on these experiences and look forward to sharing more updates in the next edition of the newsletter.
Thank you for reading!