iPad built in dictionary

Is the built-in dictionary in iBooks etc available to developers? If so how would I go about usi开发者_Python百科ng it?

It's not available to developers. You could use an open source dictionary like this one from Project Gutenberg, but it might take substantial munging to make it presentable.

Unfortunately, I believe the system dictionary is only available through a private API.

Personal conjecture: It's one of the many "features" locked away by Apple to separate the iBooks app from 3rd party e-book reader competition. However, at the rate Apple is going, I would expect the API to become public at some point in the next few years.

I think that it might be a copyright issue. I had the same problem about a year ago and not much has changed since then.

My solution was to embed an offline dictionary inside my app and I later turned it into a static library that others can use (for a small fee). If you're looking for a full-blown dictionary you can check it out at www.lexicontext.com

If you just need a spell checker, you can also use UITextChecker