Tech Tip: Bible for your iPhone or iPod touch

Have an iPhone or iPod touch? Take the word of God with you wherever you go with these Bibles. With its large screen, the iPhone or iPod touch makes a great Bible reader. Here is a quick review of three of my favorite Bible apps for these devices. All of these can be found (along with many more) in the App store.

 

BibleScope by Kenny Ham
Cost: $4.99
http://www.biblescopeapp.com

Notable Features:

• Includes the ability to navigate all the books and chapters of the Bible using either a “wheel dial” selector or a table selection with a shortcut bar to the right side.
• Add bookmarks to jump to specific locations in the Bible, and have a custom name for each bookmark.
• Compose study notes that are saved with the current book and chapter, or compose loose notes for general study.
• Keyword search to find specific words in the Bible, with search results highlighted in Bible text.
• Settings screen now within BibleScope. Settings include background, font, font size, colors and more.
• Bars at the top and bottom slide in/away with a press of the screen.
• Split-screen display that shows two Bible versions simultaneously.
• Swipe left/right to go to previous/next chapter.
• Daily devotional texts include Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening, Daily Path devotional, and a Daily Bible Reading selection.
• Words of Christ in red for the KJV and WEB translations.

Bible Versions:

• BibleScope currently includes the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, the New Simplified Bible (NSB), the World English Bible (WEB), Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, Spanish Reina Valera Bible, and Easton’s Bible Dictionary.
• More translations will be available for download from within BibleScope in the next version, including Young’s Literal Translation(YLT), American Standard Version (ASV), Darby Translation, Russian Translation, German Translation, and a Portuguese Translation.

Pros:

• Words of Christ in Red
• Ability to change font easily
• Menu bars slide out view for full screen reading
• Multiple customizations
• Developer improves the app often

Cons:

• Can’t jump directly to verse
• Not as many translations as some

 

 

Bible Reader by Olive Tree
Cost: Free to $24.99
http://www.olivetree.com/iphone

 

Notable Features: 

• Verse Chooser allows you to quickly navigate anywhere you want to go in the Bible. Three touches allow you to choose book, chapter, and verse.
• Library lets you sort books by category, Bible version, and author-or you can scroll through a list of all titles. Library display now includes colorful cover images.
• Continuous Scrolling means you don’t have to hit a button to go to the next chapter or page. You can scroll from the top to the bottom of the book. In future versions of BibleReaderTM, look for auto-scrolling, which will let you read the Bible while the screen advances automatically-without touching the screen to advance the text, and without chapter or page breaks.
• Display Settings let you adjust the font face, font size, text color, and background color of the display, to make reading easier.
• Rich Formatting   BibleReaderTM for iPhone offers our richest formattng for Bibles yet. In the English Standard Version (ESV), pictured here, you can see the newest features: clean chapter and line breaks, section headings and chapter numbers in bold, and red-lettering for the words of Jesus.

Bible Versions:

• American Standard Version
• Darby’s New Translation
• French Darby 1991
• German Luther Bible 1912
• Modern King James Version
• New English Translation (without notes)
• Spanish Reina Valera
• Weymouth New Testament
• Young’s Literal Translation

Paid version also includes KJV, ESV, Phillips NT, Matthew Henry Concise Commentary, the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary, and the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

Pros:

• OliveTree makes many Bibles for many different phones
• Rich text format
• Change font size
• Continuous Scrolling
• Jump directly to a verse

Cons:

• KJV not included in free version
• Menu bars don’t slide out view (no full screen)
• Not as many options as their other Bible readers

 

 

The Bible by YouVersion
Cost: Free
http://youversion.com/iphone

 

Notable Features: 

• Take your pick from 19 different translations of the Bible (including Spanish, German, French, Swedish, and Chinese versions) and make it your default.
• Search the entire Bible for a word, phrase, or verse, and you’ll get your results in seconds.
• Jump to a verse quickly by typing the reference in the search box.
• The One-Year Reading Plan provides daily selections to keep you on track when you’re on the go.
• Share your perspective on a verse by contributing relevant notes, video, images, and links.
• Learn from others by checking out recent contribs. Just tap the number next to the verse.

Bible Versions:

• King James Version
• Amplified Bible
• Contempory English version
• New American Standard Version
• New King James
• The message
• English Standard version
• Many more. 19 total!

Pros:

• Free
• Huge selection of translations
• KJV, ESV, The Message, and many other popular versions

Cons:

• Takes to long to get a verse in a hurry
• Can’t change font size or style
• Not many settings