Do you use mobile applications to read / learn the Bible?

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biblejourney

Guest
#1
Hello,

Do you use mobile applications to read or study the Bible? If yes, do you use more knowledge-based applications like Bible games, trivia, quizzes; or others that provide features like reading the Bible, sharing verses etc. ?

I am curious because I developed a Bible application for Android that combines these two approaches. I am very curious to hear people's experience and their expectations from these applications. Some questions to start with:

- How often and where do you use these apps? E.g. on the way to work / school, or at home?
- Do you learn a lot from Bible games / trivia?
- What is more important to you: app interface / easy usage or the depth & accuracy of the trivia and questions?

Thanks for your feedback.
 
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toinena

Guest
#2
I use Quizup. There they have games like finish the Bible verse. I have learnt quite a bit, and it is fun, too. You compete with others all over the world, and I have made some friends, too.
 
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biblejourney

Guest
#3
Thanks for the reply. It's a good idea that the application provides a way to contact other users. I will keep that in mind for future updates of my application :)
 

Joidevivre

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2014
3,838
271
83
#4
As a child, for some reason I underlined every sentence that meant something to me in books I read. I continue this even now. I MUST hold a bible in my hands, and use a pencil to highlight sentences.

And have you ever smelled a new leather bible? Impossible to beat.
 
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toinena

Guest
#5
As a child, for some reason I underlined every sentence that meant something to me in books I read. I continue this even now. I MUST hold a bible in my hands, and use a pencil to highlight sentences.

And have you ever smelled a new leather bible? Impossible to beat.
I agree. If I am reading my Bible, I take my Bible, not my phone. And I have a smaller one that fits my purse, so I have one always with me. But the way the Bible app has different translations, possibilites to share and to send to friends comes in very handy. And the reading plans in the app are great, too.
 
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biblejourney

Guest
#6
As a child, for some reason I underlined every sentence that meant something to me in books I read. I continue this even now. I MUST hold a bible in my hands, and use a pencil to highlight sentences.

And have you ever smelled a new leather bible? Impossible to beat.
I agree that an app can never give the same feeling as holding the Bible in your hand, let alone the smell. On the other hand, wouldn't it be convenient to add your favorite verses to a list, take notes about them, and come back at any time and easily find / read them? I also find Bible trivia applications a great & entertaining way to learn the Bible. These were the two main reasons why I wanted to develop a Bible application myself.
 
M

Miri

Guest
#7
I tend to have a proper bible at home.

But out and about, at church, or while on CC I use a bible app. Either
on my phone or iPad. Its just more practical, easier to carry plus I can be
comparing 3-4 versions and take notes, look up text, copy paste it easier
into notes I take down.

I still like a proper bible though. Something about manually looking things up,
seeing written passages etc, seems to make them more memorable.
Whereas scanning through them on a gadget, I don't seem to concentrate as well.
 
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toinena

Guest
#8
Actually it has been done some research of the cognitive difference reading on a screen or on paper. You have a deeper understanding reading in a book than one screen, and weak readers are having more difficulties on screen. To look up things is of course easier. But to connect with the text emotionally and cognitivly, nothing beats the book.
 
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biblejourney

Guest
#9
I think the biggest issue with reading it on mobile apps would be the easy distraction factor. When you are reading a book you just have the book in your hand, nothing else. With the apps it's easy to get distracted with other apps or simply you can find yourself browsing other things on the internet.

That's why the apps should offer more than just reading the Bible; e.g. favorites / notes, trivia or quiz with interesting questions, discussion forums etc. That's exactly why I wanted to open this discussion: to find out how and why people use the Bible apps.
 

Angela53510

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
11,780
2,940
113
#10
I use Biblegateway in church. The reason I like it is because there are so many versions. I like to read the sermon text in English first, then Greek, then French and German for NT. (No Greek for OT!) Then, if there are textual issues, I try different English versions to see what the translators are doing.

Then, if there is time left, I listen to the last of the sermon! LOL
 

mcubed

Senior Member
Dec 20, 2013
1,449
218
63
#11
I use an app to read the Scriptures out loud while I sleep. I do not use the app for anything else. But I'm old so I love my "hard copies", so I I just read my Bible (an actual book).
 

Locutus

Senior Member
Feb 10, 2017
5,928
685
113
#13
You have to have the app titude for this stuff.
 

Bladerunner

Senior Member
Aug 22, 2016
3,076
59
48
#14
Hello,

Do you use mobile applications to read or study the Bible? If yes, do you use more knowledge-based applications like Bible games, trivia, quizzes; or others that provide features like reading the Bible, sharing verses etc. ?

I am curious because I developed a Bible application for Android that combines these two approaches. I am very curious to hear people's experience and their expectations from these applications. Some questions to start with:

- How often and where do you use these apps? E.g. on the way to work / school, or at home?
- Do you learn a lot from Bible games / trivia?
- What is more important to you: app interface / easy usage or the depth & accuracy of the trivia and questions?

Thanks for your feedback.
biblejourney: No, I do not have any Games for the Bible...I do use apps that allows me to have reference material, different Bibles, etc. at my fingertip anytime.

Remember ...The Game has no Authority for the Bible has it all. Use this to your advantage in the design and building it.

Games are close relatives to Movies. One is interactive and the other is not. However, what people see in the Game will leave the same type of impression on them as would the Movies..

Take the Passion of Christ. This one tells us of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the time leading up to this day. I realize the time constraints involved, but this movie also left out so many things that really need to be said when telling His Story.

For those that read the Bible and understand that Jesus died for our sins, the movie put before our eyes the horrific conditions that they (the Roman Soldiers) put Jesus through to simply kill him. I would not have been surprise to find out that everyone in that theater shed a few tears that day.

For those that have NOT read the Bible, the movie is great entertainment and will for the young and older minds at the very least, get them asking questions that Maybe, Hopefully will lead them on the path to Jesus Christ.

You can use the games to get people in touch with the different personalities, geneologies, etc. of the Bible..Then give them the opportunity to link to the actual verses within the Bible.

I urge you to incorporate all the Versions of the Bible instead of the One you or your Aunt May uses. Blue Letter Bible, BibleGateway, BibleHub and many others have that ability that can be linked to....

Good luck on the Games Be true to God and His Word
 
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biblejourney

Guest
#15
Bladerunner: that's good feedback, thank you. Currently, my application only contains the KJV as I mostly focused on and spent a lot of time creating the trivia part (which is also based on the KJV). Incorporating more Bible versions in the future will definitely be on my to-do list.
 

trofimus

Senior Member
Aug 17, 2015
10,684
794
113
#16
Hello,

Do you use mobile applications to read or study the Bible? If yes, do you use more knowledge-based applications like Bible games, trivia, quizzes; or others that provide features like reading the Bible, sharing verses etc. ?

I am curious because I developed a Bible application for Android that combines these two approaches. I am very curious to hear people's experience and their expectations from these applications. Some questions to start with:

- How often and where do you use these apps? E.g. on the way to work / school, or at home?
- Do you learn a lot from Bible games / trivia?
- What is more important to you: app interface / easy usage or the depth & accuracy of the trivia and questions?

Thanks for your feedback.
I use SBL Greek New Testament, Interlinear Bible and sometimes BibleHub.com in my android.

I do not use Bible games at all.

How often and where do you use these apps? E.g. on the way to work / school, or at home?
- probably daily
- when I am outside home, ie in trains, waiting outside etc. Or when I am in my bed.

Do you learn a lot from Bible games / trivia?
- no
- I think that games are just for practicing facts (who was.. who said... where did this happen...) and just biblical facts knowledge is not useful to me, spiritually

What is more important to you: app interface / easy usage or the depth & accuracy
- in mobile app, easy usage and simple interface without distractions
- for depth studies more sophisticated tools like personal computers are more convenient for me
 
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hornetguy

Senior Member
Jan 18, 2016
6,624
1,381
113
#17
I have the Tecarta versions of the NLT and the NASB on my Nook Galaxy.

I like those because it is so quick to move from scripture to scripture. I'm MUCH quicker with it than with a hardcopy. Although, I still use the hard copies.
 
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Yahweh_is_gracious

Guest
#18
I have BibleGateway on my tablet, but I'm the type that just prefers a physical book so I doubt I've used the program more than a few times. All my supplemental books for Bible study are hardcopy, and I prefer to not mix my media.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
36,530
13,098
113
#19
i use an android Bible app very frequently.

i prefer one that's fast, has a simply navigable interface, a wide variety of translations for comparison, and robust search features.

i don't use any kind of trivia/game functionality and am not really interested in those kinds of features.

what i use now is 'openbible' -- where it lacks IMO is primarily in the search feature, which has to be 100% accurate or it won't find any results, and the results of search are not comprehensive and not easily navigable. it also lacks any kind of cross-referencing, which would be a really nice add. apart from that, there are a few other translations i wish it had, but for what it is - 100% free and without ads - i'm very happy with it.

i also use 'mysword' which has a lot of commentaries & other reference material built in, but is limited to KJV, is a resource-hog, buggy, and hard to navigate. mostly i look at it for the commentaries and other resources, e.g. the Strong's concordance that's built in.
the 'openbible' app is much more useful for simply reading, IMO, and simply reading the scripture comprises my primary usage.
 
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posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
36,530
13,098
113
#20
I use Biblegateway in church. The reason I like it is because there are so many versions. I like to read the sermon text in English first, then Greek, then French and German for NT. (No Greek for OT!) Then, if there are textual issues, I try different English versions to see what the translators are doing.

Then, if there is time left, I listen to the last of the sermon! LOL

yes!

haha by the end of the sermon i'm typically at least pages away from the topic text, or have followed either a thought or a cross-reference all the way to the other end of my Bible, and find myself with very different things on my mind than the pastor's closing remarks!

;)