Tag Archives: bible apps

Apps for Lent (or Not)

During a recent TheoTek (Episode 55), one of the parts of the conversations brought up the yearly topic of apps for Lent. And while some of our Christian brothers and sisters might not have much knowledge about the reason for (or practices within) Lent – my history in the Roman Catholic Church has marked this as something that’s not easily forgotten, and usually puts me in the right mindset as the Winter season concludes.

Many, many years back, we created a Bible Apps list. Mostly because finding bible apps was hard, there were no usable app stores for many of you, and it just made sense in terms of getting some traffic this direction. The BIble Apps page is very much out of date now – lots of folks have moved from app listings to recommended apps – but we’ve kept it up as it does present a decent start for many folks. As such, this page was expanded to include many faith-based app genres not so easily seen in app stores. Of note, we added Lent and Advent apps because there’s something of a place for them…

…or is there?

Much of the conversation around Lent revolves around setting some areas of discipline that we usually don’t have. Traditionally, that’s not partaking in some foods. In modern times, that’s extended to removing yourself from food, media, people, and even technology tools. So when I’m asked, “what kinds of apps for Lent would you recommend,” it becomes something of a challenge. To one degree, having an app that assists with remembering the Stations of the Cross, Daily/Weekly devotionals, etc. makes sense. On the other hand, it might speak to possibly letting aspects (if not the entire computer/mobile/social network/etc.) go for 40 days.

This isn’t a dozen years ago (when MMM got started). The conversation about the place for digital/connected devices and services has certainly moved past simpler times. Yet, there is this part of the conversation that’s worth having – and probably moreso now that we are seeing clearer how mobile (and connected services) bridge digital and spiritual worlds and behaviors. Where pastor-teachers, academics, etc. need to continue to steer this conversation is not so much whether Lent has a place or not in this age, but how its place is better understood. And if those faith leaders aren’t having that conversation – again, not all faiths observe Lent – perhaps it does make sense to reserve this time as a place to have those discussions on the ethics and behaviors of connectivity.

Better than having the discussion is to actually move towards a direction. You can continue in the newly formed digital traditions and invest in Lent apps and services with the knowledge that not everyone is going to understand or go with you. Or, you can take this time away from connected spaces, so that you better tap into the ethereal leanings of the faith-as-lived.

Updates on the Side of Bible Apps

Years ago, the question that provoked many to first come to MMM had to do with finding a bible application. We answered that one in a manner that’s still not see as clearly in this age of app stores. There’s still something to be said about updates and new releases to various Bible platforms. Here are a few that have had a recent update: Continue reading →

The Bible App for Kids

Was really good to see this earlier in November that it was coming, and now its here. YouVersion has released The Bible App for Kids – an animated and achievement-oriented Bible application for Apple iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire devices.

It something that I’ve already given a headsup to my God children and niece. Will be neat to see how/if The Bible App for Kids morphs into other languages and cultures – not only speaking the Word in a language kids can hear, but also offering kids an opportunity to see how other kids look and interact with the Bible.

Visit The Bible App for Kids website to learn more and download.

iPrayer

As you might have noticed in that post about the sidebar additions, we’ve featured a few mobile apps which are outliers in the mobile ministry space. Not so much because they are popular, but because they do things which are uniquely mobile, uniquely faith-first, and generally, meeting a niche need square on. iPrayer kneels squarely on those points.

This really isn’t a review of iPrayer as much as its an appreciation of what it does well. Much like the 1st version of Instagram, its a mobile-first social network. Once its installed, you don’t need an account to get into it, but it does help if you plan on posting prayers and interacting with the iPrayer community.

Much like MMM, there’s only one person behind the scenes at iPrayer, and that shows in the Daily Word feature. I like that idea, though in speaking with the developer, he mentioned that its possible that iPrayer could configured differently to allow for others’s to be profiled in the Daily Word.

I’ll say though that the thing which really opened my eyes to iPrayer was the UI (user interface). When I looked at the landing screen, my first thought was multi-lingual support. There were so few words and the icon design was so clear that I instantly thought about this being a mobile community app able to serve several languages at the same time. In that convo with the developer, there were no plans to go towards other languages. But, there are other language communities present. Seriously, neat.

My iPad now gets notifications from iPrayer when new devotionals are published. Like another app we’ve reviewed – Bible Bloom – its not about an intense study, but intentional contemplation about those things God desires from us. iPrayer was designed for those folks who have a need for prayer, but might not be as connected locally as some would wish. Its a neat app/service, and one we are proud to push forward as iPrayer is developed further.

For more information and to download: Apple iOS | Android.

Bringing Back An Old Feature

If your exposure to MMM comes via social media, email, or RSS, you do miss those occasional changes which happen on the site. With the big outage in August, we lost a lot of features, and so its been a while in getting things back. One of those features brought back is the Recommended Apps/Services in the sidebar. Hopefully, its something which can help you better understand some of the relationships we’ve forged (recently) and areas of opportunity in #mobmin for your org.

Its a listing of both Partners and Recommendations. Here are those groups currently:

Partners:

Recommendations:

There are a few more that we’ll add to this over time as we continue to rebuild and refresh. If you see an opportunity to partner with us, or believe that your app or service should be given a thumbs-up recommendation, get in touch.

Why Hasn’t Digital Publishing Caught Up

bible software

Was pointed to this via Google+ the other day. But to be frank, its the same discussion, just revisited – with another proposal from someone well associated with digital publishing technologically and organizationally.

In August 2010 we posted an article entitled Tired of Buying the Same Books Over and Over Again. In that post, Kevin Purcell proposed an idea that would allow for bible software customers to buy a digital resource once and then make it available via other Bible software at no additional cost. From a ministry perspective the plan was a good idea. Here we are three years later and the situation remains the same. We still must buy multiple copies of books to use in various programs.

Read the rest of The Next Step at Kevin Purcell’s website

Kevin then writes his response in STEP Backwards: A Counterpoint to The Next Step

Here’s where I get frustrated. Since the digital copies made, after copy one, cost nothing. I have a problem with the second Bible software company selling customers a commentary that they already bought for $9,000 from Awesome Bible Software for the same price. If the customer can prove that they own the book, the publisher should wave the royalty fee and the Christians at the second company should sell the book in their software format at a reduced rate to cover costs of the sale and a little extra. It’s in their best interests to do this because the customer will become a return customer if they can use their favorite books in the second software maker’s program. If they can’t they won’t buy more in the future.

Now personally, I think that to solve this issue of using biblical resources across several devices and applications that there needs to be a significant change of thought and practice. Contrary to the marketing messages, bible software is built for pastors, not laypersons; content licenses are built for publishers, not readers. To design and sell software differently is a challenge that some groups can embrace. It won’t be easy, yet it could be very fruitful.

Jump into the discussion at Kevin’s website, here, or via social media.