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The Bible App Made iTunes’ 2010 Top Ten!

Every year, Apple announces the top 10 apps for the year in each category in the iTunes Store. This year, we’re thrilled to announce that the Bible App from YouVersion made the top 10 in the free Reference category! On both iPhone and iPad!

Apple’s lists don’t indicate rank. The above iPhone apps view shows the winners sorted by name. We’d also like to draw your attention to the Paul Avery Holy Bible app and Logos for iPad. Paul Avery’s Holy Bible made both lists, and Logos made the iPad list—and both are free Bible apps! How awesome is it that God’s Word claimed three of the top spots for free Reference apps in 2010?! (To discover more free Bible resources, check out this page we added to our website to highlight them.)

To see more of the lists, simply go to the iTunes Store and click the iTunes Rewind banner:

Look under the Apps section, and click on the “Check Out the Hot Trends in 2010 Apps” link for either iPhone or iPad, whichever one you’re interested in. Click the “Top Free” link, and then scroll to the Reference section and click “See All.”

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Now Android Has Notes, Too!

Here at YouVersion, we want to make the Bible App as helpful as it can be on every mobile platform. That’s why today we’re pleased to announce: Notes are now ready for Android! (Available immediately.) If you’ve used notes before on YouVersion.com or on one of our other platforms, hopefully you already know how they work.

Here’s a quick primer:

  • Associate notes with a passage. Find the verse or passage you want to comment on and select it. When the options menu pops up, tap Notes. To add your note, tap Create New.
  • Add notes freely. You don’t have to tie a note to a passage. You can add a freeform note about anything you want. Just tap the Notes tab to get started.
  • Other things notes do. To post a note to Twitter or Facebook, open the note, tap menu, then tap “Share.” If you see a note that contains inappropriate content, select the note, tap menu, then tap “Report.” We’ll flag it and have a look at it for review.

When you’re adding a note, be sure you take a moment to indicate how you want to share it:

  • Draft. If your note still needs a little time to “gel” before you’re ready to share it, mark it as Draft. This keeps it private just to you, but you can tell it still needs work.
  • Private. No one else can see notes that you mark as Private. Most of us here at YouVersion use this feature primarily for journaling, collecting the things we sense that God is showing us in what we’re reading.
  • Public. Public notes are visible to everyone. Reading other people’s notes and then adding your own is one of the best ways to connect and share your Bible reading experience with others.
  • Publish on: Your note is basically marked as Private for now, then on the date you specify, its status will flip to Public.

TIP: You can change a note back and forth between the different categories at any time.

We’re so glad to be able to bring notes to the Bible App on your Android device. We still have lots more enhancements and features heading your way, but in the meantime, we hope you’ll take full advantage of all of the Bible tools you already have in your hands. We also hope you’ll use the Bible App’s connecting features to engage the other people in your circles of influence with the things that God is saying to you through His Word!

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Mardel.com Features Bible App

Mardel, one of the largest Christian and Education supply stores in the U.S.,recently partnered with us to add a “Free Bible” page to their website (as seen on their home page below). This tool helps both Mardel and YouVersion fulfill our mutual vision to help people engage with the Bible as part of their everyday lives.

If you’d like to connect your website’s visitors with a free mobile Bible through YouVersion, we’d be happy to share with you how you can get your own Free Bible page. Even if you don’t have a big website, please check out this post to learn about the many simple, practical ways you can help spread the word about YouVersion. And be sure you connect with us on Facebook and Twitter so you can keep up with all the different ways to read and share God’s Word!
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Notes: Finally, It’s iPhone’s Turn!

If you use the Bible App from YouVersion on your iPhone, then we imagine you might have watched with just the slightest twinge of envy as you’ve seen notes come to some of our other platforms. Your wait is over! As long as you’re signed in to your free YouVersion account, you’re ready to start adding notes:

  • General notes. You can add a note at any time, and it can be about anything. Simply tap the Notes tab.
  • Connected to a passage. Of course, you can link a note directly to a single verse. Just tap the verse you want to comment on, then tap Notes on the options menu that displays. To add yours, tap Create New. (You can even add additional verses—and remove verses—from their association with a note.)
  • Connect with community. “Share” any note to post it to Twitter or Facebook, “Like” a note to display it in a list of your favorite Notes on your profile on YouVersion.com, even “Report” a note to flag it as inappropriate.

Important! For any note you make: Give it a title, then mark whether you want to share it:

  • Draft. A note “in progress”—one that’s not quite ready for prime time.
  • Private. Only you will see this note. This is a great way to journal for yourself about the things that God is showing you in His Word.
  • Public. Your note will be visible by anyone. One of the greatest benefits of notes, public notes allow others to share in your journey through the Scriptures—and you in theirs.
  • Publish on: The note will be Private for now, but it will become Public on the date you specify.

TIP: You can change a note back and forth between the different sharing options at any time.

Many of you have been asking us to bring notes to the iPhone for a long time now, so of course we’re thrilled to be able to provide it for you. But this is still just the beginning. We’re really excited about all the continued advancements and improvements still to come. In the meantime, enjoy your Bible! And please share your experience with others!

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The Bible App – now on Chrome!

Google’s Chrome Web Store is an online marketplace with tools and applications designed specifically for use with the Google Chrome OS and browser. If you have a Google Chrome device, come check out YouVersion’s page for the Bible App in the store!

At YouVersion, our driving vision has always been to make the Bible easily accessible—for free—to anyone, any time, anywhere. The Bible App is already the number one application for engaging with the Bible on iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, and webOS, with more than 11 million downloads so far. Now, when you download the free Bible App to your Chrome device, you’ll get all of its best-of-breed functionality—including more than 40 translations, in more than 20 languages, a growing list of reading plans, and connectivity to your social networks.