Year: 2011

If you read or speak Dutch, the Bible App™ and the YouVersion.com website are excited to welcome you to the YouVersion family, no matter where you live in the world. While we currently offer Het Boek (HTB) and Statenvertaling (SV1750) both on the YouVersion versions page and inside the Bible App™ (look under “Nederlands”), we’re working to secure agreements to bring you additional excellent translations in Dutch in the near future.

YouVersion’s simple mission has always been to make the Bible freely available to as many people as possible, no matter where they live or what language they prefer. But Bibles in your heart language are just one small part of that vision. Just as important are all the many ways you use YouVersion’s tools and engage with its community—the entire user interface (buttons, menus, and controls), interactions on social networks (like Facebook and Twitter), email exchanges, reading plans—even full technical support! It’s a worldwide community of passionate volunteers who make it all possible, recently completing the massive undertaking of translating the entire YouVersion experience into easy-to-understand, everyday Dutch, now equally suited for any of the following:

Dutch Speakers “at Home” in the Netherlands. The World Factbook describes the Netherlands as the 60^th most populous nation in the world, with 16.8 million people, 96% of whom claim Dutch as their mother tongue. In fact, according to Wikipedia, Dutch is a first language to some 23 million people—as well as a second language to another 5 million.

Dutch Speakers Around the Globe. The YouVersion community is constantly adding more Dutch speakers, with the Bible App installed on devices that list Dutch as their default language from literally all over the world. Besides the Netherlands, Dutch is also the native language of Belgium and Suriname, two neighbors which, together with the Netherlands, make up the three states of the Dutch Language Union. And as many as half a million more native speakers of Dutch are dispersed throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia. YouVersion truly comprises a global community, and Dutch speakers everywhere are important members of that family.

Now, for the first time, you can engage with God’s Word every day entirely in Dutch. Just imagine: no matter where you happen to be, the Bible is literally as close as your mobile device. And it’s always 100% free, with no hidden charges or in-app add-ons to pay for later. Simply download it and set your device’s default language to Dutch or, on some platforms, even specify Dutch directly within the Bible App!

If you speak or read Dutch, we’re excited to welcome you into our YouVersion family! Whether you already love the Bible or you’re just exploring it for the very first time, your language of choice shouldn’t be a barrier that makes it hard for you to enjoy. We’re looking forward to sharing in your journey and discoveries in God’s Word!

The latest release of the Bible App™ for BlackBerry is available now in BlackBerry App World or for direct download to your device. In this major update, version 3.6, besides noticeably quicker overall performance, we’ve also made significant tweaks to help you make the most of your particular network conditions. Here’s what you’ll find under the hood:

• Faster Performance. The Bible App now responds much more quickly, especially for the features that most of you use most—like Notes, Bookmarks, and reading plans.
   
• Reading Plan Caching. If you often find yourself with a slow or weak network connection, then sometime when you notice you happen to have a strong signal, you can jump into the Bible App and flip ahead through the next few days of your reading plan. Each day that you view will be stored (cached) into your device’s memory. As long as you don’t completely exit the Bible App (which you can set in the Options on your Home screen), then when you come back later, those days will still be there, and that dreaded “No network available” message won’t interrupt your daily reading.
   
• Active Network Scanning. The Bible App now constantly monitors your network connection, adjusting settings in the background to try to maintain your signal. It also logs what it determines are its optimal settings, so that in the event your signal is completely lost, it can help you get reconnected as quickly as possible.
   
• Customizable Network Settings. For the first time ever, from right inside the Bible App, you can actually manually tweak your connection settings (shown). This new feature will let you experiment to find the strongest signal possible, or to disconnect on demand to avoid unnecessary data charges.
   

If you have a BlackBerry, then you know that for all their terrific functionality and usefulness, sometimes these devices can present unique challenges. We continue working diligently to keep bringing you the best Bible experience possible on your BlackBerry.

If you have friends with BlackBerry devices, please consider telling them about the Bible App—perhaps even helping them install it. As always, all they’ll need to take full advantage of its best-in-class features—reading plans, Notes, Bookmarks, and so much more—is a free YouVersion account. And please come connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to let us know how you’re using the Bible App!