Releases Archives - Page 23 of 41

2011-11-182011-12-22

Volunteers Translate YouVersion into Dutch

When people first learn about the Bible App™ from YouVersion, many reasonably assume that we probably offer at least a few versions of the Bible. But what most probably don’t realize is that the Bible App will allow them to immediately access 160 versions… in 51 languages… entirely free. Most new users also probably don’t know that they can experience all of YouVersion—not just the website, but relevant blog posts, complete technical support, email communications, and the entire mobile version (the Bible App), including all its menus, buttons, and controls—in any of ten different languages. How do we do it? By partnering with you.

The YouVersion community is only possible because of our global network of extraordinary volunteers. People just like you passionately contribute their gifts and talents to ensure that others will also get to know the joy of engaging with God’s Word in their own heart languages. Generous Bible publishers partner with YouVersion too, providing both up-to-date, popular translations and deeply loved “classic” versions. And we’re honored to serve in God’s kingdom alongside all of you. Your hard work through partnerships like these have given YouVersion to the world in English, Norwegian, Spanish, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Russian, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and German, and now—in Dutch.

Partner Volunteers

Even with great design and engineering, if you couldn’t read the Bible App’s buttons and menus, how would you use it? Fortunately, because volunteers share our vision to make the Bible freely, easily accessible to as many people as possible, no matter what language they speak, many are willing to offer their abilities as translators. And because of their contributions, we’re now pleased to welcome Dutch users into the YouVersion family. Of course, we can always use more help. The Bible App and other YouVersion tools are constantly in development, as we strive to make them not only more useful, but easier to use. As just one example, Dutch speakers can now receive assistance and technical support entirely in Dutch, submitting their requests through email, Facebook, or Twitter. And volunteers are who make it happen.

If you can help with translation into Dutch or other languages, we’d love to hear from you. Serving other YouVersion users—all over the world—can literally change your life. But don’t just take our word for it. Read for yourself what some of our awesome Dutch language volunteers have to say about the reasons they serve:

“When the opportunity came to join in translating the YouVersion Bible App to Dutch, I jumped right in. A lot of Dutchmen are great with English, but it gives you a special feeling to use an application in your mother language. Through the work of Dutch volunteers, the Bible App can now be used as a full-fledged Bible in Dutch churches.”
—Joshua J., Amsterdam, Netherlands

“A couple of years ago, I bought an iPod touch and got the YouVersion App. When a call for translators got out, I volunteered because I have done translating before. And translating into Dutch is easy for me—I am Dutch born and bred, and I studied Dutch language and literature, even though I now live in the U.S. with my family. I also volunteered because there can be no better cause than proclaiming God’s Word in every language to all people, and modern technology provides the perfect means. May God bless all our efforts!”
—Annemarieke R., Grand Rapids, MI, USA

“I was using YouVersion for some time, but I thought it was a shame that some of the youth in my church couldn’t use it because of the language barrier. But instead of complaining about it and waiting for someone else to start working on it, I decided to roll up my sleeves and get to work myself. And that’s how I joined YouVersion’s Volunteer team. It’s been a crazy ride, but now that the project is well on its way, I feel blessed to be a part of such a great international team that made it possible for Dutch-speaking people to engage in the Bible—thanks to the help of YouVersion.”
—Yanick G., Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, Netherlands

Bible Publishing Partners

Of course, YouVersion is entirely centered around God’s inspired Word, the Bible. While volunteers partner with us to make things happen, our community also requires the generous support of Bible publishers and societies. In Dutch, while we already offer Het Boek (HTB) and Statenvertaling (SV1750), we’ve also been working hard to bring you additional modern, easy-to-read versions. Keep checking here on our blog for news about translations into Dutch, and watch the “Nederlands” space in the Bible App and on YouVersion.com’s versions page for new additions!

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2011-11-11

Worldwide, Dutch Readers, Speakers Now Enjoy All YouVersion Has to Offer

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!

2011-11-09

Get Bible App for Android Update Now: Improved Search, Bookmark Label View

Get the most out of the Bible App for Android. Release 3.6^* is available for download in the Android App Market right now. In this update, we’ve added two great new features you’ll want to check out:

Improved Bible Search. For the first time on Android, now you can filter your Bible searches, limiting them to just the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Apocrypha, or to a single book. You can even sort your results to help you more easily find what you’re looking for (displaying them in book order, for example).

Label View. Bookmarks were always great for marking verses you want to quickly jump back to later, and labels made them even more useful. Now label view makes this feature handier than ever. You can see all your labels in one place, then tap a label to see which verses you applied it to. This great tool will help you organize your bookmarked verses for Bible studies, memory lists, or even sharing to encourage others. Check out the Android section of YouVersion’s Technical Support website to learn how to add your own labels.

Please share! It’s easy to start a conversation about the Bible App with your friends. Just tell them what you’re studying in the Bible right now. And if they have an Android device, maybe they’ll let you show them how it works—or even let you help them install it on their mobile. However you decide to use the Bible App, please come and tell us about it on Facebook and Twitter.

^*This release supports Android version 1.6 and higher, as well as App2SD.

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2011-11-082011-11-08

New Release of Bible App for BlackBerry Faster, with Better Connectivity

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!

2011-11-07

Now in Dutch: The Entire YouVersion Experience

Now, for the first time, everything that YouVersion has to offer—the interfaces at YouVersion.com and in the Bible App™, technical support, communication, of course Bibles, and so much more—are all available completely in Dutch. While we’ve offered a Dutch language option at YouVersion.com for some time, the website is just one small piece of the YouVersion world.

Dutch represents our tenth complete language launch. The first was English, followed by Norwegian, Spanish, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Russian, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and most recently, German. And today, we’re excited to share with you many of the ways that you can now engage with the YouVersion community—entirely in Dutch:

Menus, Buttons and Controls in Dutch. Thanks to our world-changing community of YouVersion volunteers, you can now experience the entire YouVersion user interface in Dutch, directly on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android, or BlackBerry device. Simply set your default language to Dutch.
Communication in Dutch. At the top right of our blog’s English version, one of the alternate languages you can select is Nederlands. Whether you start there or simply jump straight to the Dutch version, you’ll find blog posts relevant to you, written in Dutch. You can also connect with us in Dutch on Facebook or Twitter, or email us a question in Dutch. And we’ll get back to you—in Dutch! How do we do it? We couldn’t… except that amazing Dutch-speaking YouVersion volunteers are passionately devoted to assisting you in your own language.
Dutch Technical Support. If you have any questions about YouVersion.com or about the Bible App, try visiting our all-new Tech Support site, also available completely in Dutch. And even if you don’t find what you’re looking for there, send us your question in Dutch, and Dutch-speaking volunteers trained in YouVersion support will gladly get back to you.

Your story is an important part of YouVersion’s story. If you’d like to share how YouVersion has helped you connect with the Bible, please come tell us on Facebook and Twitter. And if you have friends whose heart language is Dutch, please direct them to the Bible App and YouVersion.com, too. Our desire is to help as many people as possible freely, easily engage with God’s Word, all over the world, and in any language. Your participation makes that happen.

We’re glad you’re here! We couldn’t be happier to welcome you, our Dutch-speaking friends, to our growing YouVersion family. Please keep checking our blog in the coming days, and we’ll share more details with you about all that this Dutch language launch means. And most of all, please start sharing and getting to know other people in your YouVersion community. Welcome!