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We Want to Do Better

Recently, you may have occasionally noticed outages as you tried to connect to the Bible App™ or the all-new YouVersion.com, whether you were trying to follow along in church, to access one of your Reading Plans, or even simply to read your favorite version of the Bible.

Please accept our apology.

If you’ve been an active part of the YouVersion community, then you probably know our simple mission: To help as many people as possible read the Bible, no matter where they live or what language they prefer. And with your passion to share God’s Word, the continuing success of that mission has eclipsed our highest hopes: the Bible App has been installed on more than 40 million unique devices.

Let us assure you: The connection problems you’ve experienced lately are entirely unacceptable to us. We’re taking aggressive steps not only to ensure that you won’t have simply a basic connection, but full, reliable access to all of the many tools and services that the Bible App and YouVersion have to offer.

We’re doing everything we can to make sure the Bible App will be there… whenever and wherever you want to connect with God’s Word.

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2011: YouVersion’s Year in Review

2011: YouVersion’s Year in Review

2011 was another wild, wonderful year for the YouVersion community. At the beginning of January, the Bible App™ had been installed on almost 13 million unique devices. But by the end of 2011, it had well over 37 million installs. It’s clear that—together—we’re each part of a revolution in Bible engagement happening all over the world.

Even as we look forward to all that God will do through the YouVersion community during 2012, first we’d like to pause and look back on all we shared during 2011…

January: We launched 2011 with a challenge to read 1 billion minutes during January, suggesting Bible reading accountability with friends and online, and even offering practical ideas about times to read. The Mashable Awards named YouVersion as a finalist, and the Bible App was named in the all-time top apps on iTunes.

February: Although it took 46 days for us to hit one billion minutes, the YouVersion community saw a remarkable 172% reading increase during that time—and also reached more than 5 billion minutes read overall. Volunteers translated the YouVersion experience completely into Chinese, just in time for Chinese Lunar New Year, and the Bible App appeared on the prestigious The Sunday Times’ definitive The App List.

March: Three new Reading Plans launched for Lent, just one part of an initiative that saw us more than double overall Reading Plans. Volunteers played a critical role in reaching the world with God’s Word, and for our part, we added new Bible translations.

April: Just as the Bible App was installed on its 5 millionth Android device, the Bible App for iOS (iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch) got its largest overhaul since its launch. We made available twice as many versions and almost doubled the number of languages. Rick Warren’s Daily Devotional launched, and we encouraged the community to spend time in God’s Word for Easter.

May: Our global flash mob to read the KJV in 400 seconds was so successful that together we read through it… 8 times! A special live webcast celebrated 20 million installs and more than 150 Reading Plans in 10 languages. The brand-new YouVersion Technical Support website launched, and we shared how the community could help.

June: People just like you were reaching others through the Bible App, and another story from the YouVersion community encouraged even more to share. The entire YouVersion experience launched in Simplified and Traditional Chinese. YouVersion users together bookmarked more than 20 million Bible passages.

July: Russian was the next complete YouVersion language launch, and the YouVersion community shared more stories about how the Bible App continued to change lives.

August: The next complete language launch was in Korean. Rewritten from scratch, the all-new Bible App for Windows Phone released with a full feature set comparable to YouVersion’s other major platforms.

September: Brazilian Portuguese became the next language to receive the YouVersion-wide experience, and YouVersion celebrated its fourth anniversary.

October: The Bible App had been installed on more than 30 million unique devices. The Bible App for Java was completely rewritten, bringing its features more in line with YouVersion’s other platforms, and German became the next complete language launch.

November: 7 billion people on Earth represented profound opportunities. Dutch was the tenth complete YouVersion language launch. Joyce Meyer’s Daily Devotional, Promises for Your Everyday Life launched, and a special infographic helped illustrate how much happens across YouVersion during just one minute. A special live webcast covered The Other 16 and YouVersion’s need for more volunteers.

December: YouVersion’s next complete language launch was French. The Bible App appeared in iTunes’ “best-of” Rewind 2011, both for iPhone and for iPad, and the YouVersion community completed 1 million Reading Plans. Our annual Global Share the Bible Day tradition continued.

Thank you for your part in the YouVersion community’s success during 2011. If you compare this year to last year, it’s immediately apparent that the Bible App and the YouVersion community are healthier than ever. And we’re convinced that it’s still just the beginning.

It’s a joy and an honor to get to do what we love… making God’s Word freely available to as many people as possible, no matter where they live or what language they prefer.

Won’t you join us?

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Announcing YouVersion.com and the Bible App—Completely in Korean

Now you can experience both YouVersion.com and the Bible App™ entirely in Korean! While we’ve offered Korean as a language option at YouVersion.com for months, today’s announcement covers more territory. When the YouVersion community formally launches an additional language, what that means is that every single interaction you can have with YouVersion’s tools and community is now available completely in that language. Korean is our sixth total language launch. (English was first, followed by Norwegian, Spanish, Chinese, and most recently, Russian.)

Specifically, here are all the ways that the YouVersion community (that’s you!) can now engage with God’s Word in Korean:

  • Great Korean Bibles. YouVersion’s partners have graciously provided our community with high quality, widely read Korean versions of the Bible, versions like 현대인의 성경, 개역한글, and 새번역. (To pick one, check 한국어 near the bottom of the Versions page or, in the Bible App, click to change your current version and scroll to see the available Korean versions.)
  • Entire User Interface. Thanks once again to our world-changing community of YouVersion volunteers, when you select Korean as the default language on your device—whether on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android, or BlackBerry—the Bible App displays all of your controls and menu options in that language.
  • Communication in Korean. Volunteers now make relevant YouVersion blog posts available in Korean. And when you initiate communication with YouVersion in Korean, your email and other responses will be in Korean as well.
  • Support in Korean. Now, you can even get help with the Bible App and YouVersion.com in Korean! When you have questions, YouVersion volunteers who speak Korean will be happy to assist you.

YouVersion’s vision has always been simple: To help people connect freely with God’s Word, as easily as possible, no matter where they live or what language they speak. If you have friends whose heart language is Korean, please share this great news about YouVersion.com and the Bible App with them. And be sure to come connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. We love hearing from you!

Keep checking back… To all our new Korean speakers: Welcome to our YouVersion family! We’re thrilled to have you join us. Over the next couple of weeks here on our blog, we’ll be providing more details about each individual piece of the complete Korean launch. We’re excited to share with you all that your community has to offer!

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Updated Bible App for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad: Sign in, Sign up, and Support

After the announcement of the Bible App™ version 3.3 release for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, we promised we’d give you specific tips on how you could get the most out of it. First, we covered Bible Reader updates. Today, we’ll tell you about enhancements to Sign in, Sign up, and integrated Technical Support.

Sign up for the Bible App™ Using Facebook

  • Sign in is cleaner and offers more options, such as signing in with either your email address or username.
  • Sign up now lets you sign up for a free YouVersion account using your Facebook login, saving you time:
    • You won’t have to verify your email address, and
    • Your YouVersion account connects automatically to your Facebook account, making it easy to share the Bible App, verses, or Bible plans with your friends.
 
Access Technical Support from Directly Inside the Bible App™

  • Now you can access Technical Support from directly inside the Bible App. When you email Support from within the Bible App, your request automatically includes information that helps our team quickly troubleshoot your issue.
 
View Tech Support Knowledgebase from Inside the Bible App™Also from directly inside the Bible App, you can:

  • View solutions to Frequently Asked Questions from the YouVersion knowledgebase.
  • Watch video tutorials, and
  • See recent tweets on known issues from @YouVersionHelp, YouVersion’s official support account on Twitter.
 
 

 
Still don’t have your Apple device updated to the latest release of the Bible App? What are you waiting for? You can get it right now in the iTunes App Store. And be sure to come back tomorrow to learn all about the brand-new highlighting features and exciting updates to bookmarks! These much-requested, new and updated features promise to make your experience connecting with the Bible through the Bible App richer than ever before.

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YouVersion Support is All-New!

As the next step in our plans to continue improving your support experience with the Bible App™ and YouVersion.com, we’re pleased to announce the launch of the all-new YouVersion Support website. How different is it? Well, if you haven’t been to YouVersion Support lately, then you haven’t seen all the helpful new stuff. You’ll find: Comprehensive answers to Frequently Asked Questions, organized by platform and topic. Video tutorials for common tasks. Live feeds from @YouVersion and @YouVersionHelp. Links to the many ways you can contact Support for help. And comprehensive search.

 

 

As excited as we are about this relaunch, it represents just one piece of a much broader strategy. Our goal is to provide world-class support every bit as good—and even better—than you can receive for products and services that you pay for. But with the YouVersion community growing by literally millions of people every month, welcoming all those new members to our family means we rely heavily on your active participation. We can accomplish so much more when we all work together.

The Bible App is truly a worldwide resource, but most of what we’re presently able to offer is written in English—a fact that doesn’t accurately reflect the demographics of who’s actually using YouVersion tools. If you can help us translate into your language, we’d be honored to have your help. Also, we receive many requests every month that require individual responses. Even when these are short, they really add up. If you’re tech savvy, answering platform-related questions for the Bible App is a great way that you can get involved. (If you don’t know what “platform-related” or “tech savvy” means, probably this volunteer option is not for you.) But don’t let that stop you: Let us know what you can do at http://support.youversion.com/how-can-i-help/.

Although we’re always happy to respond to your requests on Facebook and Twitter, our new YouVersion Support site lets us serve you better, providing answers tailored to your specific needs. Perhaps best of all: It doesn’t limit you to just 140 characters!