Bible App for iPad Gets Highlights and Advanced Bookmarks, Plus More Great New Features for All iOS Devices

You can get Version 3.6 of the Bible App™ for iOS (iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch) right now at the iTunes App Store. Here’s what you’ll find new in this latest release:

  • The Bible App™ for iPad v. 3.6 Advanced HighlightsHighlights and Updated Bookmarks Now on iPad. The advanced highlighting and bookmarking features from iPhone and iPod touch are now available for your iPad! Select individual verses or entire passages, then highlight them in a variety of default colors, or mix your own custom colors. Sync your highlights between YouVersion and other compatible Bible applications. Select one verse or several to bookmark them. You can give your bookmark a name, add a label—even apply a color to it.
  • Reading Plan Search. With more than 190 Bible reading plans to choose from, now, for the first time ever, you can search for specific keywords across all of them. Want a plan about fasting? Search “fast.” Which plans cover “faith,” or “wisdom,” or “prayer”? Find just the right plan for you, faster than ever before.
  • Reading plan daily reminders. When you start a new Bible reading plan, the Bible App will ask if you’d like to set a daily reading reminder on your calendar. It’s a quick, easy way to help yourself remember to spend time with God’s Word every day!
  • Change the Bible App Language. For supported languages, the Bible App has always used your mobile device’s default language. But now, for the first time ever, you can leave your device’s default language as it is, and change just the language used by the Bible App’s interface, menus and buttons. Simply tap Settings (the gear icon), General, Language, and select from Indonesian, Czech, German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Norwegian, Netherlands, Polish, Russian, Romanian, Slovak, Swedish, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Simplified or Traditional Chinese, and Ukranian.
  • Improved Notes Interface. The interface for Notes now more closely resembles how other parts of the Bible App work. Also, you can now tag a Note with a color to help you identify it later, similar to highlights.

The Bible App™ for iPhone v. 3.6 Language Selection The Bible App™ for iPad v. 3.6 Bookmark Options The Bible App™ for iPhone v. 3.6 Notes Screen
We also improved performance and fixed some bugs. Get your upgrade now in the iTunes App Store. Good friends tell their friends about the Bible App—great friends help them install it! And be sure to come connect with the rest of the YouVersion community on Facebook and Twitter. It’s more fun when you’re there!


Get Your Update Now:

If you already have the Bible App installed:

  1. On your Apple device, tap the App Store icon.
  2. When the App Store opens, tap the Updates icon.
  3. Tap Update for the Bible App.
    OR
    Tap Update All.

If this is your first time installing the Bible App:

  1. On your Apple device, tap the App Store icon.
  2. When the App Store opens, tap the Search icon.
  3. Search for “Bible”.
  4. Tap the Bible App from LifeChurch.tv.
  5. Tap the FREE button.

Experience All YouVersion Has to Offer: Completely in German

The Bible App™ Icon (in Deutsch)Today we’re excited to announce the official launch of the German language interface across all of YouVersion, including the Bible App™! While of course the YouVersion.com website has already offered German since February, what we’re sharing today is much more than that. Thanks to the generosity of our publishing partners, and to the passionate dedication of our YouVersion volunteers, now every interaction you have with YouVersion—whether it’s sharing with your friends or engaging with the Bible—you can do entirely in German! German is our ninth complete language, after English, Norwegian, Spanish, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Russian, Korean, and most recently, Brazilian Portuguese.

Here are just a few examples of the many ways that you can now enjoy God’s Word and His people—completely in German:

  • Great German Bibles. Our publishing partners generously provide—for free—high quality, widely read German versions of the Bible for all of us in the YouVersion community. To see a complete list, visit the Versions page and look for “Deutsch.” Or, in the Bible App, select the Bible version you’re using, and you’ll see a long list of other versions, including several excellent ones in German.
  • Entire User Interface. Try selecting German at YouVersion.com or in the Bible App on your mobile device—iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android, or BlackBerry. Now you can display all of your controls, buttons, and menu options in German, all thanks to YouVersion’s worldwide community of amazing volunteers.
  • Communication in German. In the upper right corner of the English language version of our blog, you’ll see a place to select other languages—including Deutsch. You can also go directly to the German language version, where you’ll find articles specifically relevant to YouVersion’s German-speaking users, courtesy once again of translation by YouVersion volunteers. And if you send us an email in German, or post a question on Facebook or Twitter in German, German-speaking volunteers will respond to you—in German!
  • Support in German. Need help with the Bible App or YouVersion.com? If you submit your question in German, German-speaking volunteers trained in YouVersion support will gladly assist you. Even our all-new Tech Support site now offers a German version.

At YouVersion, one simple vision guides everything we do: To help as many people as possible freely, easily engage with God’s Word, no matter where you live or what language you prefer. And you can help—if you have friends whose heart language is German, please share this great news about YouVersion.com and the Bible App with them. Also, please come connect with us on Facebook and Twitter and share your personal YouVersion story!

Just the beginning… To all of our German speaking friends: We are thrilled and honored to welcome you to the YouVersion family. We’ll continue sharing more details about the German language launch over the next few days, right here on our blog. We hope you’ll be as excited as we are about all that your new community has to offer you!

From YouVersion: The Brand New Bible App for Java!

The Bible App™ for Java DashboardAs a mobile platform, Java can reach hundreds of millions of devices, literally all over the world. So to reach the most people possible, we wanted to make version 1.0.1, the latest release of the Bible App™ for Java, the best app for Java mobile devices we’ve ever done.

So we started fresh and completely rewrote it from scratch! The Bible App for Java is back and better than ever, available for immediate download from GetJar. The Bible App for Java can now do almost everything that the Bible App can do on all of our other major platforms. You’ll find significant improvements to its basic presentation, specifically designed to make it much faster and easier to use:

  • Dashboard. The brand new Dashboard Launcher gives you instant access to the features you use most—right from the first screen.
  • Bible Reader. The Bible Reader keeps track of where you left off, returning you when you come back to the last version, book, and chapter you were reading. And it’s all-new, cleaner and faster loading, designed specifically to make it comfortable for you to read for long periods, in any conditions.
  • Notes. Capture your thoughts about verses or entire passages, keeping your notes organized with titles, labels—even colors. Keep private notes for yourself, or share them with friends or the entire YouVersion community.
  • The Bible App™ for Java Reading PlansReading Plans. Take full advantage of the more than 190 Bible reading plans YouVersion has to offer, in 10 languages (so far). Reading plans make it easy for you to read the Bible on a schedule, just a little each day.
  • Bookmarks. Bookmarks are a great way to label individual verses, whether you want to look them up later to share with friends, or just jump quickly to your own favorites.
  • YouVersion Live. Event coordinators use YouVersion Live to help attendees interact with what’s happening onstage. You can follow along with message outlines, take notes, read Bible passages, vote on polls, ask questions, donate, request prayer, and more! Simply look up YouVersion Live events by ZIP code or city.
  • Settings. When you sign in to the Bible App with your free YouVersion account, now you can personalize how you use it, and it remembers your unique settings between uses.
  • Search. Jump quickly to verses or passages based on keywords you enter.

Get your update for the Bible App for Java now. And please come connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. We’d love to hear your YouVersion stories!

The Bible App for Windows Phone Now Offers Audio, Highlights, Easier Reading

You can get the newest release of the Bible App™ for Windows Phone right now at Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Version 2.1 of the Bible App for Windows Phone brings more functionality than ever, adding features and settings specifically designed to help you make the most of the time you spend in God’s Word.

  • The Bible App™ for Windows Phone 2.1 Audio BibleAudio Bibles. For the first time ever on Windows Phone, now you can listen as the Bible App reads to you through streaming audio, no matter where you are or what you’re doing. (Be aware of the data usage plan for your provider or, for best results, use Wifi.) Listen while you drive, work, exercise—even read along! Audio versions are available in several languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese (to name just a few).

How it works: You can tell if the version you’re reading offers audio if it displays a speaker icon. Simply tap the icon to display controls for playing, pausing, and jumping forward and back within the chapter. If you don’t see the speaker icon, tap the current version’s “short code” (the abbreviation at the top). A list of available versions displays. The versions offering audio have a small speaker beside them.
 
 

  • The Bible App™ for Windows Phone 2.1 Color OptionsCustom Highlight Colors. When you sign in to the Bible App on your Windows Phone with a free YouVersion account, you’ll find many of the same features offered by your favorite paper Bible. One great example is highlights. You can use highlights to mark your favorite passages—and even create your own custom highlight colors.

How it works: Select the verse(s) you want to highlight. Tap the rainbow icon to select a custom color. Select your basic color, then slide the shading bar to make it lighter or darker. (A preview displays your custom color as you make adjustments.)
 
 
 
 
 

  • The Bible App™ for Windows Phone 2.1 Reader SettingsEasy Reading. Even on the best mobile devices, sometimes surrounding lighting and screen resolution can interfere with your reading experience. This update of the Bible App for Windows Phone includes tools that help you customize your Reader display for maximum readability. You can change font faces and sizes, and alternate colors between the font and background.

How it works: In the Bible Reader, tap the settings icon (the little gear) to display the viewing controls. Tap the sun icon to make the background white and the text black, or tap the moon icon for white text on a black background. Tap the little “A” to make the font smaller, or the larger “A” to make it bigger. Tap the font name for a list of available fonts, then simply tap the one you want. Try experimenting to find the combination that works best for you. Once you get your view how you want, simply tap the settings icon again to hide the viewing controls.

The latest update for the Bible App on your Windows Phone is available immediately. If you have friends with Windows Phones, please spread the word and let them know, too. Also, we’d love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter and hear your feedback.

The Bible App So Far: 30 Million Installs

30 Million Installs of the Bible App™Just last week, we invited you to celebrate YouVersion.com’s fourth birthday with us. Today, we’d like to share yet another phenomenal milestone from the ever-growing YouVersion community:

The Bible App™ has been installed on
30 million unique devices around the globe.

You read that right. Thirty. Million. (Just for some perspective, that’s more than the current population of the entire nation of Peru!) Of course, 30 million is just one small step toward 1 billion…

And while 30 million installs would be notable by itself, looking at some additional numbers reveals a more complete story. The Bible App and YouVersion.com today offer more than 150 unique versions of the Bible in 45 different languages. And with more than 190 Bible reading plans, it’s simpler than ever to read through topics and devotionals—even the entire Bible! It’s obvious the Word is getting out… Together, the YouVersion community has now read the Bible for more than 11 billion minutes, added more than 30 million bookmarks, and shared more than 1.6 million verses. (To help you visualize what we’re talking about, click the image at the right.)

We’ve never been more excited than we are right now, standing at this remarkable moment in history. Taken together, these numbers clearly show that every day, more and more people, from literally all over the world, are choosing to take their Bibles with them everywhere they go. And if you use the Bible App yourself, then of course you already know why: Because the Bible App makes it easier and faster than ever to engage not just with God’s Word, but with His people. No matter where you are, what you’re doing, or even which of YouVersion’s 45 languages you prefer—your Bible App is right there with you.

If you haven’t already installed the free Bible App on your mobile device, it’s not too late! Get it now on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, HP WebOS, Java, and almost every other mobile platform. If you do have the Bible App, then this milestone is a celebration of you. Thank you for the part you have played in helping get the Bible not just more into your own life, but sharing it with your friends and seeing it touch them too. It’s because of you that literally tens of millions of other people are connecting with the Bible. Together, let’s keep spreading the story of God’s love, one (more) person at a time.