Enjoy The Message Offline on Your iPhone

Like The Message translation of the Bible? Now you can read it offline in your Bible app for iPhone/iPod Touch. To get it, you’ll need to have version 2.0 of the Bible app, so go ahead and install it if you haven’t already. Once you do, here’s how to get the offline version:

  • Open the Bible app on your iPhone or iPod Touch (with a wifi connection) and go to the “More” tab.
  • Tap “Settings,” then “Offline Translations,” then scroll to find The Message in the list of available offline translations.
  • Once you’ve selected The Message, tap “Download.” The Message translation should begin downloading immediately. (You’ll see a bar showing you the progress of the download in real-time.)

Now that you have The Message downloaded to your device, you’ll be able to read the Bible anytime and anywhere as long as you have your downloaded translation selected. It’s perfect for when you’re in remote areas with no connection or on airplanes and subways while traveling.

We’d like to extend a special thanks to NavPress for allowing us to offer The Message as an offline translation. Their generosity shows their heart to increase access to the Bible for people around the world.

And don’t forget that several other translations are available offline as well, including the New Century Version, New King James Version, New English Translation, God’s Word Translation, and many more (including several other languages). Just follow the directions above, and you’ll see all your choices.

Thanks for using YouVersion to interact with the Bible!

Updates to YouVersion Groups, Events and Live

Yesterday the YouVersion Team pushed updates to the newly launched Groups and Live areas. For Groups you will now see easy links to go back in and edit your Events after you have set them up. You will also be able to access your Event Dashboard which is where you can view responses to Prayer Requests, Questions and the large screen display for your Polls. And in general you should be able to find your way around better in the Groups and Live areas.

There have also been a number of behind the scenes improvements to help speed up YouVersion and help it scale under all the heavy usage we’ve been getting, especially on Sunday mornings. We are excited for this update as the first of many that are on the way to continue to improve your experience with YouVersion.

Thank you to all the churches and groups that have already been so creative in using YouVersion Live for your events in your community. In fact we would love to see the creativity and innovation you are putting into your Events to share with others in the YouVersion community. You can send us the event link through a mention on Twitter to @YouVersion.

And if you haven’t seen it yet be sure to check out the first in a series of videos on “Why I Love YouVersion.”

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iPhone Bible Update 2.0 Submitted to iTunes Store

An update of the Bible app is on the way! Version 2.0 of the YouVersion iPhone Bible app (Bible) is waiting patiently in line for approval at the iTunes Store. Last week we pushed out an update that included new YouVersion Live functionality and some Twitter features that we’re pretty excited about. The last update was also supposed to include the ability to view The Message as an offline translation. But a couple wires got crossed somewhere in that process that prevented The Message from showing up offline and also caused different translations to disappear offline for some users.

We apologize for the bugs that kept some of you from having access to your translation of choice. This update solves all of those issues, and refines the Bible app and some of the new features launched last week. Specifically here is what this update, version 2.0, includes:

  • The Bible translation “The Message” is available as an offline download.
  • A fix for the bug that caused certain translations to disappear when the Bible app was restarted or rebooted.
  • Several improvements to YouVersion Live Events and detail pages.
  • The addition of a webkit/browser into Bible app, so when clicking on links from within YouVersion Live, it doesn’t require leaving out to Safari.
  • Completion of API implementation across the entire Bible app.
  • Several speed and performance improvements.

In the midst of all the YouVersion Live launch excitement, we also had the pleasure of  connecting with many of you last week during Catalyst and asking you the question, “What do you love about YouVersion?” Go to the YouVersion Facebook Page to see what people had to say and to share your answer!

Blackberry Update 2.0.3 Adds Twitter Features and More!

Blackberry users,

You have probably noticed a number of updates coming to your Bible app over the past couple of weeks. Our developers have been hard at work adding in the new YouVersion Live functionality, squashing bugs and in the most recent update adding the ability to share scripture on Twitter. With all the updates that have come to YouVersion in the last week, we also paid extra attention to detail to make this version feel very polished.

Make sure your Blackberry device has this most recent update which is version 2.0.3. Here are some other items included in this update:

  • When you leave a YouVersion Live event, the message to save notes is better. Pressing save on the dialog takes you to the screen to email your notes.
  • There is a new menu item on the YouVersion Live event screen to go to the edit notes area.
  • YouVersion Live Event description has been removed from the header and added to top of scrolling area.
  • YouVersion Live Event times are now added to the date area of the header.
  • The YouVersion Live Event widget titles should now completely reflect what was entered by the admin of the event.

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Also, be sure to check out the videos and stories we got from Catalyst in Atlanta, GA this past week, to view click here.