Stories from the YouVersion Billion – What is yours?

Last week YouVersion hit a major milestone: YouVersion users have spent one billion minutes reading the Bible on mobile devices. That’s 19 centuries! It makes me wonder if something like that would have happened so quickly without the Bible being in the pocket of around 3 million people all day, every day.

Although the sheer number (1 billion!) is amazing, the more important factor is that “1 billion” represents real people spending real time reading their Bibles. The stories from those people are moving:

“I have a wife, 3 kids, a full-time job, and I’m the part time (but really operate at full time) worship pastor at a large church. I’ve had to sacrifice a lot of things to make all of these things work, and at times I would drift away from consistently reading the Word. Having YouVersion on my Droid has made an incredible difference in my life, my families life, and my ministry. Thank you so much for doing so much for His Kingdom.”

“Your app has been a Godsend, and led me back to attending church regularly and seeking spiritual help during my more recent trials and tribulations.”

“I have found that I read my bible on exponentially more than ever before as it’s always available anytime, anywhere. I love the fact that I can send text’s that I’m reading by email to my friends/family.”

“I lead an adult Disciple Bible Study at our Church. Having the many translations available on my iPhone makes comparing texts very convenient and aids our study.”

These are only a few of the many, many stories we’ve received from YouVersion users that have seen God work through the Bible on their mobile device. If you have a story of your own, go to http://www.onebillionminutes.com and let us know. We’d love to hear your story.

YouVersion Android Bible App update!

Last week was such a busy week we forgot to let you know about our Android Bible App update > 1.1.4. Here is a list of some of the change log:

  • store the Bible version with bookmarks
  • replaced Bible version selection with native Android widgets (improved speed)
  • replaced settings with native Android preferences
  • fixed force close on screen rotation, and on restarting the application
  • using native Andorid context menu system now to make future application translation easier
  • improved failure handling
  • removed obsolete code and assets to reduce storage footprint
  • improved code for upgrading database schemas and preferences
  • making use of Checkstyle plugin to improve the code
  • fixed random force close on first-time application startup

Most of these were more stability and bug fixes, but know that a big update is in the works. The Android App roadmap includes Log In, Live, Offline, updated Reading Plans, much much more!

What Can 1 Billion Minutes in the Bible Do?

YV-Billions-Blog.jpg

Today we are celebrating people reading their Bible with YouVersion for a total of one billion minutes on a mobile device. Imagine all the life change, encouragement, love, and passion in God that have come from that time spent in the Bible. Come celebrate with us at http://onebillionminutes.com, and to our YouVersion users, thank you for making this milestone happen. You’ve read the Bible in airports, the tube, coffee shops, church services, and countless points between.

Bible App Tops Facebook on BlackBerry

Two days ago, Blackberry App World approved our YouVersion Bible App 2.0.5. This was a huge release since it made the Bible App compatible with the BlackBerry Storm and Storm2. Today, I opened Blackberry App World on the Storm and noticed something very exciting…YouVersion Bible App is a Top 10 Application, even ahead of the powerhouse Facebook.

Bible App Top 10

So, as excited as I am about YouVersion being in the top 10 apps…I am most excited about seeing the Bible being freely distributed on a global scale. Currently, more than 350,000 new mobile installs take place each month globally. Thank you for your support and for telling all your friends about YouVersion. It’s because of you that more and more people are reading the Bible!

Need to download the app? Visit http://youversion.com/download on your mobile device.