accessible bibles for an IPhone

By dan, 3 January, 2013

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hi All, I need an accessible bible for the IPhone. For example, one that will allow for searching for a verse or specific book in old or new testament etc. Does nayone know of one?

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Comments

By Cherokee Eagle on Thursday, January 3, 2013 - 15:13

Hi, There are a couple that I can think of of the bat, and both are free. Mantis Bible Study is a good one. It is very accessible and lets you do things like write notes, make bookmarks, etc. It does allow searching, as you requested. The only draw-back is that while you can add features and other Bible versions, they are rather expensive. Youversion is another. It has quite a lot of features, though they want you to have an account for some of them. It is quite accessible, though one button is unlabeled. Finally, if you wish to have a concordance, Strongs Concordance, which is in the AppleVis directory, is a nice one. It does cost *5, but that is the cheapest I have ever seen, as far as one that is accessible. I think BlueLetter Bible is supposed to be accessible, but I haven't played around with it much. Hope this enough to get started. Cherokee

By John W. hess on Thursday, January 3, 2013 - 15:16

try bible by life church: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bible/id282935706?mt=8

By Larry Thacker Jr. on Thursday, January 3, 2013 - 15:19

The best of the two I have tried is simply called the Bible from YouVersion. I would look no further for an iOS app. Bible Gateway also has an app that is almost as good. It has a few areas where accessibility is not as good and lacks an easy way to move between chapters once you have a passage open. YouVersion does a good job of synchronizing with it's web site, but the web site is not as accessible as it could be. Bible Gateway's web site is better, but there isn't really any integration with the app that I am aware of. Links to both are available in the iOS app review section of this site.

By Esther on Thursday, January 3, 2013 - 18:00

Just wanted to say that the Life Church Bible app linked in the post by John Hess is the same as the YouVersion Bible app that is mentioned in the last two other posts. Furthermore, while all versions of the Bible are not always available for off-line reading, YouVersion is making the NIV version available as a free download within this app for a limited period of time from January 1 through January 21. They've done this only twice before in the previous 3+ year period to my knowledge. So I would get this download before the January 21st cut-off date if you're interested in it. And anyone else who has the app, but does not have the NIV download for offline reading should also get this during the free download period.

In order to download the NIV version or any other version of the Bible for offline reading with the YouVersion Bible app by LifeChurch.tv, you need to have created an account and be signed into it. If you never created an account, but just went ahead and double tapped the "start reading" button, you can change your preferred version for reading through a network connection, but you won't be able to download that version for offline reading.

  1. Assuming that you have page navigation controls showing on the iPhone or iPod Touch screen where you are reading, double tap the button in the top right corner that identifies the current version (e.g., "NIV" if that's your selection, or "KJV" if you're using the default selection for the app). If there are no page controls displayed, such as buttons for "menu", the chapter identification, and the bible version at the top of the screen, and buttons for "search", "bookmark", "previous chapter", "next chapter", "audio settings", and "settings" at the bottom of the screen, then do a double split tap by touching the center of the screen with one finger while double tapping with another finger to toggle the page controls on.
  2. Double tapping the version button in the top right corner should bring up a screen with a "Versions" heading. Flick right through a list of "Recently Used" versions listed in chronological order.  If you've been reading the NIV version, it should appear first as "selected, NIV New International Version, audio enabled", and a further flick right takes you to the "Download, NIV" button.  Otherwise, this will be the KJV version, and continuing to flick right will give you a list of other English language versions in alphabetical order. (For versions in other languages, double tap the "English" button and select a different language.). If a version is available for download, the second flick will show a download button that you can double tap.
  3. Double tapping a version's download button will bring up a screen titled "Offline Version" with the name of your selected version and a "Download" button. At this point, if you aren't signed in you'll be prompted with a screen to either "Sign In" or "Sign Up".  You could also have double tapped the "Menu" button and flicked to the "Profile" button to sign in, then flicked back to the "Bible" button to return to your reading.
  4. You'll be on a screen that lets you monitor your download progress, with button options to cancel the download in progress or return to the "Versions" screen.

Be aware that some functions, such as the audio reading of the version, only work through an active network connection.  You'll be able to read and navigate the offline version text with VoiceOver, but not with the recorded audio voice.

HTH.  Here's the link to the support page's instructions for downloading offline versions:

http://support.youversion.com/41-how-to-download-a-bible-for-offline-reading/