Here are my results.

PocketBible opened up to HCSB cold in 7 seconds. It reopened in less than 3 seconds.

OliveTree opened up to ESV cold in 4 seconds. It reopened in less than 2 seconds.

Logos opened to the Home screen (cannot open directly to a Bible) in less than 5 seconds. There was no difference when reopening. This is probably due to the fact that it must contact the Logos server.  I was testing using Wi-Fi.

MantisBible opened to the ESV cold in just under 5seconds.  It reopened in just over 3 seconds.

YouVersion opened to NET cold in 4 seconds. It reopened in 5 seconds. I downloaded the translation so that I’d be opening an offline version.

My conclusion is that while OliveTree is one of the fastest, it is not so much faster that it should be a factor in app quality. In fact, unless I notice a program taking a very long time to open, I would never even mention this in future reviews of Bible apps for the iPhone. Finally, since Logos has to contact the Logos server except when you have your phone in airplane mode, it will take longer if you have a slower connection. Most of the time Wi-Fi will be the fastests with 3G next followed by Edge. Sometimes when I am on Edge, Logos’ app is very slow to open. The iPhone OS gives an app 30 seconds to open. If it fails to open in that amount of time, then it will kill the app making it look like it is crashing. Sadly, on Edge this as caused problems when opening Logos’ app. It MantisBible used to have this problem, but they fixed it. I’ve never had this problem with OliveTree or PocketBible. And YouVersion will always need an Internet connection to be used effectively.

From PC applications to iPhone apps, I have installed software from about 10 different companies.  And nearly every one of them does a really good job of supporting their products. I was thinking about this so I thought I’d give out some kudos via my blog.

1. Phone Support – A hold time is not unusual in software support. Hold times over an hour are often common. But I’ve never been on hold more than about 10-15 minutes. This is my least used method of support, but nearly every time I have had to call a company for support they have been friendly and helpful, often bending over backwards to do a good job. Recently I called Logos about an account issue. They’ve had some struggles with very fast growth and as a result less than ideal phone support (long hold times). But my experience was very good. A few months ago I was installing Bibleworks and had to call about a very unusual problem that 99% of the population would not face. But they handled it quickly and were more than friendly/helpful. Over the years I’ve talked on the phone with others and never been disappointed.

2. Email Support – If you don’t hear back in less than 24 hours on weekdays and by the end of Business Monday, then you are getting bad support. I’ve never had to wait longer than that except in rare  circumstances. Usually it has been a person instead of just an automatic response with canned FAQ answers. When it has been a canned response it was just to say, “We got your email and will handle it soon.” Then within a few hours I did.

3. Online Support – A good company will have online support with updates to the software (if updating is not built in), FAQs so I can help myself quickly, and a Forum where users or company people can help. When they do have Forums they will be busy with lots of people helping and answering questions quickly.  There are only a couple of Bible software companies that I have used that don’t have good online support. Some of them have such great forums that I go daily and have even developed online friends via these support forums.

4. Social Media Support – It is cool that I can send a Tweet via Twitter or a message via Facebook and someone from the company will get back to me. Also, the best companies will Tweet suggested tips, new resources, and will offer discounts to Twitter and Facebook users.

5. Training – Some Bible programs are so advanced that a simple Help menu or manual is not enough. Good companies offer online videos and maybe even training sessions in your area. This is the least likely area of support for Bible software companies. But many are doing a good job of this.

In a future Christian Computing Magazine article, I might just test some of the most popular programs and apps in these five areas and see how they stack up. From my personal experience, I expect to be very pleased.

Second, even intermediate (which is likely where I would fit) users will learn. He does a good job of showing lots of undocumented tricks and keystrokes. The way he has you follow along on your own computer (or a borrowed one if you don’t have a laptop to bring) forces you to learn the time saving keyboard shortcuts. I will always use them saving me lots of time.

Finally, if all you did was customize the way he suggests, it would likely be worth the fee. He shows you how to do some time saving customization. I also ordered the advanced manuals and his self published book about sermon preparation. I look forward to learning more. I really hope that I will get to hear him preach some time as I am sure it would be a great experience.

If you want to attend a Camp Logos, you can do so for $225. The schedule of upcoming camps is on the MP Seminars site. When you go, you will have two days of training. You will get a seminar syllabus with information about what you are learning. Bring your laptop or rent one of theirs for $15.  The Camp Logos I is an overview of the program and how to use the basic and a look at some of the advanced features. Camp Logos II delves deeper into the advanced features including language study. While there you will hear what Moe suggests as some of the best Logos books to buy and even gives discounts.

I hope to be able to go to a Camp Logos II sometime soon. I wouldn’t mind doing the Camp Logos Cruise to Alaska in June. Sadly, I cannot.

Finally, let me say a big thanks to Central Baptist Church in Henderson, NC the host of the seminar. They provided lunch for a reasonable fee as well as drinks and snacks for the break times each day.

Here is a quick video from Moe on Camp Logos

Camp Promo from MP Seminars on Vimeo.

They’re super into the sharing thing: "Think of ways people might want to use your application with others. Expand your thinking to include both the physical sharing of a single device and the virtual sharing of data."

As I read that I thought again about the thing I am most excited about when it comes to using the new iPad – Bible study.  How could developers of Bible study apps incorporate more “sharing” so that we could take advantage of the “application with others”? Already there is some social network built into a few of my favorite Bible apps on iPhone/Touch. YouVersion is probably the best at this with their community based app that can be used by people together in church or together commenting and sharing about the app. My problem is I don’t like the YouVersion’s selection of content or the interface. I also really don’t like only being able to use it online, although you can now download a number of Bibles. While it may be the most downloaded app, it is not more favorite and I don’t have it installed.

Of my favorite Bible apps, Logos can post to Facebook and Twitter from within the app. You can also email verses from within Logos. But there is no two way interaction. Olive Tree syncs notes with Evernote, so I guess there could be some do it yourself interaction there.  Neither Laridian PocketBible nor MantisBible have any social interaction at all.

Imagine, if someone would really jump on this with some really useful social interactivity. I could imagine a Bible app that …

• Let’s people share reading plans by marking them to be shared between devices and posted to social networking sights
• Highlighting and other mark-up that is shared in real time. A pastor or Bible study leader wants everyone to look at the word “perish” in John 3:16 so in social networking mode, everyone’s Bible app would sync to the same place (John 3:16) and the word “perish” would be highlighted. Then a note he had already added the word would pop up on everyone’s device with the same content saying “perish means to destroy yourself. God is not responsible for our perishing; we are.” I could then tap a spot in the pop up to save it to my mark-ups or just let it go away once the social networking session is finished.
• What if I had a book on my device that I wanted others to see while we are studying together – like TWOT as we look up an Old Testament Hebrew word. They might have access to TWOT, but for this session they can see it temporarily during the study. There would also be a link somewhere on the other person’s screen giving him/her the opportunity to purchase this book either now or later. This would be a good way to legally share content either temporarily or permanently and would give a revenue stream to the software maker.
• Like YouVersion, it would be nice to have a “wall” where we could post comments or sermon notes so that anyone searching that version could access the public content. There could also be a collaborative way to create content together from within the program that is later searchable.

These are just a few ideas. What would you like to see in this kind of app. I know that some of the Bible app producers read this sight so you can speak to them via this post and comments.

As I watched, the first thought that I had was what a valuable tool for Bible study out and around this will be. Currently, I have a very heavy HP laptop. It has a huge 12 cell batter which allows me to sit in a coffee shop or the bread place near me for five or more areas not tethered to the power company. It is nice, but also heavy. I’d love to go lighter and though about a netbook. But those tiny keyboards are horrible for a ham fisted guy like me. But an iPad (ugh! – I hate that name) might do the trick. I don’t know yet.

But while my favorite Bible study apps will run on it out of the box, there are going to have to be some improvements to allow me to do full-time Bible study on it. Maybe these will never take place. But here is what I see as the most important improvements needed.

 
Logos iPhone App Running in Ipad

1. Since there is no multi-tasking (the ability to switch from the Bible study app to a word processor and back without closing one to open the other) there needs to be two things. First, there needs to be a good word processor in the app. I’m not talk MS Word quality but MS Works quality or even less. Maybe something as good as Notes with formatting and styles and footnoting.  I won’t likely leave my content there, but I want to be able to write my sermon or Bible study in the app. When I am done, I can export it or copy/paste it into something like Docs To Go or the word processor Apple has created for the iPad. Second, there must be the option to open the app exactly as I left it. This is not a big deal for most of the current Bible study apps for iPhone/iPod Touch. But one or two do not remember your lost location. The Logos iPhone app always loads to what I call there ad page. It contains your Reading Plan as well as announcements from the company. But if I am studying in a commentary and have to exit Logos to write in my word processor, I want to quickly go back to that spot I was studying before.
2. Split Screen view at least. With more screen real estate to work with, there is no good reason not to have a split screen view with one book open in one half and the other open in the other half. This is already possible in some apps, but not many.

I would love to hear other ideas. I will add good ones to this list.

Check it out at Dave’s Blog over at the rabble.rule blog.

PocketSword lets you create books and then install them using special instructions on their web site. That really distinguishes it from the other major iPod Bible vendors. One of our readers reminded me that Laridian has a program called Book Builder that lets you create your own books. The $29 version will let you create books for some platforms, but not for the iPhone. However, their Pro version for $99, does let you create books that you can then submit to Laridian and have them host the book on their servers, making them available to whomever you choose. So, for example, I could create a book of all my sermons and let them host it and make it available for free to anyone who has the iPhone app from Laridian. So, this does make it possible although not for free. The hosting is free but you have to buy the Book Builder. Not sure how hard this is, but at least it is possible.

If you know of another iPhone Bible app that allows you to create books or translations of the Bible for use on their app, I would love to know about it and will pass it on to our readers.

The app is free and has a lot of free content available for download. It comes with the KJV (with Strong’s, but at this point the Strong’s info is not displayed) and Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary installed. But you can add other Bibles and commentaries as well from within the app.

The interface, as you can see is very simple. You open the app and across the bottom there are five navigational buttons. Each takes you to a different part of the program. You can read the currently open Bible, the currently open commentary, or tap the module button to open a different Bible or commentary.  Currently, that is all that PS has available – Bibles and Commentaries. Other Bible apps let you read books, look up words in dictionaries, etc. The number of modules available is extensive if all you want are free, public domain books. The only modern translations available were the English Standard Version and the New English Translation. The rest are public domain books. Users of the other CrossWire Sword Project applications for Linux, Windows, MAC or other PDA will be happy. Also if you are an e-Sword (unrelated to the SWORD Project) user, then you will likely not miss the modern works. I do so PocketSword will never be more than just a curiosity to me.

Navigating through the Bible is simple. You can either tap the arrow buttons on the top to take you from chapter to chapter. Or you can tap the reference button which reveals the very unique iPhone scrolling selector. I personally prefer a bingo style Book, Chapter, Verse selector as is available in many of the other iPhone apps. But the scrolling style selector works.

As I mentioned above, there are many available resources. To get them you will have to download and install them. This is a simple process from within the app. Select More on the bottom right and then Downloads. There will be a list of CrossWire sites available (likely two at this point) with a list of all the available modules. Try the first one and you will see Biblical Texts and Commentaries. Tap one and you will see a long list. There are dozens of Bibles in languages I never new existed. I found the Ancient Greek section and downloaded Westcott and Hort’s Greek text of the NT. And then went into the English texts to find ESV, NET, and a couple of others. Downloading takes just a short time on a fast connection. When it is finished and installed you can then open that text to read offline.  I then got a couple of commentaries including JFB, Barnes, the NET Notes and others. Make sure you check out the second CrossWire server too. There were a few different works there not available on the first.

The preferences in PS are simple. You can change the Font Size and Style. You can also switch to a night mode with dark background and light text. The app has a lock to keep it from going into landscape mode when reading in bed. You can display text in a verse per line mode or paragraph mode. You can also show words of Christ in red letter in some translations.

There are few frills like notes, devotional tracking, syncing, dual pane view. But you can add bookmarks.

The PocketSword app is a nice Bible and commentary reader. It is not much more. Unless you are looking for public domain books, I would look at one of the more advanced tools available. But due give it a download and test since it is free.

One thing that PS has that no one else does right now is the give you the ability to create and load your own content.  To do so you will have to jump through a lot of hoops. See the PocketSword web site for instructions. The process does not look like a minor affair. You have to create a specially formatted Zip file in the CrossWire format. You then load it on your device through a WebKit enabled browser. Safari and Chrome work but the site says that Firefox does not and they have not tried it on IE. You connect your device via wifi and go through your browser and then open the app on the device and go into a special mode from within the preferences called Module Maintainer Mode.

UPDATE: Just to clarify, when I say that no one else lets you create resources for their app, I am talking about on the iPhone. Laridian does have a book builder that is available for $99.00. According to Craig Rairdin of Laridian, they will let you host your books if you use the Pro version to create it. So, Laridian does give you an option to create and load books on the iPhone.

If you want to use the app and get help, not only check out the site but also the user forum. The are not very active yet, but if the app takes off I am sure they will be.