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Posts Tagged Bible Software

How Fast Is Your Bible App

Feb 23

Posted by Kevin Purcell in Bible Software, Bible Study, Digital Bible Study, Technology, iphone | No Comments

Speed is everything. Well, not always. In fact I don’t really think that how fast a Bible app opens on the iPhone or iPod Touch is that big a factor in judging the quality of a Bible app so long as it opens in a decent amount of time (less than 6-10 seconds) and does actually open. However, with the recent upgrade of OliveTree, the speed at which the app opens has become a bragging point. OliveTree says they cut the time it takes to open the app in half. So I got curious and tested my four favorites (Laridian PocketBible, Logos, MantisBible and OliveTree)  plus YouVersion since it is so popular. Just a note, the only reason I don’t count YouVersion as one of my favorites is that it really is only a Bible reading app. There are no commentaries or other recourses in it. Just so you can try it out, what I did was open each app cold – which is to say that I had not opened it previously. Apps will open faster if they were open before since the iPhone OS leaves some programs in memory. So to ensure this, I actually rebooted my iPhone by pressing and holding the power button on the top and the home botton just below the screen. It gives you a red slider and you slide it into position and the phone shuts down.  Press and hold the power button on the top of the device to start it back up after about a minute. Then I made sure that it was fully started and began by first opening the each Bible app first cold (never opened before) and then I closed it by pressing the home button and reopened it.  I timed just counting 1-1,000, 2-1,000. I know it is not that scientific but its good enough for this kind of test.

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.

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It’s a Pleasure Doing Business With You

Feb 20

Posted by Kevin Purcell in Bible Software, Digital Bible Study, Technology | No Comments

In a world where customer service is pitiful in most industries, it is nice that one industry in which I am a frequent customer has great customer service. I’m talking about the Bible Software industry.

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.

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iPad and Bible Study

Jan 30

Posted by Kevin Purcell in Bible Software, Bible Study, Digital Bible Study, Sermons, Technology, ipad, iphone | 2 Comments

I was one of those Geeks that watched and wondered as Steve Jobs announced the new Apple iPad (worst name of what looks to be a nice product ever). I am an early adopter Tech geek. So I will be wanting one of these devices as soon as they are released.

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.

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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.

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Nice iPhone App Comparison

Jan 12

Posted by Kevin Purcell in Bible Software, Bible Study, Digital Bible Study, Technology, iphone | No Comments

Dave Dunkin, a developer of the Logos iPhone app, created a very nice and very fair comparison chart of all the major iPhone Bible apps. The reason this is significant is that he is extremely honest and fair when judging his own app. He don’t just glow about the Logos app. The extensive chart compares Logos, BibleReader from OliveTree, PocketBible from Laridian, YouVersion, Paul Avery Bible and Mantis.

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

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Creating Content for iPhone Bible Apps

Jan 5

Posted by Kevin Purcell in Bible Software, Bible Study, Digital Bible Study, Technology, iphone | No Comments

In a recent post I commented that PocketSword was the only app that I knew of that would allow you to create books for your use in an iPhone Bible app. That is sort of true, but not entirely accurate. Let me explain.

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.

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PocketSword for iPhone

Dec 31

Posted by Kevin Purcell in Bible Software, Bible Study, Digital Bible Study, Technology, iphone | 4 Comments

PocketSword is a recently released iPhone and iPod touch Bible app sponsored by the CrossWire Bible Society. It is great for those who only want public domain books. It is also the only iPhone app I know of that allows a user to create his or her own module using the format sponsored by CrossWire’s SWORD Project. The project’s purpose is to produce Bible software for as many platforms as possible using a “common technology.” The iPhone app is now available in v. 1.0 in the App Store.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Logos iPhone App More Content Available

Dec 15

Posted by Kevin Purcell in Bible Software, Bible Study, Digital Bible Study, Technology, iphone | 2 Comments

The Logos iPhone app is decent. One of the limitations I complained about in my review was the lack of content you have in the PC app available on the iPhone. This is not the fault of Logos, but still a limitation. However, things got better today as more of my content showed up. I am reading (or have read through) John MacAurthur’s The Glory of Heaven in the desktop app. But it had not be available on the iPhone app. But it is now. Frustratingly, as far as I can tell, there is no list of available content anywhere. Would be interested in knowing if I am wrong and where such a list is.

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WordSearch 9 New Features

Dec 9

Posted by Kevin Purcell in Bible Software, Bible Study, Technology | No Comments

As you learned if you read my blog everyday, WordSearch 9 is now available. There are not a huge number of new features, but unlike some other software companies that have done a radical rewrite, WS9 is an incremental upgrade. I said in my first post that it felt more like a point release than a full number upgrade. Maybe WordSearch 8.1 or 8.5 would not sell as well.

But while it may feel like that, some of the subtle new things are much appreciated and make the program better. I am please so far and think that it is worth the $39.95 I paid for my upgrade.

Two of the new features are the target icon (see red arrow below) on the toolbar and the bigger toolbar buttons (see icons in highlight box below).

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The buttons are designed to be bigger and easier to see on high res monitors. Also for lower res eyes (which now that I’m 40 I find is happening to me).  The target icon is designed to make that Bible the target window for all Bible reference links. If you have a dictionary and a commentary open along with the ESV, HCSB and KJV, you can click this icon and make it the default target for all Bible references in your commentary or Bible dictionary. This happens even if that Bible is not the currently active window. Click a link in the commentary and even if the KJV is showing in the Bible window, it will open the Bible window to your Bible that has the target button engaged. I clicked on it in the ESV but then changed to the KJV. I clicked Isaiah 9:6 in the New American Commentary and it switched the Bible window from KJV to ESV. Nice touch! It lets you change the default Bible quickly without going into a settings window from the menu.

Sadly, another new feature is instability. For the first time I can ever remember WordSearch crashed on me. Hopefully this will not be a harbinger of things to come.

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WordSearch 9 Available – First Impressions

Dec 8

Posted by Kevin Purcell in Bible Software, Bible Study, Digital Bible Study, Technology | No Comments

I just learned that WordSearch 9 is now available. This will be an interesting upgrade with Logos 4 and QuickVerse 2010 both being released at the same time. The race is on to get the holiday dollars from Digital Bible students everywhere.

I am currently downloading the upgrade and will be installing and playing with it later today.  For some info in the interim please see the WordSearch 9 New Features Page. It has a list of the new features and a lot of videos so you can see it in action as well.

UPDATE: I finally got it downloaded – very slow!! And I installed it to my desktop system at church. During the install there was a hiccup as it was importing data from v. 8 it had an error. I accidentally clicked it so I cannot tell you want the error was. So the import function stalled. I exited it and started WS9 and immediately there was an update. That is both good and bad. The bad news is needed an update already. The good news it needed it and got it already. So not sure what it fixed but good thing they were on top of it right away.

Sadly, I was not a beta tester for this product, so I am observing image everything for the first time in WS9. The startup screen looks only cosmetically different from v. 8. Clicking enter the library reveals a startup tip window telling you to go check out the videos. I suspect some of these are the videos from the page linked above. My first gut reaction was, “What’s new"?” It looks the same. I know there are some big differences, but at first it is not apparent unless you have the v. 8 interface memorized.

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WordSearch 9 Interface

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WordSearch 8 Interface

Notice that now the Aero color scheme is supported. The toolbar is bigger in v. 9 and the buttons a little more subdued in color. From just the interface look and feel, this seems like a minor upgrade. Not sure if it is a full number update or more like a 8.1 or 8.5 kind of update. But I have not yet played with the new tools listed in the above link. Look for more later.

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How Much Should Bible Software Cost

Dec 8

Posted by Kevin Purcell in Bible Software, Bible Study, Digital Bible Study, Technology | No Comments

Nothing!

Next question…

Now let’s wake up and return to reality. There are some great, free Bible software solutions. The most popular is e-Sword. But if you want modern translations, then you likely will have to pay even with e-Sword. So how much should you have to pay if you want more than just public domain Bible study tools?

The more commercial products range from $30-$90 for a very basic product. Yet, you can also pay thousands of dollars for extensive, scholarly libraries from companies like Logos or WordSearch. These are very good applications that will help the average Christian read, study, and learn about the Bible and its message while offering Bible scholars the advanced tools they need. If you get one of the inexpensive collections of these programs you may later want to add some books to help further you study. To do so you will usually have to pay.

So, how much should Bible software cost? Or more accurately, how much should publishers charge for their books in electronic format?

I have an Amazon Kindle. Typically, books are cheaper on the Kindle than in hard copy format – or as I like to call it, dead tree edition (not because I am a big environmentalist extremist, but because it’s just funnier). I think this is fair since it costs Amazon far less to store, ship and distribute electronic books than it does dead tree editions. Shouldn’t all ebooks be cheaper than the dead tree editions?

Digital editions of Bibles and Biblical resources is not as simple as sending a Word file, text document or PDF of the books over the Internet. In Bible software they have to tag it, add hyperlinks to Bible references, among other things. This can be labor intensive. Some are just text. But the better Bible software engines do more to the book than they do to a dead tree edition.  So it takes extra effort to make a Bible software copy of a book and it has added functionality. So why not make it cost more? Digits do not cost any money to reproduce after the original file has been produced. With a book, there is a cost with every copy of that book that is sold. The cost is tied up in the actual paper and ink, the storage while the book is waiting to be sent to the customer or the store, and the cost of the sending.  With an ebook you simple copy it to a new location.  As the cost of storage plummets, we are talking pennies or fractions of a penny. The Bible software company only has to have enough copies on a hard drive somewhere to ensure it is backed up safely. Every time a consumer buys that book, they just make a copy and either send it across the Internet or put it on a cheap storage medium, like a DVD or flash drive.  Each copy of the Bible software and the dozens or thousands of books costs pennies to dollars in raw material.  Add a little bit for the cost of the person who is taking the order (if there is such a person) and the other overhead of supporting that program, and you have a minimal cost compared to dead tree books. So, instead of costing them more because of the extra work on the front end, the ebook actually costs much less to produce. Therefore, instead of being more or even equal in price, the ebook should be cheaper than the dead tree book.

There is another issue to consider. With ebooks there is a far greater risk than there is with dead tree books. What if the company goes out of business or stops distributing the program. I have Zondervan’s Pradis version of Expositor’s Bible Commentary. After this year, they won’t be selling it. And soon they will not be supporting it. The argument could be made that I can always use that program and the books contain in it. But what if the next version of Windows is incompatible with the current program? I will be stuck either maintaining a current generation Windows PC just to use that program or I will lose it. Of course Zondervan can help alleviate my fears and those of others by giving us a free copy of the Logos versions. But that is unlikely given their track record.

For two reasons stated above – the added risk of ebooks and lower cost of producing them – Bible software companies should sell their Bibles and resources at a reduced rate.  The good news, most do. But the point is all should.

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