My March column for Christian Computing Magazine came out today. In it I discuss the sad state of affairs for Bible software for Windows 8 and Windows RT. Of course older software should run on Windows 8 installed on an Intel compatible PC, but ARM versions of Windows RT won’t work with regular Windows software that ran just fine on Windows 7 and earlier.
The Bible app situation for Windows RT embarrasses Christian fans of the new platform. People who want to do serious Bible study on the new Microsoft mobile OS will have to settle for simple reading apps or go online for their advanced study to places like Logos’s Biblia (http://www.biblia.com) or My Study Bible’s online site (http://www.mystudybible.com). Yes I know there are other options, but none of them gives me what these two can. If I’m wrong, please let me know (@kapurcell on Twitter).
To update what I wrote in my article, I received an email from one major mobile Bible software app maker that they currently have a beta for Windows RT and it should show up soon. So stay tuned and I’ll share more as soon as I can. Not sure if I am at liberty to share about this beta yet.
Also, a link in my article had a typo. Biblia.com should read that instead of Biblical.com.
In this second episode of the Digital Bible Blast we cover a few things. Here are the show notes that go along with this episode.
Story One – Preaching Workflow
We cover the steps for writing sermons using a Mac and then getting those sermon notes on an iPad using the Pages app from Apple on the iPad. It amounts to writing in Pages on the Mac ($19.99) and then saving to iCloud and opening the sermon notes in Pages on the iPad ($9.99).
Laridian announced that they made PocketBible available on the Windows Phone platform. Get it for free and $6.99 for the advanced features.
Story Four – iOS Bible App Updates
A few Bible apps received updates. The biggest came from YouVersion which added support for iPhone 5′s larger screen and the inclusion of video clips from The Bible miniseries from History Channel, the Jesus film and the Lomo Project as well as the KJV included in the download. Other app updates include:
Olive Tree Bible
e-Sword
MantisBible
Story Five – More Logos News
Morris Proctor, the official Logos Bible Software trainer posted about the new features available in Logos 5 to coincide with the free barebones version of the Logos 5 engine becoming available for download. Check out the post to see what comes new in Logos 5.
They also started their March Madness campaign Vote for favorite authors and save money on books based on the outcome of the competition. They’re now in round 2 with a 30% discount.
Morris Proctor explains what’s new on Mar 4 on Logos Blog
Free engine update available
Beta has new Notes editing engine that should improve things a lot
The first episode of the Digital Bible Blast kicks off with news about Laridian PocketBible for Android, the ChromeBook Pixel and using it for Bible study, online Bible study sites and a list of the latest iOS Bible app updates.
Show Notes
Here’s the show notes for episode 001.
Story 1 – Laridian’s PocketBible for Android
Laridian’s PocketBible for Android hit the 1.0 milestone last week. Listeners can get it in the Google Play store for free. It’s a good Bible app on Android.
Story 2 – ChromeBook Pixel for Bible Study
Google announced the ChromeBook Pixel, a high-end Chromebook for $1,299. It’s a ridiculous computer considering it only runs Chrome, an OS that boots into the Chrome browser. Learn more from GottaBeMobile.com.
Why not get a MacBook Air and get better hardware for the same price that also runs OSX. Even a nice Windows 8 touch screen notebook is a better option.
Bible students will not enjoy using a ChromeBook, since it only runs Chrome OS, essentially just a web browser (see video below). Bible websites offer some nice online study tools when needed in a backup way, but we’d never recommend it for full-time Bible study.
Story 3 – Online Bible Study Sites
If users must use a ChromeBook, then here’s a couple of great sites for online study. Logos puts many of their books accessible via mobile apps on their site Biblia.com. It’s a dumbed down Logos for the web.
Lifeway and WORDsearch offer a smaller percentage of their library via MyStudyBible.com. It’s a nice site but needs a greater number of books with sync to a person’s WORDsearch library.
Future Episodes
We like making this podcast. We’d like to make it better. Send us your news, questions and story ideas. You can comment below or email us at dbbcast@kp.ly.
My latest Christian Computing Magazine departs a bit from Bible software to talk about a service that I’ve come across from RightNow Media called RightNow Traning. Read all about it in this month’s edition.
Readers can enjoy the article in one of two ways. Either just download my column in PDF format or get the whole magazine and read through each article also in PDF format.
You can get a free subscription to the magazine so that we deliver it to your inbox each month. Do that a Christian Computing Magazine.
If you want to help out with an upcoming article, let me know your feelings about using Windows RT tablets for Digital Bible Study.
Laridian started work on PocketBible for Android a long time ago releasing pre-release versions for use along the way. They finally hit the 1.0 stage and now sit at version 1.01 with the tools PocketBible users expect only now on Android.
Here’s one reviewer’s take on the latest version:
Laridian broke ground in mobile Bible apps a long time ago with versions for the Pocket PC and Palm OS. They also pioneered Bible apps on iOS. Unfortunately, it took them a little longer than the other Bible app makers to jump on the Android train.
PocketBible for Android works much like other versions giving users a simple interface without a lot of glitz. That’s a good thing in this case.
PocketBible uses the screen scrolling mode of navigation in addition to tapping the go to button that lets the user jump to a specific place in the Bible. In fact, if a user wants, they can scroll from Genesis 1 all the way to the end of Revelation. We’re not sure why anyone would want to do this, but you can.
Better than scrolling all the way through the Bible, the app scrolling moves along swiftly and smoothly. Compared to some other apps I’ve used, PocketBible on Android scrolls much faster.
The user doesn’t need an Internet connection to just read the Bible or search for content. PocketBible’s not the only app to do this, but it is a welcome feature for those who can’t connect 24/7.
The app comes free from the Google Play store. Get add-on books from within the app or better yet go to Laridian and sign up for an account and buy add ons directly. Then, log into the account on the app and download all of your books.
At first download the user will get plenty of free content to test the app before investing in the more up to date books available. Laridian’s library of books doesn’t match bigger companies like Logos, WORDsearch or Olive Tree, but they give just the right kinds to make the app useful to 90% of the Bible reading world. If you need more scholarly works, check it out. We think you might find it a little wanting.
Like the other PocketBible apps, the Android version lets users read and search the Bible. Uses can study in more than one book open at a time. It also includes highlights and notes. These all sync to their servers so a user can use their own personal markups on a phone, tablet and on a Window PC via the desktop software.
Laridian head Craig Rairdin joined the inaugural Christian Computing Hall of Fame deservedly so. PocketBible for Laridian shows why he deserves his membership. He proved himself long before he even started Laridian with QuickVerse, but we’re glad he’s still creating new stuff for mobile digital Bible students.
