This month I discuss the Accordance Bible app for iPad and iPhone in my monthly column for Christian Computing Magazine. Go check it out for free at the magazine website or view just the article in PDF here.
To get the app check out their site and find the link to the app store.
In the article I discuss some of the new features and what they did right and what they could improve in this update.
For those want to check out Accordance 10, the best shot is to download it from the Mac App Store for $49.99 which includes $49.99 of credit for an upgraded package. In other words, downloaders will get a nice discount on a larger package.
The previous version was available, but only a more expensive $200 version. This makes entry easier with a lower threshold. On their blog the listed som differences between the Mac App Store version and the regular version purchased directly from Accordance. (see it below quoted from their blog)
The key difference is that you get iCloud from the app store which will possibly sync between machines in a future release. Also they don’t offer discounts for full-time students, ministers or teachers.
The direct version might offer syncing via a Dropbox. The rest works like usual.
They also said the following:
Once you register your Mac App Store purchase, you can receive a $49.99 credit towards the purchase of a larger Collection on our website. If you do not automatically see the credit in your cart, be sure to send the order to manual processing with a note requesting the credit and our sales team will adjust the price before charging your card. We appreciate your patience as we process the order
Does your Bible study solution offer all the tools needed to do good Bible exposition so you can preach the Bible using an expository style? That’s an important question before you select a tool, invest more money for resources to grow your toolbox or as you consider a change in software or adding a secondary tool.
I believe all expository preaching requires a preacher to do inductive Bible study first. That means I will study God’s word without the use of any extra-bibilcal sources first. Then, I will do things like language study, comparison of translations and cross-reference checking.
Doing this kind of Inductive study requires a couple of things.
First, ask if your Bible software or a solution you might buy offers at the least the following translations:
Why those five? They’re the most used and popular translations today. Most of your congregation will likely read from them as you preach. I’m not a huge fan of the NIV, but more people likely will read from the KJV and the NIV in the congregation than any other, unless you’ve actively promoted one translation over another.
You might also want your favorite. I use the HCSB to preach because I love the way it translates the text into easily understood language while also keeping true to the original text. If the KJV and NASB represent more literal translations and the NIV or NLT represent a dynamic translation that’s not as “word-for-word” exact, then the HCSB sits in the middle.
Other tools to look for include the ability to visually compare the text. Some will highlight the words that differ between two or more translations. Some will simple put them in columns next to each other offer them in a parallel way with one line for each. I prefer the ones that offer a visual difference. Look at an example from Logos Bible Software. Below see the Text Comparison tool.
That’s just one that Logos offers. Here’s another way to compare the text using what they call the Passage Analysis tool which includes five different ways to visually see how the text differs in the multiple translations.
Notice Accordance 10′s ability to mark up a text to show differences between two translations.
If you’re Bible software doesn’t offers some form of text comparison tool, then consider a change. If you’re looking at buying one without it, look somewhere else.
These aren’t the only two that offer this kind of comparison. They’re just two that I often use. I’d love for the makers of other software or apps to comment below to explain how they offer this capability in their toolboxes.
In a future post I’ll consider the language translation tools in various applications. Then we’ll look into tools for doing cross referencing. If you’ve got a recommendation, let me know in the comments below.
Accordance 10 brings some pretty cool updates, one of which brings new Accordance 10 themes that offer text and colors that let you quickly switch the look of Accordance. Two sets of themes affect the Bible text (Text Themes) and tools like commentaries (Tool Themes) For example, the user might wish to make it look great for reading in full-screen mode with larger print and an off white background or parchment that looks more comfortably readable. It also might be useful when a user wants a display for night mode with dark backgrounds and light text.
Unfortunately, the new feature’s a bit tucked away and not easy to discover. Here’s how to set or change the Themes for your Bible text and for tools, like commentaries.
Open a Bible text and find the little settings icon in the upper right corner of the window (see first arrow below).
The menu that slides down from the button includes an item that says Set Text Pane Display (or Set Tool Display if you’re in a tool instead of a Bible text) and shows the keyboard shortcut of COMMAND+T, the other way to use the dialogue box.
The Theme dialogue box opens up. Click on the Customize Theme button and the box looks like the above screen shot. The user can then change the way the theme looks picking things like font face, size, highlighting colors and hypertext colors. The theme also let users change the background.
If the user doesn’t want to customize the themes, just pick one from the drop down box at the top. They offer a number of options, but I honestly didn’t like any of them. So I set up my own. It’s a nice feature. I hope you get some use out of it and this tutorial helps you out. Check out the new update at Accordance.
Accordance Bible Software updated their excellent OS X Bible Study software program to Accordance 10 bringing some really great new features, including a single window interface, an updated and more modern looking toolbar, better library access, flexible searching features and much more. The basic package of Accordance 10 will cost $49 for the Starter pack that includes the basic tools for simple Bible study. More advanced packages come at a higher cost ranging up to $2000 for the “Ultimate Collection” which has just about everything but the kitchen sink. I think you can get that for an extra fee.
Lets look at some the basic new features in Accordance 10 starting with the single unified window interface. I love that I don’t have to move a bunch of separate windows around anymore. I came up on Windows machines that always offer one window for most programs. Working with three or four separate windows got old on the previous versions. This one features makes it worth the upgrade fee for me.Full disclosure I was given a review copy for free, but I’d have paid if they hadn’t.
For users of the previous versions, the integrated library list along the left will surprise you. Also the the toolbar looks more modern with a customizable set of buttons to add or remove. Make Accordance work your way.
At the bottom of the left hand library pane notice the filter buttons. This lets the user show various sets of books based on their usage.
Flex Search adds are more powerful search features. Instead of trying to explain it, I’ll let Accordance speak for itself (from their site):
Flex Search is a new feature of Accordance 10 that finds variations of the words and phrases you search for. Specifically, Flex Search will find all inflected forms of verbs and all singular and plural forms of nouns. This mode also allows words to occur out of order or to have other words in between them. For example, a flex search for the phrase “build houses” will yield results for “build houses,” “building a house,” and “the house that King Solomon built.”
That’s great. Other software had this kind of “fuzzy search” capability, but Accordance 10 does a good job of it.
Accordance also offers the following new or improved search modes:
The new Reading Mode turns the program into a distraction free, full screen mode that lets you focus on the text of the book or translation.
As I said above, the various packages offers something useful for multiple budgets and uses. To determine which package best fits your needs, see their comparison chart.
Is Accordance 10 perfect? No. I like the new Reading Mode, but wish it offered a OS X full screen mode using the regular interface as well. Most modern OS X apps work with the new form of display Apple added to Lion and Mountain Lion. There’s good news. Accordance knows users want this and so maybe we’ll see it in a future version.
Like previous versions, there’s a steep learning curve with Accordance. It takes some getting used to and things are not as intuitive as other Bible programs. Because of this, users should check out the Accordance Podcast entitled Lighting the Lamp. I’m hoping they will go back and update some of the older videos with the new interface because I’m still learning how to work with this powerful tool.
Finally, I’d like to see better synchronization between multiple computers and the iOS app. Right now I sync my user tools like notes and workspaces using SugarSync, but I wish Accordance offered an automatic built-in syncing feature like Logos. Also, I’d love for the content to sync with their iOS app. Right now I have to do this manually. I’d like it to happen seamlessly over the Internet.
That said, version 10 is a great improvement and Accordance is still one of the most powerful and efficient Mac Bible Study programs you can buy. What’s more a new Windows version will be coming in 2013. Here’s how they describe it:
For over 10 years, Accordance has been available to PC users on the free Basilisk II emulator. While the emulator version of Accordance includes almost every feature available in Accordance for Mac, we have long desired to offer PC users a better solution. And so, we are pleased to announce that we are in the process of developing a native version of Accordance 10 for Windows. In fact, we have been working on this project for well over a year, and we are excited to announce that Accordance 10 for Windows will be available in 2013.
In the meantime, PC users can still buy Accordance 9 for use with the free Basilisk II emulator. Those who purchase Accordance between May 1, 2012 and the official release date will receive a free upgrade to the native Windows version. Those who purchased Accordance before May 1, 2012 can upgrade to the Windows version for just $49.99 once it is released.
The great thing about the new version for Mac users? It will be free. So those of us who run both Windows and Mac can use the new Windows version without paying again! And it won’t run on an emulator! That’s exciting for anyone who wanted the power of Accordance on Windows.
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