A Great Mobile Bible
At my church, we believe in Biblical Authority. In fact, it is one of our core values. We would love nothing more than to see every attender faithfully digging into their Bible and reading and studying God's Word on their own!
So, I like to pass on information about Bible tools that can help you spend time in His Word.
Crossway just put out an ESV app for the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad. If you want to know more, visit mobile.esv.org.
Key Features
- "Highlight" or "Favorite" a verse - There are two ways to mark verses for quick reference later. You can "highlight" them or make them a "favorite". Highlighting does just what it sounds like. You see a yellow highlight on the verse as you are reading the text. You can also see a list of just your highlighted verses. Favorite-ing does not cause the verse to stand out in the text, but does put in in the list of your favorites. Highlighting is good for marking verses that stand out to you as you read, and favorite-ing is good for marking verses for later reference (perhaps something you want to memorize or study).
- Notes - You can create personalized notes for any passage of scripture. Great for taking notes during a sermon, for journaling during your personal quiet time, for for remember thoughts as you study a book or topic.
- History - keeps a history (like your browser) of the passages you have been reading. This is great for back tracking a verse or passages that you didn't get a chance to favorite, highlight, or create a note about.
- Search - This is expected in any digital Bible. Search for key words or phrases.
- Share - this mobile Bible app allows you to easily post a verse to Twitter or email it to someone.
Other thoughts...
I have installed and used the youversion Bible app on my iPod Touch, and enjoy many of its abilities. How does the mobile ESV app compare?
- Single verses multiple translations - Youversion gives you access to multiple translations and ESV is simply the English Standard Version.
- Online community - Youversion offers an extensive online community (youversion.com) for sharing "contributions" and hosting "live" events. The ESV does not include the online community.
- Offline access - Both offer offline access, but Youversion only allows you to download a few versions to your device for free. Youversion was built with the online community in mind. If you have the iPhone you have a constant internet connection, but if you have an iPod Touch (like me), then Youversion features are limited when not in a wifi area. ESV is built for offline viewing.
- Notes/Contributions - This is where I believe ESV surpasses the Youversion app. The ESV allows you to attach notes to individual verses, to highlight them for later (highlighting stays on the verse when you navigate away), and to create a list of favorites (bookmarks, if you will). Not only that, but tapping a verse also shows you a list of cross references. Youversion does not allow permanent highlighting, personal notes (contributions) cannot be created on the iPhone/iPod Touch (only at youversion.com), and it does not have the crossreferences.
Conclusion...
Install both, they are FREE!
Youversion is superior for checking multiple translations and for interacting with an online community (much of which has to be done through a browser rather than the app). It is great for seeing what other translations and other people are saying about a passage.
ESV is superior for taking personal notes (stuff you wouldn't necessarily care to share with the online community) & highlighting text inline for later reference. I could see using the ESV app for a journaling during a personal quiet time, personal study in those moments you are otherwise idle (waiting in lines, or for appointments), and for note taking during sermons/lessons.
From the website: "The English Standard Version (ESV) Bible is an essentially literal Bible translation that combines word-for-word precision and accuracy with literary excellence, beauty, and depth of meaning. The Bible says every word is “breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). For this reason, the ESV seeks to translate the original Greek and Hebrew words with the greatest possible accuracy and precision."
Here are some screen shots....showing highlighting, notes, and sharing capabilities.
