21 December 2011

Picking a Bible App for your Smart Phone.

Picking up Kevin Purcell's blog on this title.
Http://www.kevinpurcell.org/1530/how-to-pick-a-bible-app-for-your-smart-phone-or-tablet/
He makes a good point in dividing apps into three groups:
* Bible Readers;
* Digital Bible Study;
* Public domain only material;
I haven't kept count, but the majority of so-called Bible applications I've come across are of the third type. There is nothing wrong with public domain content.  However, i've seen some extremely expensive packages for content that is available gratis in other formats.
The biggest difference between his list of recommended software, and mine is:
# The Sword Project: He excludes it. I include/highly recommend it;
* Accordance: He includes it. I exclude it, because it is not cross-platform. Mac OS X and iOS version. [Correction added after commentator pointed out my error.];
* WordSearch: He includes it. I exclude it, because it is not cross-platform. Windows only. Mobile device versions are under development;
* Mantis Bible: He includes it. I exclude it, because it is iOS only;
% GloBible: He includes it.  It has not hit my radar. Looking at the website: Mac, PC, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad.  What they mean is Mac OS X, WinXP/Vista/7, and iOS.  The website is amazingly silent on the theological bias of the maps. It is equally silent on the supported canon;

2 comments:

William Varner said...

The Accordance iOS version has been out for a year.

Jon Morgan said...

I don't know what you mean by the "theological bias of maps". Could you please elaborate?