e-Sword4iPad would be released on 15 October.
It was released today. Unfortunately, I don't have an iPad. I did search in the app store using my iPhone 4S, to no avail. :(
This is not a review, per se, but rather impressions I've gained from reading various comments, reviews about the program, and other things.
The most comprehensive review I've seen thus far has been Rubén Gómez' on BSR. http://www.bsreview.org/blog/2012/10/e-sword-hd-for-ipad.html .
The YouTube video can be directly viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqxDJv2akME
Price:
The app costs US$4.99.
Statistics from http://148apps.biz/app-store-metrics/?mpage=appprice
2.7% of the apps on The iTunes App Store sell for US$4.99;
94.55% of the apps on The iTunes App Store sell for US4.99, or less.
51.72% of the apps on The iTunes App Store are gratis;
As such, it is within the norms of iOS pricing.
Potential Issue:
Logos For iPad, Accordance, and Laridian's PocketBible are all gratis. You do have to pay for the resources, but they can be used on other devices/platforms.
My iPhone offers 10 categories, when typing "Bibl". Selecting "Bible", 4.042 apps are offered. My iPhone more or less gave up, when I tried to scroll past the 70th app in the "Bible" search.
e-Sword4iPad could easily get lost in those numbers.
Can current e-Sword users generate enough buzz for it to break out of the 788 applications per day that are added to The iTunes App Store each day?
Supported Canon:
None of the reviews or comments I've come across, have specifically discussed the supported canon. In two different video reviews, I noticed that the Douay-Rheims Bible is available. That implies that at least the 73 book Catholic Canon is supported. This canon was also supported in Pocket e-Sword.
Available Resources:
- Only official resources can be installed. This is due to limitations imposed by security model used by iOS.
- Resources use HTML, rather than RTF for presentation markup;
- Currently, only English Language resources are available;
Search:
Basic search functionality is available. I haven't seen anything about Boolean or Regex search.
2009 SBL Bible Software Shootout:
Inasmuch as only English language resources are available, it fails all five criteria. This should change, when resources in Biblical languages are released.
Synopsis:
If I had an iPad, I'd install and use it. However, it is not yet compelling enough for me to specifically purchase an iPad.
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