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More and more people have an iPhone or an IPod Touch. A pastor, priest, or active Christian may be looking for
- a To Do List system,
- Notes system,
- Bible study resources,
- liturgical resources.
Do you have any suggestions for apps that fit into one of the above four categories?
Please in the comments section can you put
- the name of the app
- whether the app is free or not – if it costs money – how much in what currency?
- If it is a Bible study resource – what version – does it contain Greek and Hebrew?
- Do you have to be online to use the app – or does it function offline?
- If you are the developer or connected with the app – please acknowledge that
- Some brief summary reviewing its value to you
In discussions people are looking for NRSV, Greek and Hebrew study tools, the daily office.
Some recommendations that regular users may like to comment on below are iBCP, Divine Office, CCEL(NRSVA), Stanza, Kindle, tweetdeck, echophon, feeds, instapaper, meditator, nimbuzz, awesome notes, logos, olive tree.
iBreviary appears not to work
Image taken from here.
UPDATE 15 February 2015: An annotated list of Daily Office apps
OK, starter for 10:
http://www.enetbible.com/ is an interface to the NETBible. Free, just bookmark it, requires online.
Free apps that I love:
NOTES:
Evernote for notes – this syncs with my desktop and I can access images, voice recordings, and text. On the desktop you can write directly in the program or drop a .pdf into the note for free. Premium users can also add other file formats. GREAT for on the go. Can tag all of my travel related notes “travel” so when I go to my conference I can pull my hotel, flight and other notes together.
Great archive for sermons and exegesis as well. Also, on the desktop version I can make certain notebooks public, like my worship design notes, and send the links to my musicians so they can make sure they’re on the same page.
I have also dropped a few of my standard liturgy files and prayers in case I find myself in need of a Book of Worship and all I have is my iPhone.
Have not yet done this but considered it: pull parishioner info into a private notebook so when I’m visiting I can see notes from previous visits (names of children/grandchildren, important facts to remember, and possibly even a picture if need be) so that it is fresh in my mind.
TO DO LIST:
I use remember the milk – I’ve saved it to my homepage so I actually access it through the safari browser (works with an iphone best because it would require connectivity). They also offer an actual app if you’re a premium user. I will upgrade one of these days for sure, but for now free is working.
BIBLE STUDY:
Not really for study prep, but a great app to have so the Bible is always at your finger tips is “You Version” the Bible app from lifechurch.tv. Uses biblegateway.com scripture version options, so no NRSV. Can download a couple of English versions for off-line connectivity, but best with connected. Useful for impromptu hospital visits or when standing in line/waiting and one wants to simply read scripture. They also have a way to make notes, but I haven’t used that or looked at the comments others have offered.
olivetree bible reader – some versions free, some cost, great interface
facebook, echofon, twitteriffic – great social-networking tools
skype – great within any wifii environment
voice memos – record your own sermon, just stick it on the pulpit:-)
tripit – along with website you can make an itinerary of any trips including email pdf of flights & it adds automatically
mPass – if you use airnz you need this
discover – transfer files from your computer to read when out & about
AKL airport – uptodate flight info
Flick cricket – great game if bored waiting for an appointment
iBarista ($1.29) – when you can’t find a real coffee:-)
TomTom NZ – just added it and workd great (need 3G or 3GS)
MY MUST-HAVE EVERY-DAY APPS
1. iBreviary – $0.99 as of this summer. Needs the Internet to sync, downloading the five hours of the day in one shot. GOOD: To my knowledge, this is the only app which offers the official text also found in the liturgical volumes themselves. Contains all antiphons and Canticles appropriate to the day. Sometimes includes a hymn depending upon copyright. BAD: Defaults to optional feasts automatically, which can make praying in groups a problem. Over six months of near-daily use, I’ve also noticed 2-3 occasions where one or more hours were not accessible on the server.
2. RC Calendar – Free when I downloaded it. Does not require the Internet for daily use. A simple utility which helps me keep track of planning my future months.
I have yet to find a decent Bible app. I take notes on the OEM “Notes” pad, because I keep my life in OneNote, and am waiting for an application that utilizes Office 2010’s ability to make OneNote files accessible through Windows Live.
I second Deacon Josh’s recommendation for iBreviary. However, I am not always on an internet connection so I like Universalis.
Universalis is basically the complete 4 volume Liturgy of the Hours on your ipod. GOOD: no internet connection required. BAD: $30 is steep for an app. It is not the icel translation making group prayer difficult and its easy to get tripped up in the ordinary (when I have the other version memorized).
iPieta An amazing resource of prayers and devotions, and I believe it has some of the old catechisms in there. I think it was like $5 bucks.
iBCP Book of Common Prayer app (unofficial). It basically just the text with hyper links. I also got a very inexpensive BCP on the Amazon Kindle app with the same functionality which was legit.
Not for the iPhone, but I’m working on an N900 Daily Office app; it’ll be free. It might not be ready for a month or so, though.
I use the following:
iPieta — this is a great reference to the bible and early writings of the church. I find it interesting to just browse and search.
Universalis — Liturgy of the Hours text. It uses different translations for some things so I use it mostly to compare against our own ministry apps, but if I didn’t have our apps then I would use this for praying the Liturgy of the Hours when I didn’t have the books or was not in community.
OK, this is going to sound like a commercial for the apps our ministry produces, but our real mission is to grow our community in prayer and our apps are all in support of that mission. So please pardon this commercial 🙂
Divine Office — audio Liturgy of the Hours for the major hours every day
Morning Prayer (Lauds) — only the morning prayers each day
Evening Prayer (Vespers) — only the evening prayers
Night Prayer (Compline) — only night prayer
All of our apps are free this weekend, except Divine Office, because we are asking that people get them and leave us a good review to help our ministry’s visibility. We are also giving away a few free iPod Touches for people who leave us reviews.
The main app is Divine Office, it is normally $9.99 USD, but it is $2.99 USD this weekend for the same reason.
Prayers is a database of 100 prayers in English, Latin, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. This app is normally 99 cents, but is free this weekend.
The Divine Office is normally $9.99, but this weekend it $2.99 because we are asking for people who get it to leave us a good review to help our ministry’s visibility.
None of these apps require you to be on-line to use them, but the audio does need at least 20 minutes per week to get its updates.
DivineOffice.org is an audio version of the Liturgy of the Hours produced by our ministry with the purpose of promoting the tradition of praying always through these ancient treasures of the Church.
We created the Divine Office iPhone App to make it more convenient to stay up to date with our audio podcast and to pray while offline.
The app will automatically download today’s audio Liturgy as well as the next few days to your iPhone or iPod Touch over-the-air using your wireless connection – without iTunes synchronization – so you never need to connect to a computer for updates!
If the complete Liturgy of the Hours is too much for you you can get started with one of our Lite apps, which are Lauds (Morning Prayer), Vespers (Evening Prayer) and Compline (Night Prayer).
We also created an app named “Prayers” which is a multi-language easy to use reference to Catholic common prayers. It also includes the Rosary, Litanies, the Way of The Cross and a total of over 100 other popular prayers and Novenas.
All our apps work great with all iPod Touch and iPhone models.
All these apps but the main Divine Office app are free this week end only!
I have been using the audio Divine Office app for almost a year for Morning and Evening Prayer. It has only gotten better and I wouldn’t be without it. The readers are not just performing; they’re praying.
I’m glad they have produced the “lite” versions as well, though I use the full version.
If you need a free Hebrew Bible, iTehillim (Psalms in Hebrew, with vowels, and English below) and Torah (Hebrew only, vowels included, no verse numbers) are available. I have been unable to locate any Greek Testaments.
KJV Bible Audiobook from iTourSoftware is big, but not bad. It takes a while to download. It contains both print and audio and is easy to search. It has ads which generate funding for children’s charities and for development of the app.
For Advent, there is an advent calendar which gives you the Divine Office for the day: Advent08 from iHabitus, costing 115 Japanese yen (I would guess it is a 99c app). There is also a nice realistic (photo) free Advent wreath to light: Adventskranz.
Olive Tree Reader – various prices (including free). I beta test for them, but as a mobile Bible Study resource it’s hard to beat. Wait until the tagged Greek/Hebrew texts make it into the app store versions!
Wooji Presentation Remote – $7.99. I beta test this app but I also purchased it. Apple’s keynote remote is a buck, but this app blows it out of the water, and works with Keynote 08. If you present regularly with a screen, this is well worth it. The highlight feature alone is worth the price.
Logos Bible Software have an app available. Initially it was internet only but it now has some resources available off-line. They are currently working with publishers to get as many as possible to work in off-line mode.
Has basic bible and some stuff for free but by registering with them you can access lots more. If you have Logos 4 then all your books in your digital library through Logos are also available.
Check them out http://www.logos.com
For Bible study, Olive Tree Press Bible Reader. Some free Bibles, but I bought NRSV and also NA Greek text.
Lectionary. For Church of England and other resources, I download from http://almanac.oremus.org/lectionary/ and synch with my iPod Touch.
Lectionary is a $0.99 iPhone app that includes NRSV scriptures for the BCP version of the RCL, making it useful for keeping up with Sunday (and feast day) readings. The scripture readings are available even if you are offline, and presented using colors of the liturgical season.
I’m the developer of Lectionary, so I won’t plug it’s value more than that 🙂 but I’ve gotten a lot of feedback and most everyone seems to find it useful.
you can find Lectionary here
http://itunes.apple.com/app/lectionary/id355309082
or here
http://www.iphonelectionary.com/
I’m always looking for ideas for new features, so if you try it make sure to drop me a line.
Thanks for that, Geoff. Bought it. Love it. Suggestion: a way to get to a particular day, date, feast day – without having to scroll all the way screen by screen – would be great.
I love Prayer Warriors! It is a great iPod application to keep me plugged into God every day! I love how I can journal my prayer requests too!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prayer-warriors/id364909677?mt=8
Lectionary is a great app and resource to have on the iphone
Admittedly, this is from a follower of the other religion ie it’s an app for Android smartphones, not available for the Apple stable as far as I know.
Pocket Common Worship and Prayer is available from AppBrain, free. You need to be online to download the office, but after that you don’t need a connection.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/pocket-common-worship-prayer/uk.org.solus.pocketcommonworship
It takes the feed from the Church of England’s Common Worship Daily Office site and allows you to select the office and the day – great for those of us in the Antipodes. It also displays the complete text of the readings for the day.
It’s great for use on public transport – no books to carry, you can download the office on the platform while waiting for the train and then you don’t have to worry about losing the signal underground. It can be resized for those with poor eyesight. I find it very convenient and useful.
There are also apps available from the Universalis site, for all? mobile platforms.
Thanks so much, Jill. I wonder why this is not available for iPhone/iPod? Seems strange. Blessings.
Just to let you know that this Android app is now available for Apple devices, both iPhones and iPads. Details here:
http://appshopper.com/books/common-worship-and-prayer
or search the Apple store for ‘Common Worship and Prayer’
Thanks so much for letting us all know, Jill. Blessings.
Breviarium Romanum (extraordinary form) requires connection in order to download the selected hour. It is possible to download the hole week.
– Breviarium Meum – 0,89€ – Breviarium Romanum extraordinary form
– Breviarium Meum HD – 0,89€ – Breviarium Romanum extraordinary form for iPad
http://itunes.apple.com/it/app/breviarium-meum/id438927135?mt=8
Breviarium (universal app=iPhone/iPad): 0,89 (Lite version=free) doesn’t requrires internet connection, contains the “liturgia delle ore (P.VI)”, at the present italian only.
free: http://itunes.apple.com/it/app/breviariumlite/id556421944?mt=8
http://itunes.apple.com/it/app/breviarium/id556464987?mt=8
LitEtMus (universal app=iPhone/iPad) – free: news, ebooks (italian only at the present) and more…
http://itunes.apple.com/it/app/litetmus/id492503034?mt=8
Sancta Missa (universal app=iPhone/iPad) – 3,59€: works mostly offline, offers the text of the propers of the Mass (extraordinary form) with italian translation in pdf format, downloadable and printable straight from the app, A5 or A4 format. English version of texts coming in next update.
http://itunes.apple.com/it/app/sancta-missa/id529619939?mt=8
Thanks. Blessings.
San Gabriele dell’Addolorata (italian only – 0,99$):
per conoscere il “santo dei giovani” attraverso l’iconografia e la poesia. Contiene infatti una grande raccolta di santini, inni, canti e poesie dedicati a questo santo “particolarmente caro a milioni di persone che continuano a pensarlo quale era davvero: bello, gioviale, amante delle belle lettere”*.
I contenuti sono stati estratti dal libro “Gabriele dell’Addolorata nei santini e nella poesia” di Gabriele Di Cesare edito nel 1998.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sangabriele/id545113163?mt=8
1) Android
Universalis – one time fee about NZ$ 20
Provides Roman style:
About this day – Roman calendar
Offices during the day x 7
Order of Mass for the day – can select
Eucharistic Prayers I to IV etc
Online only for initial downlod and
updates
2) PC and Android – nearing finalisation
Morning and Evening Prayer – for the day
two styles – Aotearoa etc and England
follows daily Lectionary per Aotearao etc
Full text for:
Psalms, readings and canticles
Seasonal variations
Commemorations from Aotearoa etc
Output to PDF – A5 sized “paper”
May include Compline in due course
Uses either:
MS Excel and a PDF printer; or
OpenOffice – free and just as good –
and its internal PDF exporter.
This is my creation developed for personal
use and will be available for trial
by others on request from February 2014.
Offline except for intial download and
updates.
No fees or other charges
I use the Mission St. Clare Daily Office app. (TEC BCP) I like the options between contemporary and traditional, English or Spanish. The layout is pleasant, all three daily readings appear for both Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, and the pre-selected collects are well done. The moderator, James Keifer, has prepared short bios and reflections for the commemorations.
Also eCP (Electronic Common Prayer) is the TEC BCP for iPhone. Also nicely done.
I’ve just released http://www.MassExplainedApp.com
It explains the RC Mass using lots of bells and whistles like VR panoramas, 3D animation, videos, mp3, etc.
It received a Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur and has been approved by the USCCB and ICEL.
Thanks for letting us know, Dan. I hope it will be a blessing to many. Thanks for all your work. Blessings.
Wants and Needs for iOS will be available for purchase on the App Store on January 29, 2015. The launch sale price will be $2.99 but will normally be priced at $4.99.
Wants and Needs is an exciting app that can be used in many ways to put your Life in Perspective and strengthen your faith.
We have been working really hard preparing for the launch of Wants and Needs and are excited to show you what we’ve been working on.
More information at http://WantsAndNeedsApp.com
There used to be a Lectionary app for iPhone for the NZ Prayer book, though only with Sunday readings. It doesn’t seem to be available any more? I would have liked it to contain daily readings as well.