With smartphone technology, you have access to thousands upon thousands of apps that can make your life convenient on your Android phone. You can download apps to tell you where the cheapest gas is around you. You can download apps to play games to pass the time away. You can download the code scanner app to scan those “square” bar codes that give you information on products and services. There are apps for almost anything you can think of. This includes apps that give you access to Biblical principles and values. Some of these apps come in the form of games. Some come in the form of Bibles. There are many great Bible apps for your Android and I hope this article gives you an outlet to discover some you may not have already. Here are my 7 favorite apps out there for the Android phone. Quick note: for those apps that do not require internet access, I have “offline” in parenthesis.
7. Bible Verses (Offline)
This is a great app you can use offline to memorize scripture. When you click on the app it shows you a verse for the day with a beautiful picture behind it. Many times the picture doesn’t have anything to do with the verse, but it is still a great app. If the scripture you read is one you already know, you can scroll over and get a new one. It really is that simple. So, if you have a busy life during your work week, this is a great one for you. It only takes only a short time to read your verse of the day and start memorizing it!
6. Bible Discovery (Offline)
This is an excellent app and has some of the features of the CadreBible and MySword apps (see below), but it is an offline app which is convenient. If you don’t have unlimited internet on your phone than this is the app for you. You can easily navigate from the top to the bottom of a chapter with the click of a button. You can download speech generators that will read the Bible for you. There aren’t as many free downloads on this app as many others, but it is simple and easy to navigate through.
5. Bible Quiz – Who Am I?
This is a fun game that tests your skills on how much you know about the people of the Bible. You can set up your own profile if you wish. You can post your scores online to see how you rank against other people. There are 5 types of games you can choose: 10 Questions, 20 Questions, 50 Questions, Unlimited Questions Until 5 Errors, or Unlimited Questions. All 5 categories have online rankings. This is a fun game to pass the time and learn about the Bible at the same time. Here is one question you will find on it: Who did Herod have put to death with the sword: Peter, James, Philip, or Andrew? Do you know?
4. Bible Trivia
This app is made from the same group that made “Bible Quiz – Who Am I?” from above and is laid out exactly the same. This one is more involved as it is not only about people. It will really test your knowledge on many concepts from the Bible. One question you will encounter is: How old was the Biblical figure Methuselah when he died: 622, 88, 969, or 369? Do you know the answer?
3. MySword Bible (Offline)
This is a great app for anyone who is familiar with navigating through in depth Bible study apps. It has many great features in it, including Bible translations, comments, dictionaries, notes and journals. One feature I really want to discuss is the Strong’s Concordance. It is free and parallels the KJV version on the app. Every single word in the Bible that is defined in the concordance has Strong’s ID number after it. For example, “Jesus” is number G2424. When you click on it you will see the Greek spelling and pronunciation along with the Thayer definition for it. Also, you will see cross references to other passages involving Jesus and you even get an origin of His name from Hebrew. This is my favorite feature of this app because it is free and so useful to learn more about the Bible.
2. CadreBible
This is a very useful app for those who want much more than to read the Bible. There are multiple commentaries you can download to read. Some are even free! One free one that I love is Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary. When you click on it, you will see the Bible and his commentary on the same screen about the verses you are reading. He is very intelligent and you can gain a lot of knowledge when reading both together. Other great features that are offered are Bible translations, dictionaries, cross referencing, reading plans, devotionals and even an autobiography of Flavius Josephus that is free. You can parallel verses for multiple translations and have commentaries all on the same screen! There are also free “Bible for Children” downloads on many great stories such as: Noah, Abraham, David and Jesus. There is a lot to this one and it is worth the download. The only drawback is it doesn’t offer free versions of popular translations like the NIV or ESV, but it is extremely useful none the less.
1. The “Bible” App
I put this app at number 1 for a few reasons. It is the most widely used Bible app on the Android device. It is very easy to navigate through. Also, it features the most free translations of the Bible on it; there are more than 44 of them! I love this app because it has a speech generator already built in for certain versions of the Bible. A few versions that have this are the NIV, ESV and KJV. These are all very popular versions. You can listen to the Bible being read to you while you are driving. This is great for those who are busy and on the go. Along with these features, there are many others such as: verse of the day, reading plans (hundreds of them), videos, bookmarks, notes, and you can share things to Twitter and Facebook. This is by far the easiest Bible app to use and navigate. Youversion did a wonderful job in making this app. I highly recommend this app to anyone who has an android phone!
Conclusion
These are my top 7 apps for the Android phone. If some of these are new to you, check them out. You’ll be glad you did. They are all great apps to deepen your walk with the Lord daily. God bless you!
Resources- The Holy Bible, English Standard Version“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”, www.youtube.com, photo credit: plantronicsgermany via photopin cc