YouVersion Mobile

YouVersion Mobile is an application available for BlackBerry, iPhone and other mobile devices. It features 40 different translations in 22 languages, a daily Bible reading plan, the ability to search the entire Bible for a word, phrase, or verse plus more features which help you engage in Bible reading and study on a daily basis. I’ll be reviewing the BlackBerry version of the application here so your mileage may vary if you’re using an iPhone or other web-enable mobile phone.

Compatible with BlackBerry OS v4.2.1 or higher, YouVersion Mobile is a light-weight (<1MB) but powerful application that really delivers. Installation was a breeze through the Blackberry App World and it started the first time without any unbearable lag or pestering me about logging in to an account. If you don't have App World installed, you can visit http://www.youversion.com/bb to download the application. It was easy to start using and very intuitive. I had no trouble jumping right in and using it right after I downloaded it.

The first thing I checked out was the number of translations. There are a lot. You’d be hard pressed not to find you favorite translation here. Because YouVersion pulls the text from the web, all of these translations don’t have to be stored on your device saving precious memory. That does cause a delay in looking up a scripture but nothing that’s unbearable.

After choosing my desired translation (NASB) I looked up a few passages. It took about 2 seconds for them to appear. Searches for words and phrases were just as fast. YouVersion only loads 25 results at a time so You’re not bogged down with waiting for hundreds of results to download. There are 3 font size options so I think just about everyone will be comfortable reading passages on their device. I found the defauly font to be adequate.

The daily Bible reading plan is one that was developed by Robert Roberts over 100 years ago. It has 2 portions from the Old Testament and 1 from the New Testament. What I like about it is that it doesn’t just start at Genesis and take you through the Bible in a year. The Bible reading plan is a nice mixture of OT and NT passages.

While reading a passage you have the option of viewing contributions made by the YouVersion community. This is where the app becomes more than a reading tool but becomes a social tool as well. While I personally don’t care if this feature is there or not, some people may like the interactivity of such a feature.

Overall, I’d say this is a great app. It’s one that I’ve started using on a daily basis now. CHeck out the gallery below for a few screen shots.