Back in 2006 Bobby Gruenewald, a Pastor in the US, thought of the idea of an app for the Bible while walking through a security line at the airport. It wasn’t quite the epiphany in the shower environment but this concept has grown from its initial launch as an iPhone Bible app designed by a 19yo in their church to five years later being an app on all phone and tablet platforms including some eReaders.
What is now extraordinary is that the growth of the Bible app is knocking on the door of 100,000,000 app installs. The statistics of what people are using their Bible app for each second is simply amazing and is easier explained by the group’s recent webcast on June 11th available below. Here they outlined the growth of the project and where they see it going.
Whether it was Moses who wrote the first five books of the Bible or Mr Gutenberg and his printing press who took distribution to a whole new level they would both be astounded at what engagement has come through this use of app technology. The question that could be asked is why in the modern age is this activity so successful. Is it the timeless content or the engaging technology?
Rather than keeping the project in-house, the Bible app has created strategic partnerships with many churches, denominations and publishing houses so that the content available in the app is wide in the range of Bible-related activities it provides. The app builds on a personal user experience by allowing individuals to use their own collected versions and languages of the Bible as well as save bookmarks and follow personalised reading plans.
The next step for the group is to see if they can achieve 100 Million installs before July 10th which would be their 5th anniversary since the initial launch. To muster support a number of activities have been created to inspire users to share their app experience. A website has been created at www.bible.com/100million and the app has new features in its menu system to encourage app sharing. What is also unique is the fan base that is sponsoring the app through their advocacy from church leaders to football players.
If you haven’t tested the Bible App here is a link to all the available platforms including iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Windows 8, Java, Symbian, Mobile Web and Kindle Fire.
