PocketBible Bible Study App

To the best of my knowledge, I have been using PocketBible for over 20 years. I have grown my collection of Bibles, Commentaries, Dictionaries, Devotionals, and other books to include over 340 installed books. Many books were free, so many at deep, deep discounts. My collection of books would cover a wall bookshelf. What is so great about this program is that I can type in a word, or sentence and then search all 340+ books simultaneously! My research ability is amazing; studying becomes fun and exciting. The multi-platform use is sweet, I have this on my ipad, iphone, Windows desktop and Macbook, all my notes, highlights etc are saved across all my platforms. This is a MUST HAVE for those who wish to learn and study the Word of God!

I have been using this program since I had my PalmPilot back in the 90s. I’ve tried some of the other apps however I have not found them to be as useful and versatile as this program. I love the ability to bookmark and highlight verses, add notes to verses, and autostudy verses. One of the most useful features is the ability to sync my Bible to my devotional reading plan and my commentaries. This causes the commentaries to follow along with me and match whatever portion of the Bible I happen to be reading at the time. Then, there’s the tabbed panes, which allowed me to have many books open at the same time. Some of these features are available in the Advanced Feature set which is a very minimal cost. However the basic program comes with many free books, and many of my friends have started using it as well. It seems anytime I use it in a class people start asking me which program I’m using. Also, this developer has a buy once/own it policy. Once you buy a book or devotional through this app you own it. The books I bought when I was using a palm pilot 17 years ago........I still own! I was able to download them free when I upgraded to my iPhone and then my iPad several years later. By far the best Bible app.

I have used various versions of this app since the Palm Pilot days of the 1990s. I have had continual access to the NIV bible translation that I bought then through all of the different platforms and upgrades, along with dozens of other translations and commentaries. This is a tool that I have used weekly, usually daily, for about 20 years. I can’t say that about too many other apps. The original developer is still leading the charge. He is creative, innovative, and knows his stuff. He thinks carefully about how people use the software, and is regularly making helpful improvements that accelerate our study of the Word. One of my favorite features of PocketBible is the personal notes, bookmarks and highlights. Notes that I added to a verse while in seminary in the 1990s are still there today, helping me to see how God has continually been working in my life. Now I have literally 5000 of these personal notations that give this app the feel of my very own well-worn print Bible with lots of underlining, highlighting and notes scribbled in the margins. Plus, it’s all always available on all my devices! With this latest update, I can easily (and quickly) search through these notes (e.g. search “barnacles” to find that C.H. Sturgeon illustration I added many years ago). This is why I’m a loyal user of PocketBible.