Along comes Glo Bible app

I was very excited about the Glo Bible software package when it was released (for PC). It promised a massive amount of audio-visual material, a great atlas and the NIV Bible. I struggled for days to get it installed on a school computer, and after hours of support from the company simply had to give up. They stated that they simple had never designed it to operate in a corporate environment (shortsighted).

I was gob smacked to then find that they have released a free Glo Bible app. You will find it if you search for "glo bible" in the App Store, but it has been named Bible + for some reason. As we are currently facing a steep bill for installing the NIV on each of our machines using the Olive Tree system, I was then even more astonished to find out they were giving the NIV away free.

How is this possible? I can only guess that the real clue is where the text resides. From watching how the content loads, I'm guessing that all of the content is actually downloaded "as needed" from the web. This means the product is not actually an installed Bible at all, but a portal to online resources. It then becomes no different to going to www.biblegateway.com where you can view a free NIV as well.

Still, the layout is fresh and fairly flexible, the atlas is really good, there are lots of linked pictures, and the outstanding interactive visual resources. I was struck by the re-creation of the tabernacle, allowing 360 degree viewing as though you were standing in the courtyard with information and closer views on most of the key features.

When iOS 5 launches (within the next month) all of this can be simply put up in a classroom from a teacher iPad using either a VGA adapter or Apple TV.

It is very hard to argue with free NIV and great resources, providing that you are 'net connected. At the least this will be installed alongside Olive Tree on our classroom set.

Andrew Lack

Olive Tree Bible

When originally discussing the purchase of a set of iPads to use at Pacific Hills, I suggested that this app alone would be sufficient educational justification.

Olive Tree have been around for ages...  I remember getting an Olive Tree Bible on my Palm Pilot (woah.. who remembers that excellent little PDA?). Their depth of experience is evidenced in the sophisticate coding and features in their app, and also in the amazing depth of resources available from their in-app store.

The app itself is free. This is a little bit tricky as they offer several apps that appear to be the same. When you realise that the app itself is essentially a specialised eBook reader, this all starts to become clear. Each app on offer bundles different versions of the Bible, ranging from the King James version (free) to the more expensive NIV collection. Once you have the app installed, you then have the option of purchasing additional resources from the in-app store. There are many free resources, but for the serious Bible scholar a bewildering array of Bibles and Bible related resources. There editions of most versions, often with associated study notes. There are books of historical importance, concordances, map collections, devotional books and sermon collections. There are Hebrew and Greek editions as well.

As this app is designed to support serious Bible study and also to do most of the things you would want to do with a paper Bible, the list of features is extraordinary. It puts normal eBook readers and eBook reader apps to shame! For instance...

• split screen to compare versions or to include study footnotes... variable to any size
• variable font, font size, colours and background colours
• in landscape mode, show as two pages or one
• progress by vertical scrolling or page turn
• tap a verse or hold on a word to get a list of options including making notes, highlighting in multiple colours, bookmark or copy
• tap a verse footnote letter and get an in-screen popup of cross references. Tap a cross reference to see the passage in the popup window
• A sophisticated search window with predictive search
• move forward and back through recent pages selected
• locate a verse by using a pull down grid that moves from Bible book to chapter to verse
• a variety of Bible reading plans built in

The "pay for" Bibles are not as cheap as one might expect, with the NIV around $20 and other scholarly versions even higher. This is offset by the number of free versions (not just the King James) available. For a modern language version that is free consider the NET version (New English Translation). Still, schools will decide about authorised translations on reasons other than cost.

Why does this app get me so passionate? Because it means any teacher can take a set of Bibles into a classroom that will immediately put tools for deep and personal study of the scriptures into students hands. Of course you always have the option of using the excellent on-line service www.biblegateway.com. However, not every teacher can book a full lab when they need it, and using a web based Bible has some limitations in speed. The Olive Tree app does not require web connection at all (all Bibles and other resources are downloaded) so works at lighting speed.

The setup? For Pacific Hills I'm hoping to see the NIV (still our standard edition) installed, along with NIV study notes, plus the KJV and NET Bibles. If we can, I'd love to see The Message on this as well. I have not yet explored how to properly arrange purchases (and possible group discounts) so it would be great if others are ahead of me on this.

Andrew Lack