Over the past 16 years, Scripture has become accessible in thousands of languages through a growing range of digital platforms, including YouVersion and Bible.is, where a single app can provide access to select from many available translations and recordings.
At the same time, Scripture App Builder was developed as a more customizable solution, enabling organizations to create an app tailored for a single language community. Not only can the interface be adapted for local audiences, but even the app icon and branding can reflect the culture and identity of the people it serves.
One of the greatest barriers this technology has helped overcome is distribution in regions with limited or unreliable internet access. In addition to being downloaded from the Google Play Store, these apps can be shared directly from phone to phone without an internet connection. This has made it possible for Scripture to spread organically within communities that might otherwise have little digital access.
Over the years, Scripture App Builder has continued to evolve, adding innovative features and fostering strong collaboration with the creators of other Scripture platforms. Today, it is part of a broader ecosystem that allows Scripture resources to be published across multiple platforms and used on many different kinds of devices. Because the software is freely available for anyone to use, it is impossible to know the exact number of apps that have been published or how many languages they represent—but the impact spans thousands of language communities worldwide.
For speakers of many hundreds of languages, iPhones are far less common than Android phones. Yet those who do own an iPhone still want access to Scripture in the same format their friends use on Android devices. The same Scripture App Builder software that has already been used by more than 150 developers to create Android apps in over 2,000 languages can also produce apps for iPhone.
However, distributing large numbers of Scripture apps through Apple’s App Store has presented unique challenges, especially when a single developer seeks to publish hundreds of language specific apps. In response, the Scripture Earth team developed an innovative solution: one app through which Scripture resources in more than 1,000 languages can be loaded. Once installed, these resources look and function very much like the Android versions of Scripture apps. Although iPhone apps cannot be copied directly from phone to phone the way Android apps can, downloaded resources still function fully offline.
One challenge still remains: awareness. Even when Scripture is already available through the Scripture Earth iOS container app, many iPhone users simply do not know it exists. Likewise, people who already use the Scripture on Android often do not realize that iPhone users can access the same resources on their devices as well.
If Scripture is already available through the Scripture Earth app, it can be found through https://scriptureearth.org/, which also provides links to Scripture in many other formats and platforms, and a link to the container app in the Apple App store if the text is available.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/scripture-earth/id1580089704
All public inquiries regarding the ScriptureEarth app should go to ScriptureEarth@gmail.com