Ever found yourself squinting at your phone when you try and read your Bible on it or are you fine with tiny text and wish you could fit more on the screen?
If you prefer an audio Bible, how fast do you want someone to read to you?
With modern Bible apps you are in control, and these are things that can make a difference to how much you read or listen, and how well you understand. Making the Bible more accessible doesn’t guarantee people will read it, but removing barriers and distractions can certainly help.
Since Johannes Guttenberg introduced moveable type, in the 15th century, it became possible to mass produce books that were relatively cheap and which could make use of very small print both for portability and economy. Whole Bibles, prayer books and hymn books could fit in a pocket, ready to be taken out and used by any who could read the print. Increasing font size isn’t just a personal preference, it can make a difference whether someone reads at all. For people with sight issues or dyslexia formatting choices like font size and style, spacing, and contrast can make a significant difference to comprehension and fatigue. Bibles have long been printed in a variety of formats, with some specifically labelled ‘large type’ back in the 1940s. Large print as a specialist format wasn’t established in wider publishing until the 1960s. The Project Tomorrow Study, admittedly commissioned by a publisher of large print books, involved 1,500 students in grades 4-12 and suggested that larger print increased comprehension and enjoyment for most readers.
Some people are always going to prefer their main Bible to be a book. There are advantages to that and depending on what language you speak, lots of different editions to choose from. Meanwhile, Bible apps, whether on a phone or a larger tablet, allow you maximum customisation.
Apps produced with SIL’s Scripture App Builder allow for a high degree of customisation by each publisher, but each user can also adjust the font size, line spacing and background colour. YouVersion’s Bible app also allows a range of font sizes, and allows you to change the font. The Bible.is app from Faith Comes By Hearing has additional text formatting features including being able to hide verse numbers, justify the text, or opt for one verse per line.
The apps also have audio options, opening Scripture to entirely new audiences and helping others engage differently perhaps listening to larger sections than they might normally read, or while out on walks, commutes or other tasks. Adjustable playback speed, voice styles, and sleep timers allow users to listen in ways that fit their pace, attention span, and daily routines.
Additional features include switching between or comparing versions (some options change when using tablets or viewing in landscape mode), and there are features that let you share verses as text or audio, with or without pictures, and ways to easily share links to content or the entire app. (Scripture App Builder apps are designed so they can be shared phone to phone where needed without the internet).
All these features are not just about what you think looks nicer, they are about what makes it easier to read or listen in a particular setting. Sometimes I want larger text, sometimes I value seeing the whole passage at once on the screen. And sometimes, I still sit and read my Bible in a book.