By happy accident I stumbled on the MyMobible Java app for mobile phones. It compares very favorably with the Go Bible application which I have discussed here previously.
Sorry about the wonky photos!
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Both of these Java apps are being actively developed in multiple languages. I have corresponded a lot with one of the Go Bible people and he is a terrific help.
MyMobible is based on Mobible.org which is accessible from your cell phone and will serve up verses appropriate to your model of phone.
For the downloadable version MyMobible has only the WEB version in English (and possibly Lithuanian). But I have spoken with the developer and he is open to sharing the code with anyone who wants to develop it in another language.
I think either one of these is a viable platform for publishing mobile Bibles. I think Go Bible has slightly more languages available. And please note that the NET version displayed is questionable so I’m not giving a link to the download. Mobible has AV, WEB and NIV in English which is quite a coup. For massive distribution I think the long-term struggle is going to be getting licensing from the Bible Societies.
Bravo to both these initiatives.
I traded several emails with Paul, the programmer for MyMobible today. He said he has not worked on the project for quite some time but that it is being developed for several other languages and he is happy to share code if someone wants to take it and develop it further. Thanks, Paul!
Pity the word “pirated” had to appear in this topic. It could give casual visitors the wrong impression about Go Bible. It has never been our intention to make pirated copies of copyrighted Bible translations.
Should you wish to widen the comparisons, there are two other Java ME applications that are Bible viewers. One is called PhoneyBible and is NOT free. The other is called JBible, and is available via a site in the Ukraine.
I already have email contact with the software author of JBible. There is also a sourceforge project called jbible which seems to be both unrelated and no longer active.
I too have had email contact with Paul during 2007.
“For massive distribution I think the long-term struggle is going to be getting licensing from the Bible Societies.”
Or the massive distribution of the free-range translations risk making Bible societies irrelevant. If “Bible Societies” work to curb the free distribution of Bibles, then they have no logical purpose – simply making good translations is not an excuse to ask for our money if those translations are not distributed as widely and cheaply as possible!
Oooo, I like this comment thread.
David, I apologize for the “pirated” comment. The developers of Go Bible were not involved in creating the NET version. And it is unclear if this is really pirated or what.
A brief comment about versification and scrolling behavior of these two programs:
Go Bible displays text “by verse” that is, every verse begins a new line with a prominent verse number next to it.
MyMobible gives you the option of turning on/off versification. When verses are on they are small superscript numbers in a light font. (The image above is with versification off). But also, this program does not have a carriage return before each verse (Does anyone still say carriage return?!?)
While MyMobible’s versification options are more sophisticated, the scrolling is slightly jumpy for someone who wants to read a significant portion of text. I was reading through Acts 4 and my eye had a hard time keeping track of where the next line was. Sometimes when I hit toggled down, the text would move up a line. Other times it moved up an entire screen. And backing up is likewise disorienting.
The Olive Tree reader on my Palm T|X is highly customizable on scrolling. The “Leave last line of previous screen” option is I think very helpful for reading electronic texts.
So, in summary I would say that both of these readers make reading difficult, Go Bible by using intrusive versification and MyMobible by having unpredictable scrolling.
Tim, excellent argument on the distribution of free versions, which could lead to Bible Societies becomming irrelevant. I agree that Bibles should be distributed to all corners of the world, but the effect on Bible Societies should be seriously considered and I think it is totally wrong to distribute freely.
I’ve been using Go Bible for over a year to read the KJV in connection with daily readings from M’Cheyne’s Bible Reading Calendar. I don’t find the verse numbers intrusive at all. In fact, I rather like them, as it aids Bible verse memorization considerably. The Navigators’ Topical Memory System (TMS) emphasized memorizing the reference “fore’n'aft”, if you really want to get a good handle on things.
The KJV is not the only English version that I read with Go Bible, nor is English the only language I read with it either. Verse numbers being bold and verses being “return separated” is an aid when reading French, German or NT Greek.
I would also like to testify that using Go Bible has transformed my discipline of daily reading. Using the bookmarks feature, it is so easy to keep track of where one has reached in each of the four tracks from M’Cheyne’s “Daily Bread”.
And being on a cell phone, if I am late in the morning and have to cut short my “quiet time”, I can simply catch up with the Scriptures during my morning coffee break in the semiconductor factory where I work as a development test engineer.
Free mobile phone Bibles are unlikely ever to completely displace the use of printed Bibles. And would you really want these free Bibles to be only those for which the text is already public domain? That means over 75 years old for most countries. The lessons of the music industry are that free downloads actually lead to an increase in sales of albums. It’s not easy to preach from a mobile phone Bible, nor even to lead a home Bible Study meeting.
Consider this too! It is unlikely that more than 25% of Christian believers living in China will ever get to own a printed copy of the Bible. The mobile phone is a vital means to help people access the Word of God who could not do so by any other means. And China is not the only country with restrictions on the media.
Big business is involved in selling copyrighted modern English language Bibles. The NIV is published by Zondervan, part of the Harper Collins Group owned by News Corporation. The NIV is expensive, and even the mobile phone version can only be installed OTA for a total cost of £12.
See http://www.ibsmobile.org.
Bible Societies will always have an important role to play, and those with enlightened management are already showing a willingness to co-operate with those of use who are enthusing about using the mobile phone as means to spread the Gospel of Christ to the nations.
Where did you see any evidence that MyMobible is available for the NIV ? On the Paul & Corinna Parkins blog, I could only see links for downloading the WEB.
I doubt very much that Zondervan would have licensed the NIV to a relatively unknown startup as MyMobible.
When Jolon made enquiries, he received a reply back from Zondervan. The NIV costs US$10,000 to license and then US$10 per copy. There is also a rather detailed approval process.
Companies such as OliveTree or Laridian might be able to afford such fees and meet the required conditions, but I think it highly unlikely that Mr Parkins could.
Please check your facts again.
The one thing in Paul’s favour is that he’s digitally signed the JAR files so you can be sure the content hasn’t been tinkered with.
Best regards,
David Haslam
[Ed. note: This comment was edited based on David's request for correction.]
Dan, I both agree and disagree with you. And both VERY strongly
I agree that it would be a terrible pity if Bible Societies which have done fine work for centuries were to “lose out” through the move to new media. I have been a supporter (in various ways) of Bible Societies in every country I have lived in, and have been most impressed by their translation and distribution work. However, I think these two aspects need to be distinguished.
In the old media and economic world translation was a one off cost so relatively cheap and distribution required print in large (huge) numbers so relatively expensive;. In that world the money we gave to Bible Societies inevitably went both to translation and distribution.
As David says, “Free mobile phone Bibles are unlikely ever to completely displace the use of printed Bibles.” What this means is that in the present/near future there will be both free Bibles (text and audio, and if the other David gets his way multimedia) on mobile phones and across the Internet, there will also be print Bibles for which people will have to pay.
My point is that it would be a great pity if Bible Societies fail to give permission for their translations to be distributed freely (they might meed to ask for a contribution towards the translation costs, but often public donations could manage to cover that) because if they do they are gradually writing themselves out of a major Bible distribution channel.
The question basically is: Ought the Bible to be a commercial product? You are saying “yes” and I am saying “no”! Can you imagine Jesus or Isaiah’s reactions to the news that people were obstructing the distribution of Bibles to protect their incomes
I have updated the information on this page based on your comments. Thanks all and keep talking!
please send me a free bible through this address:
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