Thursday, April 24, 2014

Bible App 5 Shows YouVersion Still on Track to Engage the World in Scripture


Update Helps Share Content That's Not Simply 'What You Had For Breakfast,' Says LifeChurch.tv Innovation Pastor

With the recent release of the Bible App 5 that has already been installed, beginning with the original application, on 136 million devices, it's clear that its maker, YouVersion, remains on track to engage more people with the Bible than ever before. The updated app lets people share Scripture with friends in an online community.

"For the last five and a half years the features we've had inside the app have been primarily to help someone individually connect with the Bible," Bobby Gruenewald, innovation pastor of LifeChurch.tv in Oklahoma, told The Christian Post recently. "This new release, the Bible App 5, actually introduces a new set of features that allow you to form relationships with people that you know and trust, and then have conversation about Scripture and the activity that you are doing with the Bible with those people.

"It really moves it from being just an individual experience to giving people the opportunity to experience it with others. We think it is a really important step forward in engagement and understanding of Scripture," Gruenewald said.

He explained that although it is not a requirement to use the Bible app, users can go and find people that are known and trusted by them who are also Bible app users and add them as a friend.

"That's similar to what you would do on Facebook or other social media networks, except the relationships have to be mutually agreed upon," Gruenewald said.

He continued, "As you and your set of friends engage in Scripture by bookmarking something or highlighting something, or writing a note, you are able to see that activity of your friends, and for each of those things you can have a comment stream or discussion on it. Keep reading

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