Update:
There is a new version. Download that first, but the rest of the instructions still apply. Also, instead of having to download a zip file, you could also download the bible or the lds scripture database files.
Here it is. It is truly a 0.1 product. Here are a couple notes before anybody dives right in:
- I don’t have an Android based phone to test it on, so if there are any problems with installing it or getting it working on the actual hardware…I can’t help you. I’ve never been through the process so I’d be shooting in the dark on what to do.
- It REQUIRES (and I cannot stress this enough), that you have one of the scripture databases on the phone before it will work. Not only that, but it has to be located on the SD Card at the top level of the card. So, that means download either the Holy Bible or the LDS Standard Works, take the file out of the zip and put it on your SD card. Don’t put it in a directory on the card, but just on the card itself. Then put the card back in the phone and start up the program. From there it should work just fine.
Current plans
I’m not going to put this up on any of the distribution sites. It’s just not ready. Plus I don’t want to pay the $25 to put it on the market place until I know that people are going to actually want to use this. If it’s just me using it, I’ll keep the $25 thank-you-very-much. When I’ve completed items 1 and 2 below, that’s when I’ll publish it. Until then, consider it alpha/beta software: That’s why it’s version 0.1.
Future plans:
- One of the first things I want to do for the next version is take out the hard coded location of the database. You should be able to put the file wherever you want and then tell the program where to look. That will take a bit of work to make it look nice. I could have a simple text field box that a person would type into, but a better approach would be a file chooser dialog box. The problem? From what I can tell, android doesn’t have one, so I’d have to build one myself. Ugh.
- The next thing would be a couple of preferences besides the database location. Stuff like what theme to use, title text size, etc.
- After that it’s something of a toss up. That basically meets my needs, but if enough people are interested in something more, I could add things like:
- Search the text of the scriptures for a specific phrase
- Bookmarks
- Highlight text
- Add your own notes
- Jump to verse: A dialog that you type in a specific reference which would take you to that specific chapter and verse.
- Wiki searches or links to selected scripture scholar sites
- Something I haven’t thought of yet
Installation
Device:
- Download the APK (the actual program)
- Download either the Holy Bible or the LDS Standard Works
- Install the APK onto your device (sorry, cannot help you with this)
- Install scripture.db onto SD Card. Make sure it’s not in any subdirectory on the card. (This will be fixed in future versions)
- Run the app.
Emulator:
- Install the Android SDK
- Download the APK (the actual program)
- Download either the Holy Bible or the LDS Standard Works
- Create a sd card image
- Start up the emulator, making sure to mount the sd card as part of the start up.
- Install the program
- Put the database on the SD card.
- Run the app.
adb install androidscriptures.apk
adb push scriptures.db /sdcard/scriptures.db
Here’s what it looks like:
A special thanks goes out to the Mormon Documentation Project for the database. It would have taken me a lot longer to get this done if I had been required to create the database on my own.
I installed it on my device this morning and it worked like a champ! Great little app. I could have used this in church last week (and i’m sure i will use it next week).
To install on the device, first download and unzip the db file, then with your phone tethered to your computer, copy the scriptures.db file to your sd card.
Then on the phone, go into settings -> sd card & phone storage, and uncheck the “use for usb storage”.
Then in the settings, go to applications, and check the “unknown sources” checkbox.
Then download the app using your phone’s browser, it will be obvious what to do from there.
I would be interested in helping to develop this app. Want any help?
The thing I need the most help with is hosting the files and getting the import tool written.
This is an Awesome program!! Is there anyway that you can add cross referencing into the program. I’m LDS and its nice to be able to Cross reference. Yanceyware Does this. http://www.yanceyware.com/index.htm
I hope that it might be possible to do this. Thanks alot man keep up the good work. Cody Banks.
I used to use YanCEware when I had a Dell Axim 5. Great software. Cross references may or may not be in the database at some point. The problem with including cross references, chapter headings, bible dictionary, topical guide and much of the additional helps the church has with its scriptures is that they are copyright by the church and while other software includes them, I believe they are infringing on the copyright.