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Android Scriptures

Android Scriptures is an android application for reading the Holy Bible or the LDS Standard Works on an android device.

Here’s what it looks like:

Versions

Databases

For versions 0.2.5+, download these databases:
For versions 0.2.4 or earlier, download these databases:

Installation

Post Android Market instructions

  1. Download either the LDS Standard Works or the KJV Holy Bible 
  2. On the phone, go into settings -> sd card & phone storage, and make sure the “use for usb storage” option is checked.
  3. Attach you G1 to your computer
  4. copy the scriptures.db file to your sd card.
  5. Detach the G1 from the computer
  6. On the phone, go into settings -> sd card & phone storage, and uncheck the “use for usb storage”.
  7. Within the Scripture application open up the preferences and point the program at the location where you put the scriptures on the sd card. The file location should being with ‘/sdcard’

Tethered Device (complements of Scott Hawker):

  1. Download either the Holy Bible or the LDS Standard Works and unzip the db file. Note from Dave: You can now download the db files without needing to unzip them. This should eliminate the need for the tethered part of the process.
  2. copy the scriptures.db file to your sd card.
  3. On the phone, go into settings -> sd card & phone storage, and uncheck the “use for usb storage”.
  4. In the settings, go to applications, and check the “unknown sources” checkbox.
  5. Then download the app using your phone’s browser, it will be obvious what to do from there.

Emulator:

  1. Install the Android SDK
  2. Download the APK (the actual program)
  3. Download either the Holy Bible or the LDS Standard Works
  4. Create a sd card image
  5. Start up the emulator, making sure to mount the sd card as part of the start up.
  6. Install the program
    7. adb install androidscriptures.apk
  7. Put the database on the SD card.
    8. adb push scriptures.db /sdcard/scriptures.db
  8. Run the app.

Future plans:

  1.  
    • Download selection dialog when initially installing the application
    • Utility for importing custom/additional content into new or existing databases. Initially will use ThML or OSIS. Samples can be found in the GoBible source repository
    • 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

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.

By Dave 7:52

49 Responses

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  1. Ben says

    This is awesome! I’ve been waiting to get the LDS standard works on my G1. Thanks so much! I’m sure there’s going to be huge demand for this app!

    31 October 2008, 6:33
  2. Gami says

    i like it but im not able to download the zip and unzipped files onto my pc to then transfer it to my G1

    1 November 2008, 22:08
  3. Tom says

    Thanks for the app but I couldnt download the bible file directly to my g1 as the file type isnt supported. Oh, if you could put in a page turning feature that would be awesome! Definitely an answer to my prayers though.

    2 November 2008, 2:17
  4. Isaac says

    Thanks for your hard work… it’s nice to have the lds standard works on my phone!

    2 November 2008, 10:11
  5. Jarrad says

    Love the idea,still trying to figure out how to get scriptures downloaded to my G1. I have already dwnloaded the app. Great job

    2 November 2008, 11:20
  6. Jarrad Blackshear says

    Love it, still trying to figure out how to download the scriptures to my G1. I have got the app from the apps market. Need help getting them to my phone, love the app though.!!!!!!!

    2 November 2008, 11:24
  7. kee says

    Any chance for different versions like ESV? Thanks.

    2 November 2008, 11:30
  8. Ben says

    Admin – Will there be any other translations of the scriptures available in the near future (NIV, NKJV, NASB, etc…..). Thanks a bundle for this app. God Bless.

    2 November 2008, 11:32
  9. Chad says

    This is a great app!! I would be very interested in the highlighting and notes add on. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

    2 November 2008, 12:04
  10. sean says

    jerusalem bible please!

    2 November 2008, 13:39
  11. Rico Maranto says

    Dave,

    I downloaded the app. It works well!

    I would like to buy a program that has the following features:
    *Bookmarks
    *Notes
    *Highlighting (underline and highlight with different color options)
    *Search
    *Index (ability to create a keyword index)

    The more LDS docs, the better!

    I recently upgraded from a Treo to the G1. I had Mark My Scriptures (www.skimware.com) on my Treo and really liked it. MMS won’t be available for the G1 so I’m looking for a comparable program and hoping you can provide it.

    Thanks!
    Rico Maranto

    2 November 2008, 15:39
  12. Brandon says

    Nice job, I’m excited about this.
    I just installed it and haven’t even run it, but I’m already wondering if you might be able to get your program to read the books over at http://www.olivetree.com/ ? they’ve got several different versions of the bible available, some for pay and some for free.

    2 November 2008, 16:39
  13. Wayne says

    I think that when your done this is going to be what everyone wants to download. Keep up the great work.

    2 November 2008, 18:24
  14. ryan says

    Cool app. Maybe a feature that would be really helpful would to be able to feed a URL and have it snag a list of scriptures mentioned on the URL and build a “quicklist”

    The use case in mind would be to hit the lds.org page for the instructors manual for a sunday school lesson, and have it grab the list of scriptures that will likely be used in the lesson that day.

    3 November 2008, 8:43
  15. vernon says

    Very good! Now if only we could get the other lds tools on there. :) Thanks so much!

    A few suggestions on the app though.
    1) Use the accelerometer to switch between portrait and landscape. (I’d prefer to read in landscape, but with the keyboard closed)
    2) flick/scroll to change sections or chapters. left/right goes to previous/next, and up and down scrolls the chapter/section. perhaps even next chapter/section after continued scrolling at the bottom.
    3) Is there any way to shrink the button size at the top. The “bread crumbs” or navigation links? I’d like those smaller taking up less space. But just personal preference I suppose. Perhaps instead of buttons, use underlined text like web links?

    3 November 2008, 9:21
  16. Steve says

    I love the app but one thing you could add that would be nice is a flick feature… You can move forward or back a chapter by flicking left or right.

    3 November 2008, 13:32
  17. Ted Weidman says

    a bookmark setting would be nice

    3 November 2008, 14:48
  18. John says

    I know you’ve thought of this already, but just hoping someday the NIV and other versions might become available. Thanks for what you’ve done already :)

    3 November 2008, 18:06
  19. Adam Gessel says

    Hello Dave,
    I was wondering if you would need any help developing this software. I was going to start a scripture project on my own for Android, but saw this. I am also LDS and am interesting in helping you in any way I can. Thanks,
    Adam Gessel

    30 December 2008, 18:10
  20. gilbert delatorre says

    Thanks for being ahead of game plan, I just bought G1 phone, it has bible, but I need book of mormon.
    Gilbert

    1 January 2009, 18:10
  21. Dave says

    The Book of Mormon is included in the LDS Standard Works, which can be downloaded from this website or from within the program itself.

    2 January 2009, 10:08
  22. George Stratton says

    Thank you so much for this program! I love having my scriptures back (moved from a Palm to the G1 and sorely missed them); can’t wait to see those future plans come along! ^_^

    13 January 2009, 20:37
  23. Dan Ormsby says

    Thanks for doing this. I have used Mark My Scriptures for years with my Treo 650 but I have had nothing for my G1. Thanks, Dan

    18 January 2009, 15:29
  24. me says

    Topical guide index footnote etc. Would be great

    19 January 2009, 22:10
  25. Frank says

    OK notes of huge pieces of text that are missing. First are the Chapter Previews and second the Preface to the Book of Mormon.

    25 January 2009, 22:51
  26. Micah Rodriguez says

    I love this app. Nothing better then reading D&C or BOM while on the go. But i was wondering is there any way to get spanish scriptures on here or portuguese ? That would be awesome. And maybe an app for hymns ? if there is one out there let me thank you once again for your excellent product.

    26 January 2009, 7:50
  27. Dave says

    http://scriptures.digitalbias.com/faq.html has the answers to both of your questions.

    26 January 2009, 7:52
  28. Peter says

    Wow, what a great public service! Thanks

    30 January 2009, 11:00
  29. Peter says

    I have tried installing the latest version of this program; after it installs, it says that the program ended unexpectedly. Any ideas?

    30 January 2009, 14:24
  30. m anderson says

    Installed this on my G1 but this app (0.3.1) doesnt recognize the scripture database and eventually does a forceclose. Continually asks whether to download or choose a database. Fixes for this?

    15 March 2009, 8:14
  31. Dave says

    The FAQ has some suggestions.

    15 March 2009, 20:04
  32. Cary says

    Used version 0.3.1: I think I specified the wrong db file (there were several stacked too closely together to know if I got the right one or not), and it crashed on the first run. I’ve tried reinstalling it, but each time it is reinstalled (since it keeps all previous user data) it crashes when it is run.

    Is there a way around this? Can the user data be deleted so that it can be installed as if completely new again?

    18 March 2009, 13:16
  33. Chris says

    Dave!

    Thanks for making this app available to us, especially free of charge! Looking forward to the planned updates, especially the search function. Is there any way to add the topical guide? Anyway, just wanted to let you know your efford is appreciated!

    Chris

    7 May 2009, 4:42
  34. Matt says

    I followed the instructions under “Tethered Device” and it worked great. The only problem is the screen background is black and the letters are not bright enough to read. what do i do?

    7 June 2009, 1:27
  35. Tony says

    I love the reader. Is there any update on when we might see the importer mentioned in the future plans section? I use another reader to read the TXT books that I have and your reader is much better.

    24 August 2009, 11:51
  36. jesse jorge says

    Hello there. I know that the android apps had just begun, but I´m from Brazil and I´m asking this to a lot of people who develops lds applications. Is that a schedule or anything like it about doing the androidscripture on portuguese? I have a HTC hero and can´t wait to have that in my device.
    Thanks for this great app!

    6 October 2009, 7:34
  37. Ken Ewald says

    Nice job. Works fine on HTC Hero. Thank you.

    If possible, could you add two finger zooming.

    1 November 2009, 21:12
  38. isaac d says

    this app doesnt want to work on my motorola droid! is there any idea why or another place where i can get my scriptures??

    12 November 2009, 10:47
  39. Dave says

    I’ve tested this as best as I can with the emulator and it appears to work fine in both Android 1.6 and Android 2.0. If you could tell me what the exact problem is, that might help narrow down the area for me to look in.

    14 November 2009, 17:13
  40. Derek says

    I’m also excited about this app on my mytouch. Thank you for making it possible. I’m also curious about multi-language files. I participate very frequently in portuguese speaking wards and would love to have them in the portuguese language.

    19 November 2009, 20:22
  41. Mike Richmond says

    Hi,

    I was able to load and install the Android Scriptures app on my
    T-Mobile Cliq, the phone says that the scripture .db files are an “Invalid database” and will not load. It makes no difference whether I try do download the .db file or copy them form locations on my laptop.

    Any suggestions?

    Thanks, Mike

    20 December 2009, 19:21
  42. clifton waite says

    Why is this program no longer showing up on the android market?

    23 December 2009, 9:01
  43. Jon says

    Android Scriptures is not available on the Android Market any longer, any suggestions?

    29 December 2009, 22:40
  44. Dave says

    http://blog.digitalbias.com/2010/01/09/scrptures-0-4-1/ should fix your problems. This version has also been uploaded to the market, so you should now see it there again.

    9 January 2010, 17:48
  45. Sterling says

    I have a Droid A855 (standard Verizon Droid) and I was getting runtime errors when loading, databases could never be downloaded, and I couldn’t run the program. Thanks to google, I found the solution here!! :D
    1. Download the app in the marketplace on your droid
    2. Download LDS.db above on the computer
    3. Connect the droid to your computer, set for USB storage (don’t forget the proper drivers!! Win7 users, that’s done automagically for you ;) )
    4. Go to your sdcard (the root folder) and then navigate to the “scriptures” folder
    5. Place the downloaded LDS.db in that folder
    6. On the droid: Turn off USB mode
    7. Unplug the USB cable (just for kicks)
    8. In the scriptures app: Press the menu button and go to “Preferences”
    9. In “Database Location” change the scriptures.db to LDS.db
    10. Press OK and you’re done!! :D
    11. Enjoy the full LDS Standard Works!!

    Note to publisher: First off, THANK YOU FOR THIS APP!!!! Second, I would love to beta test for you so we can solve little problems like this BEFORE it’s released!! ;) The big problem with this version was that it looks for scriptures.db in the DB Location, but it should be looking for LDS.db instead. Plus the download DB function in the app doesn’t work, maybe find a new server for that?

    THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU again!!! :D :D :D

    4 July 2010, 14:30
  46. Dean says

    Awesome seems to be working ok now..firstly i had all the wrong data bases loaded kept force closing…but seems great now, thanks to Dave i believe it is. Is ther any sites with more databases on extra libraries? Thanks alot.

    7 November 2010, 16:57
  47. Mantas Jurkuvenas says

    Hello,
    I want to create a date base for your program, for Lithuanian scriptures. I have them in HTML format. if you could tell me how do i make db. what software to use. you can contact me at mantas(at)ctr.lt

    6 February 2011, 10:24

Continuing the Discussion

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  2. The Edge » Blog Archive » Technology Helps Us Grow linked to this post on 23 February 2009

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