Today we’re happy to announce 96 languages and 160 versions available in the Bible.is suite of applications. The text and audio experience of Bible.is touches the lives of hundreds of thousands of users, and we can’t wait to see that experience extend to more people.

Grab the free Bible app for iPhone or Android and listen to God speak in the heart language of people around the world. Hear languages like Ilocano, spoken by over 9 million people in the Luzon region of the Philippines. Or Sisaala Tumulung, spoken in Ghana and Burkina Faso. All around the world, people are reading and listening to the Bible, right from their mobile phones.

We’re carrying forward the mission of Faith Comes By Hearing, the makers of Bible.is, to “reach and disciple the world’s poor and illiterate people with the Word of God in audio.” Join us in this mission by telling friends about the mission and about the apps. Yes, we’re excited today and for those of us in English-speaking countries. We also know that internet connectivity and smart mobile devices are going to be everywhere soon, and we want people to have access to the Bible in a format their heart can understand. 96 languages is the most of any application available for iPhone and Android, but we won’t stop until all languages are available.

As we gear up for Thanksgiving, we want to thank God for you, our users, for allowing us to help Him change lives through His Word in audio.

To start reading, listening, & sharing to the full language catalog, visit the Languages page. Or, just download the app for iPhone, iPad, or Android to take Bible.is with you.

Bible Programs makes reading & listening every day fun. Enjoy six programs to fit your style.

Bible.is for Android, the best free Bible App for Android, now makes reading, listening to, and sharing the Bible easier than ever–in over 72 languages. (Don’t have it yet? Just visit www.bible.is/download from your Android device.)

Highlights in this update: listen continuously, take notes & highlight, and enjoy an enhanced Programs experience.

Read on for the full scoop on what’s new, and be sure to join our Bible.is Facebook community or follow us on Twitter.

Enjoy Listening Continuously, Chapter after Chapter

Now, Bible.is for Android will automatically load the next chapter in the background so you can listen to as much of the Bible as you want, for as a long as you want.

Take Notes on any Verse

Tap on a any verse and enjoy a simple, streamlined notes interface that puts the verse you selected front and center, with a notebook-like area underneath to take down all your thoughts.

Highlight in Four Different Colors

Tap on any verse and enjoy the ability to highlight it in four different colors. It’s great for simple Bible study.

Programs Improvements

We’ve improved the Bible.is Programs experience from start to finish. Now you can easily see your current programs, check your progress, and enjoy a more fluid progression between assignments. Plus, once you’re done with a program, you can easily start it again or keep it in your “Completed Programs” list to note your achievement.

Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements

From the main reading & listening area to Programs mode, we’ve fixed numerous bugs (thanks for reporting them!). We’ve also made it easier to get copyright info for any version.

Join the Bible.is Community Today, Your Way

• www.facebook.com/Bibleis for daily inspiration, dialog, and updates
• www.twitter.com/Bibleis for a chapter a day, Bible tech tweets, and updates
• http://support.bible.is for feature requests and an awesome support staff

The new Bible search feature shows you how many times a word or phrase appears in each book.

The Bible App for iPhone that has changed countless lives with an immersive reading/listening experience is better than ever. You can now enjoy an all-new search experience that puts results in stunning clarity. Programs are funner and more intuitive (thanks to all the users who helped us with great feedback for Programs!).

We hope you continue to enjoy the free Bible app, and may the Word of God bless you richly!

New Keyword Search Results

• Search is now available right from the reading/listening view
• After searching, instantly see how many times the word appears in each book of the Bible
• Tap ‘List’ to get a nicely ordered list of results in one swoop
• Keyword search works with single words or phrases

Lookup a Specific Passage

• Search takes you to a specific passage of your current version instantly!
• Example: to go to John 3:16, tap “Search,” enter “John 3:16,” tap Go, and you’re there!
• Note: To use this feature, enter book names as they appear when you browse your list of available books.

Enhanced Programs Usability

• Bible.is now has 6 different Programs to fit your style & schedule
• Your location in Programs is stored; start right where you left off each time you open Bible.is
• Once you start a Program, you’ll see it at the top of your list of Programs
• Once you complete a Program, it shows as “Completed” in your list of Programs.
• Plus, start it again with one tap!

Rich Audio Playback

• The interface for audio-only languages displays beautiful album artwork as you listen
• Redesigned audio controls look and feel great
• The audio progress bar now shows the exact timing for your current chapter, including total length
• Moving to different locations via the audio progress bar is smoother Languages Available

Join the Community!

• Join the Bible.is community at www.facebook.com/Bibleis
• Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Bibleis
• Get fabulous support and submit feature requests at http://support.bible.is

Faith Comes By Hearing is focused on recording and distributing the Bible in what we refer to as one’s “heart language.” Dictionary.com lists 17 definitions for “heart”. The first two are biological, but the next three are:

• the center of the total personality
• the center of emotion
• capacity for sympathy; feeling affection; spirit, courage, or enthusiasm

When the right information is in someone’s heart language, a transformation can occur.  This truth hit home to me in a big way a few years ago and has stayed with me ever since.

I had received a Christian prayer in an email from a pastor friend. The prayer used the word “spirit” instead of God, Lord or Holy Spirit—words I am used to when referencing Jesus. To me it seemed very new age and not very Christian. I asked the pastor about it, who told me it was a prayer from a Christian Native American tribe. In hindsight, the prayer was in their heart language—it used the words that spoke best to their hearts. To me the language seemed foreign and potentially blasphemous, but to the tribe it could not have been more holy.

Audio Bibles in Heart Languages change people's lives forever

I realized, then, that if they were only allowed to hear or read the Bible in my language, with my cultural subjectivity injected, they would not be able to connect with the truth in it. Some people love the King James Version of the Bible because it is what they have heard their whole lives and the language to which they connect. I prefer more modern language because I am a more recent Christian and also because I have read the Bible all the way through in a more modern version than the King James..

On January 9, 2009, an article appeared in one of France’s leading newspapers, Le Monde, in which Henry Tourneux, who has been associated with development projects in Africa for many years, tells of how development efforts have failed because they did not take the language of the people into account.  In one example, a family planning program translated contraception as “close the road to children”.  As you can imagine, the message was not well received.  They could have used a metaphor well-known to the culture such as “space out sorghum plants in the field”.  Henry Tourneux has many such examples, which is why he is trying to get language recognized as a key issue in development.

At Bible.is we believe that if we are going to reach people around the world with our Audio Bible app and text Bible app, it needs to do more than just translate the written and spoken Word. In fact, it is vital that we speak to them in their heart language. This is why our recording professionals are indigenous to the culture where we distribute our Audio Bibles and Bible app.

At Faith Comes by Hearing we have been giving the Bible away in print and audio for over 35 years. As we release our Bible apps for iPhone, Facebook, and Android in more and more languages, we will be reaching out in the native heart language of our listeners. This will help them better understand and relate to the Bible, and ultimately the Word of God.

Join with me in welcoming a new member to the Bible.is family, born on iTunes just a couple hours ago: Bible.is Bible App for iPad!

Bible.is for iPad - the newest member of the Bible.is family

Yep, we’re excited to let you know that Bible.is for iPhone v1.3 has native support for iPad baked right in! This support means you can have the best reading, listening, and sharing experience possible on your iPad.

Download Bible.is for iPad from the App Store now, and let us know what you think via email, Facebook, or Twitter.

Full Details on What’s New in Version 1.3

iPad, iPad, iPad!

• We’ve designed the iPad UI from the ground up to give iPad users the best Bible experience possible
• All the features of Bible.is for iPhone are available for iPad
• Use Bible.is for iPad in portrait or landscape view (landscape view is especially nice for Programs)
• iPad support is baked right in to the application–no need to download separate apps for iPhone or iPad

User interface enhancements

• When you press the “Back” button from the Bible view, you can easily see the version that is currently selected
• The loading experience is more fluid and clear throughout the app
• When searching for a version, you can easily see the content available and who provided it
• You can now cancel a download if you’re a bit short on time

Various bug fixes

• We’ve resolved lots of bugs reported by you, our amazing users!
• If the app crashes for you, please email support@bible.is right away

Join us at facebook.com/Bibleis or follow us on twitter.com/Bibleis

“So, what does this app do?”

It’s a common question. When we get it, our eyes light up and we can’t help but explore: What’s special about being able to listen to and read the Bible at the same time?

As you probably know, the new, completely free Bible app from Bible.is enables anyone who has an iPhone, an Android, or is on Facebook to listen to and read the Bible. This Bible app offers high quality audio in a growing number of languages and Bible versions.

With our busy lives, we often multi-task. It’s difficult to focus on reading or listening. If you have ever read anything and have had issues with your mind wandering, or tried listened to an audio book and been distracted,

you can imagine how having both your eyes and ears engaged significantly improves your ability comprehend.

Organizations that specialize in studying this effect call it “supported” listening.

Benefits of reading while listening:

• Improve listening skills
• Increase vocabulary
• Improve word recognition skills
• Improve comprehension skills
• Teach the proper pronunciation of words
• Develop a sense of narrative structure

• 

  Learn to “see” a story by visualizing the narrative rather than relying on illustrations

• Deepen their understanding of the diverse ways in which language conveys meaning
• Experience a variety of genres and build an understanding of their specific elements
• Develop personal reading preferences through exposure to different genres

For people who have challenges when it comes to reading, “supported” reading can be a very useful tool for learning. Even though you may not have any reading challenges or disabilities like those listed below, you can see how reading while listening to an Audio Bible would help the average or above average reader comprehend and retain more of what is being read.

Reading & listening to the Bible on the Bible.is Bible App Can Help Adults and Children:

• Who have learning disabilities related to reading
• Who are blind or visually impaired
• Who are speech and language delayed
• Who have physical disabilities or medical conditions that prevent them from manipulating text, such as cerebral palsy
• Who are auditory learners
• Gain independence because they can listen to a text straight through, from beginning to end without the help of parent, teacher or other reader

If you have never listened to the Bible while reading it, then you owe it to yourself to have this experience. It is now easier than ever to do so with the free Bible app for  iPhone, bible app for Android, bible app for Facebook, and tools to come.