You can now download PocketBible for Android directly from Google Play. This has the advantage of giving you automatic update notifications and allows those users who cannot install third-party software outside Google Play to download the app. For those of you who have devices that do not have Google Play, you can still download the program directly from us by just entering LPB.cc/android into your Web browser on your Android device.
This doesn’t mean we’re done working on PocketBible for Android. We set a goal for ourselves of having certain features implemented prior to release on Google Play and once that goal was reached we uploaded the program. But we continue to add features. In particular, we need to get notes, highlights, and bookmarks working in the program, along with tracking of your devotional reading progress. These features will be enhanced as compared to our iOS (iPhone/iPad) version, as your data will be kept in continuous sync with “Laridian cloud” instead of requiring you to stop what you’re doing and perform a sync operation manually.
The released version of PocketBible for Android on the Google Play store should install over your “alpha” version. You shouldn’t have to delete the program before installing from Google Play, nor should you have to re-download your Bibles and books when you’re done.
The new version includes built-in help, so the old blog article that contained operating instructions will be retired soon.
We want to thank those of you who have been using the “alpha” versions of PocketBible from our site. We’ve been able to eliminate most of the major show-stopping bugs with your help.
Going forward, if you need help with PocketBible for Android, contact Technical Support through the “Help Desk” link on our website.
Tags: Android, PocketBible
So Craig, et. al. are passing us off to the Support desk.
Well, it was a fun ride over the past year+, working on various versions and working with Craig and Jon.
Aside from the planned enhancements mentioned in the main post, a number of users have suggested other enhancements in the posts. I hope a record of these has been maintained, even if they can’t be implemented immediately. The Google Play reviews make it clear that users want a better Exit method.
Can’t wait to see PB Android 2.0.
Will this eventually also be added to the Amazon App store? Just wondering, as I’ve already sideloaded the most recent version to my Fire.
Bruce,
I keep a master spreadsheet of all the features and redesign work still to be done. Worry not, your feedback has not been in vain!
Jon
Julie,
It is something we have discussed, but would be a ways off even if we did. Our top priority is getting the program in a “finished” state before we try porting to other app ecosystems.
Jon
One last observation and I will quit (I promise). In Google Play/Apps, when I search for Bible study, Bible, Bible apps, etc., Pocket Bible does not appear anywhere in the long lists of apps/books that display. I’m not sure how you move up in these search lists, although I assume you can tag the app with multiple categories. Your competitors compound the problem by listing each of their Bibles/books as separate entries even though they have only one “program.” So, they show up many times. We need for people to type in “Bible study” and see PB near the top of the list. When you take away the ash and the trash, as we used to say in the Army, there are only a handful of true Bible study programs.
Congratulations on reaching the 1.0.1 release milestone!
For the record, and in response to some earlier posts regarding issues with updates via Play Store. I installed a fresh copy of 1.01 on my Galaxy Note II and turned on auto updates. This morning, version 1.02 automatically updated perfectly fine.
Congratulations to Craig and team on releasing to Google Play. This is a great accomplishment. As you continue to work on and improve PocketBible, I have a “small” future feature request.
Could we have some way of having saveable “desktops”. I use PocketBible on my Droid 3 with two windows, and it would be great if I could “easily” move from say, NIV Bible/NIVnotes, to NETBible/NETnotes to Laridian Map/Map Articles without having to go through the multi-step process.
Thanks and congratulations again.
Brian\
Hi Craig
I am using the Windows and Android versions of PocketBible. Will you be optimizing the Windows version for Windows 8 platform? Meanwhile, is it worth trying to use Bluestacks to emulate the Android platform?
God bless.
Thanks for getting the Android release out the door!i have been waiting for this for some time.
I recently bought the HCSB with strongs numbers. The numbers display fine, and the hyperlinks work fine. It is great for when you want to study. But for reading, the strongs numbers are terrible! Can you please add an option to control whether or not they are displayed? Or perhaps display them less intrusively?
Thanks again for making the release to the market. The software is much improved since its initial release.
Ben Stanley
I’ve switched over to Google Play successfully. Well done!
Just noticed that now I have the NIV (1984 version) listed twice in my owned books. One version is 3455kB and the other is 7114kB.
I cannot tell the difference. Any idea why?
Andrew
Oh, and I should mention that your instructions above say that the Play version should install over the previous alpha version. Well Google Play was clever enough to notice that I had the alpha version installed and only offered to uninstall. Which I did and successfully moved up to v1.0.2
Thanks Craig for all the work. Will you be adding a copy verse/verses feature? It was a feature that I greatly missed especially when you want to copy Bible text and verses to notes. Hope it will be added soom. Thanks again.
Thanks for all the hard work getting pb to market. A warning to folks upgrading to the new version, Google Play recognized somehow that I already had it installed and indicated it was up to date.It won’t update automatically and I had to uninstall and reinstall, which deleted all my books. If there is a way around this, it will be most helpful if posted.
Thanks again…any plans for Memorize for Android?
xrosstrainer,
I am currently working on the context menu and plan to implement the ability to copy and share selected verses.
Jon
Pat,
Some device can directly update to the Google Play version and some can’t, but it is totally device dependent. Two tricks I have heard for your situation:
1) Go to Google Play in a web browser (instead of the Google Play app!!) and search for PocketBible, and be sure to be logged into your gmail account. You should see a menu option to install PocketBible onto your devices registered to that gmail account. Usually that works.
2) A few people have had success by manually stopping the app by finding the “Running Apps” section of settings in your device (or using a task killer app) and force stopping PocketBible. Doing so has allowed some people to get the “update” button to appear inside of the Google Play app.
Hope at least one of those helps,
Jon
Some devices will also accept a download automatically. My Motorola Milestone X required my intervention. I went to update my wife’s Samsung Galaxy S only to find that it had automatically updated with out ANY intervention! How cool is that? Some programs I want to know before an update. Laridian products should be always allowed to just update automatically. Thanks for all the hard work and I am looking forward to the automatic sync with the Laridian server.
As others have noted, updating from Play leaves much to be desired. I find it more convenient to periodically download directly from the laridian site. If there has been no update it simply reinstalls the current version. Play has too much claptrap for me.
Ivan?!?!? I don’t think anyone has said updating from Play leaves much to be desired. There is nothing wrong with it.
They APK download that Laridian continues to offer is mostly for people who don’t have access to Google Play. I’m not sure why you wouldn’t want to get it from Google Play if you have access to Google Play. At worst do one uninstall and one reinstall. You’ll be happy you did. It will save you some time.
I have a Samsung S Blaze 4G. I loaded and installed PB today. Everything worked fine. There were no issues with the installation. I am assuming that since I left the “Auto Update” box checked, I will receive your future updates.
May I also assume that if the Bibles/books are updated I will receive those also?
My greatest desire is that I could have installed PB and the Bibles solely on my SD card. I do not have that option for PB that I can see from the “Managing Applications” function on my phone. For other apps, I can do that.
Thanks for all your great work. Keep it up.