It’s been about three and a half years since I first addressed the question of PocketBible for the Mac. Things have changed significantly since then, so I thought I’d post an update so I’d have somewhere to direct those of you who ask about PocketBible for the Mac.
As I mentioned in my previous post on this topic from 2007, we’re not anti-Mac here. In fact, since then Jeff and I have converted to almost 100% Mac. For example, my primary desktop machine is a 2.8 GHz dual quad-core Mac Pro on which I run Mac OS (of course) plus both Windows XP and 7 under Parallels. One of my two monitors can be switched to my old PC running Windows XP, but since installing Office for Mac and moving the small amount of Windows development I do to my Mac, I rarely use it.
As you know Jeff and I spend two days each week working “off-site” which for us means taking our laptops to a coffee shop instead of working from home. For those days I carry a basic 13″ MacBook that is configured to do both Android and iPhone development.
Jeff’s configuration is similar but he does more of his day-to-day work on his MacBook Pro. And while the rest of my family runs Windows, Jeff’s is more of a Mac family.
In addition to the Macs, we both have more than one iPad, iPhone and/or iPod touch. I literally sleep with my iPad, which allows me to dispense with the morning email and Facebook updates before I even get up. The point is, we’re far from anti-Mac here, even though there’s no PocketBible for Mac.
In my 2007 article on this topic I focussed on market share. At the time, the Mac represented about 10% of the personal computer market in the US. That was probably overstated. 6% might have been closer to the truth. As near as I can tell it’s around 10% now (Q1 2011). I’ve seen stats based on recording information from website visits that shows Mac OS at 15% in the US, but I haven’t seen that number anywhere other than one study. Everything else I’ve seen is around 10%. With that in mind, my previous discussion of the financial aspects of making the decision to do PocketBible for Mac still applies.
What is different, however, is the amount of Mac-friendly code we now have in hand. Since iOS (the iPhone operating system) is very similar to Mac OS, and since programming for iOS uses the same Objective-C programming language as is used on the Mac, we have quite a library of PocketBible code already ported to the Mac. In fact, in some of my early testing I actually compiled the code for the Mac and displayed the contents of PocketBible LBK files on a Mac rather than an iPhone.
However, while it’s getting easier for us to make the decision to develop for the Mac, one thing that is still an issue is our limited resources. It’s still just me and Jeff here doing programming. Many of you have written to say “just hire more programmers”. That’s a great suggestion, but it ignores reality. Imagine if I came to you and said, “Just buy a new house!” or “Just buy a new car!” Few of you would say, “Oh, yeah, I never thought of that — I’ll just take a few pounds of cash from this pile I keep in my closet and buy a new one.” The reality is that hiring a programmer or two is expensive, and while many of you seem to think that we’re making more money than we can count (“profiteering from the Word of God” as many of you like to say) the reality is that Laridian doesn’t throw off that much cash.
With that in mind, we always have to consider how we make use of our time. One of the things we’ve learned with PocketBible for WIndows is that even though it’s a really nice Windows BIble program, our expertise and customer base is really concentrated on mobile devices. To the extent that a desktop program can interact with, supplement, or enhance our mobile products, it can be successful. But it’s hard for it to be successful on its own as a stand-alone desktop Bible program. So it’s best for us to always first think about mobile platforms before turning our attention to the desktop (be it Windows or Mac).
When we look at our world from that point of view, Android is the obvious place where we need to focus. It is definitely the up-and-coming platform in the mobile space, and Laridian is notoriously absent. We want to be there; we’re working on being there; and we’re going to be there. But the time spent working on Android is time we can’t spend on Mac.
To be honest, we would love to take some time and do a Mac version of PocketBible. So rest assured it’s at the top of the to-do list here. Unfortunately there are several tasks that share that position.
We like Parallels. Install Parallels, then install Windows 7 as a virtual machine inside Parallels. In “Coherence Mode” your PocketBible window will act like another Mac app. That is, it runs in its own window.
With Parallels you don’t have to reboot to switch between operating systems. You just run your Windows apps as if they were Mac apps (kind of).
You dudes are great at Laridian! I just bought a MacBook Pro and love it. I enjoyed the iPad and iPhone so much that I decided to go total Apple. I realize that you have not designed a Mac version yet, even though your iPad is stunning!! I have to say you can tell you started as a mobile software group and it shows on how well your app works on the iPad! Others have apps but they are not as friendly to the iPad as yours…Having said that, I wonder if you can put some kind of timeframe on when a Macbook version of Laridian will come available?
Also, could you give a better description of how to use Parallels with your software. That sounds like a great bandaid to my need to have Laridian on my Mac. You dudes rock! Your new webpage is fantastic, BTW
We don’t normally talk about what we might be working on, but when we do, we do so here. I think it’s pretty obvious from our posts here that we’re focused on iPhone and Android right now, and that there are only two developers here. So it’s not hard to figure out that we’re not currently working on a Mac app. However that could change at any time without notice.
Parallels allows you to install Windows 7 on your MacBook Pro. You just need Parallels and a copy of Windows 7. Follow the instructions with Parallels to install it on your Mac. Once it’s installed, you can simply launch Windows 7 on your Mac, purchase PocketBIble for WIndows, and install it. You can experiment with the different modes in Parallels, but I usually run in “Coherence mode” which displays Windows apps as if they were Mac apps (kind of). That is, they float in their own window as opposed to having the entire screen appear to be a Windows desktop with PocketBible running in it.
It’s kind of expensive (you have to buy a stand-alone copy of Windows 7 plus a copy of Parallels) but you might find other good uses for it. I have a number of Windows programs that I run that way (fewer and fewer as time goes on). It’s handy to have a Windows machine when you need one. (For example, I’ve run into a few government and banking sites that pretty much require Internet Explorer.)
Thank you for all you are doing. I am really blessed by your hard work.
I have spread the word at church about how great Laridian is–have enjoyed immensely on my iPhone. Just want to put in a vote for a version that would function on MacBookPro. Thanks again!
I’ve enjoyed having the ability to install PocketBible on all the platforms I have used–Palm, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile, and now iPhone and iPad. I recently bought a MacBook Pro and I, too, would like a Mac version. Appreciate your efforts!
Any news on this?
I use PB on ipad, iphone (love it!), Windows and also via Parallels on my MacBook Pro (i.e. windows again), but that really isn’t as sweet an experience as it could be.
Please: any news? You (Craig) said back in the beginning of 2011 I think that a Mac OS version was high on your To Do list, but so were other things. Just wondering if there’s any point in keeping my hope set to ‘high’, or should I notch it down to ‘medium’?
Many thanks.
We haven’t made any announcement with respect to a Mac version of PocketBible. But you can tell pretty clearly from our blog who’s doing what. There are just two programmers here. Jon is working full time on Android and I’m picking up everything else plus contributing to Android. You can decide if you think that means I have time to tackle a new platform.
Have you considered trying to get the app to work under Wine? It looks like there has been an attempt to get this to work (see http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=14924). However, it says that PocketBible requires ComCtl32 v5.81 while 5.8 is installed. Would it be possible to work with someone in the Wine community to get this to work?
Any news on when we might see a mac version? This post is old now and I am seriously considering other Bible software that supporst mac.
We haven’t made any announcement with respect to a Mac version of PocketBible.