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Your Security is Our Priority

Over the last few days, GoDaddy has been busy revoking over 400,000 SSL certificates. What does that mean to you? It means that nearly half a million web admins woke up this morning to discover nobody could access their websites.

GoDaddy claims that they re-issued certificates and made those available to the affected sites. What they really did was told us on October 14 that we had until October 23 to fix the problem ourselves by re-keying our certificates, even though the Rulers of the Internet had told them they needed to revoke them by October 18. On October 18 they told us we only had until October 21.

They sent us an email that could be interpreted to mean “here are the replacement certificates” but which also included instructions for how to fix them yourself. That worked for a couple minor certificates we had.

The problem was our main laridian.com / www.laridian.com certificate. It is an “extended verification” certificate, which means that GoDaddy not only verifies that the site is secure, but that Laridian is the owner of the site, and that we really exist. This verification process takes about a month, so sometime around this time of year it begins.

So we didn’t have an updated certificate, nor a current one that could be re-keyed. We won’t get that until closer to January 7. But we got revoked anyway.

I woke up at 4AM this morning, thinking I’d use the early morning to work on a personal project before getting into my day. A quick check of email revealed that our certificate had been revoked. I spent from 4AM to about 2PM doing nothing but trying to get us back online. The website was up around 9:30, but we still don’t have email as of 2:30.

On a positive note, not having email meant that I could work the problem without having to deal with email from frustrated customers who couldn’t get to the website. It’s not looking promising for having email fixed any time soon (that’s a whole different story).

Anyway, that’s why we haven’t been reachable today.

EDIT: I got tired of waiting for my ISP to solve the email problem, so I logged in and turned the email server off and back on again. Problem solved. So we were back online by the end of the day.

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An Open Letter to Yahoo Email Users

It’s in your spam folder.

Again, all the email you’ve been looking for is in your spam folder.

Yahoo is notorious for routing lots of your non-spam email to your spam folder. So check your spam folder.

When we get an email in tech support that says, “I’ve written to you 3 times and you never respond,” we know right away that you have a Yahoo email address. We did respond, but it went to your spam folder. And of course we can’t tell you “check your spam folder” because the message telling you to check your spam folder will end up… in your spam folder.

Best Practice for Spam

There is not a perfect email client nor a perfect spam prevention policy on email servers. So as a user of email, you need to develop habits to make sure you’re getting all your email.

  1. Understand how your email client works. Does it put things in folders like “newsletters”, “promotions”, etc.? If so, look for a way to have it show all your email so that you don’t miss anything.
  2. Find your spam folder and check it every day.
  3. Switch to gmail.com or outlook.com for email. They have good spam filters but are don’t have as many false positives as Yahoo. Yahoo is well-known for being awful.

At Laridian we operate our own mail server, of course. we use a service that quarantines spam for us. However, every morning I go through the last 24 hours worth of spam to verify that none of your emails have been falsely accused of being spam.

Then what good is a spam filter, you might ask? Well, it’s much easier to filter through 100 spam emails all at one time than have to deal with them intermingled with your real mail. It’s easier to spot patterns and quickly recognize what’s good and what’s bad.

So…. it’s in your spam folder.

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PocketBible 3 for macOS Released

The latest version of PocketBible for macOS (version 3) is now available!

This version requires a Mac with Apple Silicon (M-series or A-series processor). With Apple quickly abandoning Intel, it’s unlikely we’ll do a version of PocketBible 3 for Intel processors. Instead, we’ll continue to distribute version 1.4 for those who want to get the last bit of life out of their older, Intel-based Mac.

This new version is built from the same code that powers PocketBible 3 for Windows. Or rather, we should say that the Windows version is built from the same code that powers PocketBible 3 for macOS. We’re 100% macOS-based here, so all development was done on the Mac. The framework we use (Electron) allows us to build for Windows by simply building the app on a Windows machine. Once that version was released, we simply packaged up the Mac version we had already been using and made it available here.

Version 3 can be installed alongside the current version (1.4.2) of PocketBible for macOS. The two versions don’t interfere or cooperate with each other. They are entirely separate apps.

Your Advanced Feature Set subscription for PocketBible 1.4.2 for macOS will enable the Advanced Feature Set in PocketBible 3.

If you have the “Legacy AFS for PocketBible for macOS” (purchased before the AFS became a subscription), almost all the AFS features in version 3 will be enabled. The exception is the ability to view HTML documents that link to PocketBible. That is a new feature added in version 3, so it is not part of the legacy AFS.

Click here to read more about PocketBible 3 and to download.

If you want to keep your old PocketBible 1.4.2, just answer “Keep Both” when macOS warns you that you already have an app called “PocketBible”. It will add a number onto the name of the app, so it will likely be called “PocketBible 2”. That’s not a version number; it’s just means it’s the second app called “PocketBible” that you installed.

Are You Abandoning my Intel-Based Mac?

We’re not, Apple is. All new Macs since about 2023 have been Apple Silicon-based. macOS 26, released late in 2025, is the last version of macOS that will run on Intel-based Macs. Apple will discontinue support and security updates for that version of macOS in late 2028.

We plan to make the older version of PocketBible available at least through 2026 and to offer tech support no longer than October 31, 2028.

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PocketBible 3 for macOS Soft Launch

The latest version of PocketBible for macOS (version 3) is available for those who want to give it a try before we formally roll it out. Download link is below. But first, here are a few things you might want to know.

  • Version 3 requires a Mac with Apple Silicon (M-series or A-series processor). With Apple quickly abandoning Intel, it’s unlikely we’ll do a version of PocketBible 3 for Intel processors.
  • This new version is built from the same code that powers PocketBible 3 for Windows.
  • Version 3 can be installed alongside the current version (1.4.2) of PocketBible for macOS. The two versions don’t interfere or cooperate with each other. They are entirely separate apps.
  • Your Advanced Feature Set subscription for PocketBible 1.4.2 for macOS will enable the Advanced Feature Set in PocketBible 3.
  • If you have the “Legacy AFS for PocketBible for macOS” (purchased before the AFS became a subscription), almost all the AFS features in version 3 will be enabled. The exception is the ability to view HTML documents that link to PocketBible.

Click here to download the DMG. Launch it and drag the app to your Applications folder. The icon (left) looks different than the version 1 icon, so you should be able to tell them apart.

If you want to keep your old PocketBible 1.4.2, just answer “Keep Both” when macOS warns you that you already have an app called “PocketBible”. It will add a number onto the name of the app, so it will likely be called “PocketBible 2”. That’s not a version number; it’s just means it’s the second app called “PocketBible” that you installed.

If you run into any problems, just report them to tech support. Let them know you’re running version 3.

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Best of the Advanced Feature in PocketBible 3 for Windows

PocketBible for Windows went from having the worst to the best set of features in its Advanced Feature Set (AFS). Let’s take a quick look at what we get in the AFS for PocketBible 3 for Windows.

Appearance Improvements

An AFS subscription gives you three times more color schemes to choose from. Or, if you feel creative, define your own custom color scheme. Custom color schemes control every color used by the app, not just text and background colors in your books.

Layout Improvements

With the Advanced Feature Set, you can name your screen layout, then create an entirely new one, perhaps for a different purpose. You can have one layout for personal Bible study and another for Sunday morning. If you name your layout “Today”, pressing the Today’s Reading button on the toolbar won’t just take you to today’s reading in your favorite devotional, but will open the Today layout where you can have the devotionals, reading plans, and Bibles open that you use for daily reading.

Named layouts open some other possibilities. Expand a single book into an entire, full-screen layout. Or expand a single pane containing one or more books into new layout. Finally, you can expand the tabs of a single pane into parallel panes in a new layout. This last one is an easy way to create parallel Bibles.

Library Search

An AFS subscription enables a new feature in the Study Panel called Library Search. Search your entire library or just a selection of books in your library for words and phrases. Sort by frequency of occurrence of your search term, or sort books in alphabetical order. Choose a result launch a full search of the book, including supplemental searches like “same root word” and “sounds like”.

And new to PocketBible in this version 3 for Windows — export your Library Search results to an external window. From there you can print, save, or copy the results of your search.

Journal Notes

We’re happy to bring Journal Notes to the Windows version for the first time. This popular feature lets you create notes that aren’t tied to a Bible verse or a reference book, but rather are accessed by their title.

View HTML Files

The idea of exporting lists in PocketBible to external windows very quickly led to the ability to view HTML files in external windows, with active Bible reference links back into your PocketBible Bible. Plus, any references that you link to PocketBible will have “hover” support. Rest your mouse cursor on the link and PocketBible will pop up the text of the verse.

Library Navigator

The Library Navigator displays a list of everywhere the current verse in the active Bible is referenced in each book in your library, making it easy to find related commentary or background discussion for any verse in the Bible

Autostudy

The Advanced Feature Set introduces Autostudy to PocketBible for Windows for the first time. This feature allows you to select any group of books, then produce a report showing what every book in your selected books has to say about the chosen verse or word. You can also use it to output everything you need for today’s devotional reading — the article of the devotional itself, plus the text of any verses you need to read from your favorite Bible.

We’ve also brought AI Insights to PocketBible for Windows from the iOS version of the app. Integrated into the Autostudy feature, AI Insights uses ChatGPT to deliver thoughtful commentary, historical and linguistic background, and deeper understanding of the text. With carefully designed prompts, it draws on resources beyond your library to provide Bible-centered, informative insights that enrich your studies.

It also wrote that previous paragraph, by the way. 🙂

Named Highlight Colors

With AFS features enabled, you can assign names to your highlight colors to remind you what each color means.

Text-to-Speech

Just as it does on other platforms, PocketBible 3 for Windows uses built-in text-to-speech capabilities in Windows to read the Bible — or any of your books — to you.

Rather than read about it, why not download PocketBible 3 for Windows and give it a try? You can install it without removing previous versions — they neither interfere with nor interact with each other.

Download PocketBible Now
Learn More About the Advanced Feature Set
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Best of the Standard Features in PocketBible 3 for Windows

It’s difficult to write briefly about this version of PocketBible. Here are some of the things we like best about this new version of PocketBible.

Flexible Layout

Resize panes. Split panes horizontally or vertically to add a new book or group of books. No longer are you limited to only one type of book like you were in version 1, and no longer are you limited to only a certain layout like you were in version 2.

Customizable Appearance

Would you prefer the toolbar across the bottom of the screen? Just change it in Settings. Prefer the Study Panel on the right instead of the left? Change that, too, while you’re there.

PocketBible 1 was almost too customizable when it came to fonts, font sizes, and colors. These applied only to specific types of panes, so to change colors across the board, you had to change colors in several places. Same with fonts and sizes. PocketBible 3 makes it straightforward to change font, text size, and color scheme.

And when you change the text size for your books and Bibles, other text in the app gets bigger or smaller right along with it. On top of that, you can zoom or un-zoom the entire app with a single press of Ctrl++ or Ctrl+-.

Searches

We’ve ported our newer search algorithm from iOS, Android, and macOS to this Windows version. Now when you search for a word, you’ll also find instances where words that sound like what you’re looking for, and other instances where words have the same or similar root word as the one you’re looking for. Exact matches will be at the top of the results list, of course, but these other searches will be available, too.

Notes

We’ve ported the rich text noted editor, similar to what we use on other platforms, to Windows. If you want something bold, just press Ctrl+B or select the “bold” button. No more trying to remember weird HTML tags to do a simple task.

External Windows

Search results, both of your books and your notes, lists of bookmarks, and lists of highlighted verses can all be exported to an external window. You can save, print, or copy from these windows. When you’re done with them you can close them, or leave them open and they’ll be there the next time you launch PocketBible

Compatibility with All Our Bibles

A few years back we found we had to make changes to our Bible format in order to make it easier to release new translations of the Bible. We were able to update the iOS, Android, and macOS versions of PocketBible, but in a story too sad for this blog, we couldn’t update the Windows versions — until now. The new version of PocketBible works with all our Bibles. Seems like that would have happened sooner. We agree. But it’s here now.

Automatic Sync of User-Created Data

PocketBible 1 for Windows Desktop required you to manually sync your data to our server. PocketBible 2 for Windows Store required you to pay to even use those features. In PocketBible 3, synchronization of your notes, highlights, bookmarks, and devotional reading progress is automatic — or manual if you prefer. You can more easily keep all your devices in sync. And it’s included in the standard feature set.

Cloud Library

Originally in PocketBible 1, each book had to be manually downloaded and installed using the Windows installer process. We eventually wrote a Cloud Library app, but it was a stand-alone, separate app that could be hard for some to find and use. PocketBible 2 had an integrated Cloud Library functionality, but it was finicky and to be honest, even when it worked it wouldn’t display the correct download progress percentage. And sometimes it would just start downloading books whether you wanted it to or not. The Cloud Library function in PocketBible 3 is built-in, easy-to-use, and reliable.

More Standardized User Interface

PocketBible 2 for Windows Store was originally designed for Windows Phone. (I bet you didn’t know that.) So it had some behaviors that made sense on a phone but were mystifying on the desktop. For example, right-click caused the toolbars to be displayed — toolbars we all thought should always be visible. To get the menu you normally get when you right-click, you had to press and hold the mouse button. Navigating back and forth by pages required hitting hidden buttons. In PocketBible 3, the toolbar is always at the top of the screen (or the bottom if you prefer), and right-click always displays a context menu as expected.

Rather than read about it, why not download PocketBible 3 for Windows and give it a try? You can install it without removing previous versions — they neither interfere with nor interact with each other.

Download PocketBible Now

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PocketBible 3 for Windows is Now Live!

Sunday, November 2, 2025 — Today we released the long-awaited PocketBible 3 for Windows. The new app is available for download from our website.

Coincident with this release, the old Windows Desktop (version 1), Windows Store (version 2), and Windows Phone versions of PocketBible have been retired.

How To Upgrade

Current users of the Windows Desktop version of PocketBible who are running Windows 10 or 11 can update by syncing their user data (notes, highlights, bookmarks, and devotional reading progress) to our server (assuming you’ve been doing that from time to time and want to keep this data), then download the new version by following the instructions below.

Current users of the Windows Store version of PocketBible who are running Windows 10 or 11 can update by syncing their user data (notes, highlights, bookmarks, and devotional reading progress) to our server (assuming you have the Advanced Feature Set, which is required in order to use that feature on the Windows Store version of PocketBible), then download the new version by following the instructions below.

To install PocketBible 3 for Windows, go to https://laridian.com and select the Windows platform from the list on the right. Select the large PocketBible graphic and follow the download instructions on that page. The new version doesn’t replace your old version; it’s an entirely new app. Once you’re sure it’s going to work for you, you can remove the old version.

Advanced Feature Set Users

If you own a subscription for the Advanced Feature Set for PocketBible for Windows Store, your subscription will just work on the new version. It will automatically enable the AFS once you launch the new app and register.

If you own the old “legacy” AFS version for PocketBible for Windows Store from before it became a subscription, your AFS will also be recognized by PocketBible 3 once you register. However, you will only have access to the AFS features that are implemented in the new version and were present when you purchased your copy of the AFS. Most of the features of the Windows Store AFS are standard in this new version. The only two features that your legacy AFS will enable are named layouts and text-to-speech. To get the rest of the AFS features, you’ll need a subscription.

Future of Versions 1 and 2

We are stopping distribution of older versions of PocketBible immediately.

We don’t have an official end date for tech support for the older versions, but we will be encouraging everyone with any problems at all to upgrade. We will eventually announce an end to support; probably sooner for version 2 than for version 1, since users of version 2 can likely run version 3, while users of version 2 still running Windows XP, Vista, and 7 won’t be able to run this new version until they upgrade their hardware.

Caveat Emptor

There are sure to be problems for a little while now that this version is getting wider distribution. Our beta testers have been working on it since March, so we have a lot of confidence in it. If you run into problems, contact tech support and let us know.

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PocketBible 3 for Windows — Public Beta Announcement

We’ve reached the point in the testing of PocketBible 3 where we’re ready to let a larger group of people play with it and poke holes in it.

We’ve had a small group of invited testers using it over the last 8 weeks or so. It’s not perfect but it’s very usable. So we’d like to open it up to anyone who’d like to try it.

You can run this new version alongside either or both PocketBible for Windows Desktop (version 1.x) or PocketBible for Windows Store (version 2.x). None of the three versions of PocketBible for Windows interfere with each other, share any data, or even know that the other is there. The exception is if you have notes, highlights, bookmarks, or daily devotional reading progress that you sync to our server and share with PocketBible running on your other devices. In that case, changes you make to your notes (for example) in the beta version will/should show up on your iOS or Android device. And changes on those devices will find their way to this new Windows version.

Because your user-create data (notes, highlights, bookmarks, and devotional reading progress) is important to you, we give you the option to have us make a backup copy as you launch into testing. Then you can either use the beta version while signed into your Laridian account, knowing you can always recover your data as it existed the day you signed up, or you can use the backup account that we create for you to do all your testing in. You won’t be able to sync your user data with your other devices in the latter case, but we encourage you to log into the backup account on at least one of them so you can test the sync features.

To sign up for the public beta, fill out the form here. We’ll send you further information on where to go to download the app.

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PocketBible 3 for Windows Progress Update #20

Promises Kept

“Why no update for 6 months?” you ask. It’s because I told you in Update #19 that the next update would be to announce the start of beta testing. Finally, PocketBible is being used by people who are not Laridian employees in order to make sure it’s ready for the rest of you.

Completed Tasks

Here’s a summary of accomplishments since the last update.

  • Added the “Edit CSS” feature for Autostudy. Different style sheets are maintained for each type of study.
  • Thorough verification of user data sync operations.
    • Make sure we’re syncing user data at all the right times. Some were missing.
    • Do a better job of detecting the absence of an Internet connection before trying to connect to the Laridian server.
    • It was possible to get duplicate Journal entries as a result of editing the title. Rigorous review of when we should update the notes database.
  • Make sure we’re checking your AFS status every time we can so we can detect new, renewed, and expired subscriptions and take appropriate action.
  • Recognize the lifetime AFS subscription.
  • Tweaks to some color schemes for readability.
  • Testing with touch screen to fix problems with selecting tabs and dragging pane borders.
  • Standardized some terminology throughout while working on the Users Guide.
  • Selected an app icon — but having second thoughts.
  • Bug fixes as they were encountered.
  • Testing and finalizing the Windows release build and signing process.

Testing Process

The app has been released to about 25-30 testers. We like to keep this group small because at this point in the project, just managing the beta team can be a full-time job. Responding to questions, clarifying bug reports, and documenting issues is important and time-consuming. We may expand the group in the future under something like a “public preview”, but I’m hoping to go right from beta testing to product release. I expect that could be a minimum of 4-6 weeks away at this point.

One of the unique things about this project has been that we did all the development and testing on macOS. We did Windows builds to verify we could do it, then to verify we could sign the app with a security certificate (no small task), then to try to find things that are different under Windows than they are on the Mac. Our testers have been helpful with this last step, identifying a number of problems we’ve never seen because they seem to be Windows-related.

Some Questions Answered

Advanced Feature Set

Most of the AFS features from the Windows Store version of PocketBible (version 2) are standard features in version 3 (and on other platforms). This includes the ability to open more than 20 books and the ability to use the notes, highlights, bookmarks, and devotional reading progress features. The only AFS features from version 2 that are still AFS features in version 3 are the “Listen” feature that uses synthetic speech to read the Bible to you, and the ability to create named desktop layouts.

If you own the “permanent subscription to the legacy Advanced Feature Set” for PocketBible for Windows Store (aka version 2), you’ll have access to these two features (“Listen” and named layouts). For the rest of the AFS features, you’ll need a subscription to the AFS for the Windows Store version, or a subscription to the AFS for the new version when it is released.

Current AFS list for version 3:

  • Autostudy — automatically prepares reports based on a selected verse/passage, word/phrase, or devotional reading date.
  • Synthetic Speech — PocketBible can use the built-in speech capabilities of Windows to read any of its books or Bibles to you.
  • Journal Notes — create notes that are not attached to the Bible nor any reference book. They are just accessed by name.
  • Named Layouts — create multiple screen layouts for different purposes.
  • “Today” Layout — create a special layout for devotional reading.
  • Named Highlight Colors — assign names to your highlight colors so you can remember what each color stands for.
  • Navigator — quickly see all the places where the current verse is discussed, anywhere in your entire library.
  • Library Search — search your entire installed library in one operation.
  • Additional Color Schemes — triple the number of color schemes available.
  • Custom Color Schemes — create your own custom color scheme.
  • Copy Book Link for Notes — easily create a link to any section of a reference book in your notes.

“Banned” Bibles

A number of our Bibles haven’t been compatible with either Windows version of PocketBible. All of these will work with the new version of PocketBible. They include:

  • Christian Standard Bible (CSB) and CSB with Strong’s Numbers
  • Common English Bible (CEB)
  • Contemporary English Version (CEV)
  • Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)
  • Founders’ Bible
  • Good News Translation (GNT)
  • Greek New Testament Collection
  • Legacy Standard Bible (LSB) and LSB with Strong’s Numbers
  • NET Bible with Strong’s Numbers and Full Notes
  • New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (NRSVue)
  • NIV with Goodrick-Kohlenberger Numbers
  • Reina-Valera 1960 (RVR60)
  • Simplified KJV Bible (SKJV)
  • The Passion Translation (TPT)
  • Tree of Live Version (TLV)
  • World English Bible (WEB) with Strong’s Numbers

Transition Plan

When the new version becomes available, we will immediately remove PocketBible for Windows Store (version 2) from the Windows Store, and remove PocketBible for Windows Desktop (version 1) from our website.

PocketBible 3 for Windows will be downloadable from our website. Currently there is no plan to make it available on the Microsoft Store.

We will drop tech support for the Windows Store version (version 2) no later than 6 months after release of version 3. We may continue to support the Windows Desktop version for a little longer, since it still has some Windows 7 users.

macOS and Linux?

We’ve alluded to the fact that our development stack permits building version of the app for macOS and Linux from the same source code we use for Windows. If we were to do this, our first priority would be macOS, but to date we haven’t been able to successfully sign the macOS build with a distribution certificate. If that were possible, we would replace today’s macOS version with a version built with this same code base.

We’ve never tried to do a Linux build. We have no way to test it since we don’t run Linux here. Linux has less market penetration than macOS, and it can be argued that the macOS version of PocketBible doesn’t pull its weight. So we don’t imagine that a Linux version would.

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PocketBible for Android and Google Play

December 16, 2024 — Update: Google reinstated PocketBible within a couple days of our re-complying with their re-request for information we had already provided.

December 9, 2024 — We were informed this morning by Google that they’ve removed PocketBible from the Play store, claiming we haven’t verified our identity. Never mind that we’ve had products in the Play Store for over a decade.

They’ve been asking us to jump through some verification hoops every couple of weeks for the last three or four months. Every time they ask, we jump through their hoop. Now they claim that there was no hoop and even if there were, we didn’t jump. So they’ve removed the app from the Play Store.

Fortunately, we keep our feathers numbered for just such an emergency. You can sideload PocketBible to your Android device without going through Google Play by following the instructions here.

In the meantime, we’ve submitted our verification information to Google yet again. Let’s see if it sticks this time.