Ever have one of those days where you’re out at a coffee shop talking theology with your friends and all of a sudden some random some guy walks up wanting to get into a discussion about vestigium trinitatis. Happens all the time, right? While you’re always up for a good theological exchange, it’s finals week and you’ve been living off of far more caffeine than sleep. Your mind’s a bit fried and you think you might be confusing the definitions for vestigium Dei and vestigium trinitatis. If this had been last semester, you would’ve excused yourself to go the bathroom and ran towards an exit like a scared little school girl. Things are different this semester. You confidently agree to the theological exchange, excusing yourself for a quick bathroom break first. Once you’re safely inside your porcelain sanctuary (bathroom stall), you take out your iPhone and launch the IVP Pocket Reference App. You quickly open the Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms, confirming the definitions for vestigium Dei and vestigium trinitatis. Much to your own amazement, you were right after all. Maybe you don’t need as much sleep as you thought. Exiting the stall, you wash your hands so as not to raise suspicion amongst the other patrons in the bathroom. With your head held high, you return to your table and excitedly enter into a theological discussion with that random guy, whose name happens to be Bill. Another seminary student’s reputation (and pride) saved. It’s just another day in the life with the IVP Pocket Reference App.

While the above story is a bit tongue in cheek, it does illustrate the usefulness of portable tools like the IVP Pocket Reference App. Here are a few of the features that I’ve found most useful:

• ability to search terms, definitions or notes
• ability to highlight text within definitions
• ability to add your own terms and definitions
• ability to share terms and definitions via Facebook, Twitter and email

This initial release (version 1.0) comes with the Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms. The dictionaries screen within the app indicates that the Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion and the Pocket Dictionary of Ethics will be available soon. There are currently eight volumes in the print edition of the Pocket Dictionary series. The two books from this series that I always keep close at hand are the Pocket Dictionary for the Study of Biblical Hebrew and the Pocket Dictionary for the Study of New Testament Greek. As soon as IVP makes these two volumes available within the app, I’ll be ready to purchase them ASAP. Having these reference tools available on my iPhone and iPad will be a tremendous convenience for the times I’m studying Greek and Hebrew away from my home office. In addition to iOS devices, the IVP Pocket Reference App is also available for Android.

My overall rating for the app is 5 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer:
This product was provided InterVarsity Press for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Credo House Ministries has released the first major update to their Theology app. Here’s what’s new in version 1.2:

This is the first major update of the Theology app. The app has been rewritten from the ground up to be even more stable and to include a whole bunch of new features. A few of the many new features include:

* You can now experience the app free from a wifi connection. You are now able to download video and/or audio-only versions of each session. Depending on the size of your phone you have the option to download over 30GB of seminary training.

* Able to remove downloaded class sessions once they’ve been experienced.

* Every session now has descriptive titles to know the content of every class.

* In the slides and workbook session you are now able to experience them at a full-screen level. Every pixel is devoted to the app.

More updates are on the way including an upcoming universal app for the iPad”

Not familiar with the Theology app. Here’s the description from iTunes:

The Theology Program is now available in an APP! You can learn all about The Theology Program by visiting www.theologyprogram.org. The program consists of 60 hours of theological training, more than 1,800 slides and more than 1,200 workbook pages. Basically an entire seminary in one app!

This is one heck of a deal at only $6.99. It’s like having a seminary-level education available anytime, anywhere on your iPhone or iPad. Highly recommend it!

As the use of smart phones grows more and more each day, it seems there is an app for nearly anything imaginable.  While I’ve done a fair amount of Bible reading utilizing apps from LOGOS and Accordance, the new series of devotional apps from Thomas Nelson is my first foray into devotional reading on the iPhone and iPad.  Based on the copyright information page, it looks like Thomas Nelson partnered with AuthorMobile (www.authormobile.com) to create this new devotional app.

This particular app is based on the book Jesus Calling:  Enjoying Peace in His Presence (Thomas Nelson, 2004) by Sarah Young.  Here is a brief description of the book taken from the Thomas Nelson web site:

“Jesus Calling is a devotional filled with uniquely inspired treasures from heaven for every day of the year. After many years of writing in her prayer journal, missionary Sarah Young decided to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever she believed He was saying to her. It was awkward at first, but gradually her journaling changed from monologue to dialogue. She knew her writings were not inspired as Scripture is, but journaling helped her grow closer to God. Others were blessed as she shared her writings, until people all over the world were using her messages. They are written from Jesus’ point of view, thus the title Jesus Calling. It is Sarah’s fervent prayer that our Savior may bless readers with His presence and His peace in ever deeper measure.”

In order to better help the reader understand the user experience within the app, I am going to review some of the features and functionality available as you use the app.  Keep in mind the screen shots below are from the iPad.  The app will have a slightly different look and feel on the iPod touch or iPhone.

1.  Home Screen

On the home screen, users can select the particular devotional reading that they would like to read.  The reading for the current day is highlighted in red.  Additional buttons on the home screen are as follows:

Media Button – The media button is in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.  Users can access bonus audio or video content related to Jesus Calling.  At the time of this review, the only media available is a promotional book trailer.
A.  Home - Returns user to the home screen.
B.  Search – User can search all devotional readings by topic, verse, date, or keyword.
C.  Store – Additional titles by the author for purchase.
D.  Gift – Users can purchase the Jesus Calling app for a friend.
E.  How to Use – The how to use feature gives a detailed explanation of all features within the app.
F.  Info – The info feature has all of the relevant copyright information for the app.

2. Reading / Devotional Screen

The reading / devotional screen is where you’ll be spending most of your time as you use the app.  Besides reading the daily reading, users will also be able access a few additional features.
Social Media Buttons – Users can share selections from their devotional reading on either Facebook or Twitter.

Notes Button – By clicking the notes button, users will be able to access the notes interface that will allow them to enter their own thoughts and prayers.  The notes are associated with the particular devotional reading under which they were entered, which could make them rather difficult to find if you wanted to review them at a later date.  Users are also able to customize the background of the notes page.  At the time of this review, the notes interface contained 13 different custom backgrounds to choose from.

Kudos to Thomas Nelson for leading the way in their market space, by making a large number of devotional titles available for this new concept of the devotional app. I think it is still a bit early to declare whether or not this type of app will catch on.  However as e-books continue to gain more and more acceptance, users will most likely be willing to use a devotional app combining the features of a personal devotional book and journal.  Considering that this app is based around an electronic version of a book, I was surprised at the number of features it had.  Overall, it made for a good user experience.  My only suggestion for future editions of the app would be to make the notes pages searchable or offer the ability for users to tag their notes entries.  If you are interested in the Jesus Calling app, you can learn more here:  LINK.

In preparing for this review, I also had the opportunity to test the Live Loved app, which is based on Live Loved:  Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday Life (Thomas Nelson, 2011) by Max Lucado.  This app uses the same interface as as the Jesus Calling app, so all of the above comments related to the use of the interface would apply there as well.  You can learn more about the Live Loved app here:  LINK.

Disclaimer:
This app was provided by the publisher for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.