Equipd Bible Version 3.5.1

/1 Comment/in /by

Version 3.5.1 is a snapshot update with the following changes:

  • Fixed issue where scripture links were not being detected when app first opened.
  • Added Bible Book names in Catalan and other new languages.
  • Improved scrolling of EPUB settings page on iPhone X.
  • Reorganised some of the Settings screens.

If you are enjoying the Equipd Bible app please take the time to add a quick review on the App Store. Your review helps others to see the value of the app, and it definitely helps me to keep motivated in supporting and improving it further.

Thanks your ongoing support.

Equipd Bible Version 3.5

/1 Comment/in /by

I am pleased to announce version 3.5:

  • Improved handling of scripture links when in Split Screen mode on an iPad.
  • Improved screen layout when in Split Screen mode.
  • Improved formatting of Psalms acrostics when in side-by-side view.
  • Fixed display of Nepali verse numbers.
  • New setting to keep the device awake while the app is open.
  • Hopefully fixed an issue causing the app to crash for Korean users only.

If you are enjoying the Equipd Bible app please take the time to add a quick review on the App Store. Your review helps others to see the value of the app, and it definitely helps me to keep motivated in supporting and improving it further.

Thanks your ongoing support.

Equipd Bible Version 3.4

/4 Comments/in /by

This update optimises the app for the iPhone X.

Equipd Bible now requires iOS 8 or above.

If you are enjoying the Equipd Bible app please take the time to add a quick review on the App Store. Your review helps others to see the value of the app, and it definitely helps me to keep motivated in supporting and improving it further.

Thanks your ongoing support.

Equipd Bible Version 3.3.2

/0 Comments/in /by

This is a bug fix update following version 3.3 with the following changes:

  • Improved the accuracy of the auto-generated 2-line Furigana above Japanese characters.
  • Minor improvement to the auto-generated Yale Cantonese Romanisation above Chinese Simplified or Traditional characters.
  • Fixed a crash that occurred when selecting a scripture from the NWT Book Outline (for Bibles that support this feature).

If you are enjoying the Equipd Bible app please take the time to add a quick review on the App Store. Your review helps others to see the value of the app, and it definitely helps me to keep motivated in supporting and improving it further.

Thanks your ongoing support.

Equipd Bible Version 3.3.1

/0 Comments/in /by

This is a bug fix update following version 3.3 with the following changes:

  • Added support for Footnotes when using Yale Cantonese romanisation.
  • Improved scrolling of the Bible Settings window.
  • Added detection of an App Crash, and when the app is restarted it will automatically clear the clipboard and any incoming files. Basically it is attempting to automate what you can do yourself by:
    1. Go into iOS Settings
    2. Scroll down to Equipd Bible
    3. Turning on the options to “Clear Scripture History” and “Clear Incoming Files”

iOS 11.1 Beta 3
Note that there are a number of users trying out iOS 11.1 which is still in Beta. Beta 3 in particular seems to cause the app to crash. The fix is simple – follow the steps above. A number of Korean users are having this problem – here is a screenflow of the steps they need to take to fix this issue:

Equipd Bible Version 3.3

/8 Comments/in /by

Coming soon – Equipd Bible version 3.3!

It has been over a year since the last update to this app I am ashamed to say. The last 12 months have been extremely hectic for me with both my wife and my father experiencing major health issues. At the same time I was struggling to keep momentum up on a new app that has finally been released – a ministry focussed app called ServicePlanner. Anyway … things are finally looking up and getting back on track! Yay!

So what’s new in Equipd Bible version 3.3?

Yale Cantonese Romanisation

For a while now Equipd Bible has supported Sidney Lau, a form of romanisation for Cantonese learners developed in the 1970’s.

An alternate system of romanisation for Cantonese learners is the Yale system. It seems to be more popular, especially in Hong Kong, and is widely used in textbooks for language learners. It is easily recognised by the use of a silent “h” to represent syllables that have tones in the low register and the use of tone diacritics similar to Hanyu Pinyin.

I am excited to bring Yale to the Equipd Bible app. Similar to the existing Pinyin, Zhuyin (Bopomofo) and Sidney Lau support, Yale can be enabled for any Chinese Bible compatible with the Equipd Bible app. The 2-line format will work above Chinese Traditional or Simplified characters.

You can see a visual comparison of the 4 systems side-by-side in the following screenshot. From top to bottom – Yale, Sidney Lau, Pinyin, Zhuyin (click to enlarge the screenshot).

Bible Reading Schedules

I am pleased to add the Weekly Bible Reading Schedule for 2018.

This update also fixes the issue with the current Weekly Bible Reading Schedule where the reading was one week out of sync due to changes in the weekly reading back in June when reading Lamentations. Actually I published a fix for users already on the forums which many have used. Tip: If you are currently experiencing issues with the 2017 schedule you should go to the Schedule Settings – Reset the Schedule Progress, Stop the Schedule, and Start it again.

At the end of 2017 you should stop the current Weekly Bible Reading Schedule and switch to the newer 2018 schedule.

Also on the forums you will find the Daily Text Schedule for 2018 is ready to go in English – other languages coming soon. And thanks to the help of one of our most active members of the forums, the Memorial Bible Reading Schedule for 2018 is also ready to go – thanks @Gabriel 🙂

Other Improvements

This update fixes a number of random issues that have popped up over the past few months:

  • Fixed the Bible search for newer EPUB formats.
  • Fixed the Split Screen rotation issues in iOS 11.
  • Fixed auto-lookup of JW Library scripture links.
  • Fixed support for markdown *italics* and __underlining__ in Notes showing in the Side Panel.
  • Fixed issue where copying content from external websites would sometimes not Paste into a Note.
  • Improved the placement of inserted cross-references for some verses.
  • Fully translated and localised for Japanese users!
    • If you would like to help translate the app into your language, please register your interest on the Support Forums.

I hope you enjoy these changes in version 3.3.

If you are enjoying the Equipd Bible app please take the time to add a quick review on the App Store. Your review helps others to see the value of the app, and it definitely helps me to keep motivated in supporting and improving it further.

Thanks for your patience over the past months, and your ongoing support.

Equipd Bible Version 3.2

/8 Comments/in /by

I am pleased to announce the availability of the Equipd Bible version 3.2:

 

I hope you enjoy these changes in version 3.2.

If you are enjoying the Equipd Bible app please take the time to add a quick review on the App Store. Each app update resets the reviews. Your review helps others to see the value of the app, and it definitely helps me to keep motivated in supporting and improving it further.

If you are able to help with translating the app please let me know. I am especially after translators for the following languages.

Thanks for your support.

Equipd Bible Version 3.1

/16 Comments/in /by

Following closely on the heels of 3.0 I am pleased to announce version 3.1.

New “Highlight” button in Note Settings

When you open a Note you will see a new button on the toolbar. Toggle this button “on” to highlight the verse in the Bible. It will use the colour of the Note as the highlight colour. The highlight will be applied to the verse in the Bible, and also to the Note in the Side Panel. This is a really handy way to make a verse stand out from the rest while reading your Bible – perhaps to indicate a major point for the field service, or for personal application, or just a favourite scripture.

See the screenshots below for an example of the button and highlighted verses.

New Highlight Button Verse 1 now has background colour

Notes Window now shows Formatting and Links

In the 3.0 update the Side Panel started to support links and markdown formatting options such as bold, italics, underlining, highlighting etc. But if you went into the Note window it did not show you these new features – it went straight into “edit” mode so that you could start changing the contents of the note. This is not ideal in situations where you jump straight from the verse number to the note.

The Note window will now show you a fully formatted note with links and highlighting etc. Links to scriptures and external websites and apps work just the same as in the Side Panel. If you want to update the contents of the note just tap anywhere and it will switch to “edit” mode and enable the keyboard.

The example screenshot shows a Note with highlighted text and clickable scripture links.

Note Window with Formatted Text and Links

Side Panel now auto-scrolls to matching Verse Note

When you looking up a scripture, if you have a Note that matches the first verse you are looking up, then the Side Panel will autoscroll to that note. If you have a lot of Notes showing for the current chapter in the Side Panel, you often had to manually scroll to find the relevant note. Now it will scroll to the matching note automatically.

Side Panel Scrolls to matching Verse Note

Support for a 2nd Web Search

Do you use the Web Search feature of the Equipd Bible? This is an incredibly powerful tool, and allows you to hook into external website resources as part of your Bible Study. To turn this feature on go into Admin (top/left) > Settings > Web Search Settings. From here you you can turn on the Web Search feature, and configure the websites you want to integrate with. See the Info button (ℹ) on the toolbar? Click this to get useful tips and examples of how to use the Web Search.

Here are examples of the Web Search screen and the places throughout the app that you can then perform searches from. Note the associated description under each screenshot…

 

Other improvements in 3.1…

  • Do you use Microsoft OneNote? You can now create links inside a Note to a Section or a Page inside your OneNote Workbooks. Read more about how these links work here.
  • Long-press on a Note in the Side Panel and it will now lookup the verse. This is an experimental enhancement – I could well change how this works in future updates.
  • Supplementary cross-references and footnotes have been added for a number of EPUB files in Japanese, German, Chinese Simplified/Traditional, Italian, French and Spanish.
  • You can now delete groups of Notes in the Note Library. On the top toolbar click the Library button (looks like a book) and then click the Notes button. Select a Book. From here you can slide left on a chapter row or “All Notes” and choose to delete all the notes in that section.
  • The Vietnamese Bible Book names are now supported for the Hebrew Scriptures. Before they were only localised for the Greek Scriptures.

Issues fixed in 3.1…

  • Fixed an issue with the Spanish localisation which caused the interface labels to default to English.
  • Fixed an issue the supplementary cross-references sometimes caused invalid HTML and some verses would not display. A user reported this issue with Luke 2:35.
  • Fixed an issue with the Concordance search where consecutive searches for the same phrase would not show the results.
  • Workaround added for Bible Reading Schedule descriptions being cut off in the settings window.
  • Fixed an issue where the EPUB Viewer window would not load properly if you clicked EPUB links across different Bibles.
  • Fixed error where the Swedish NWT EPUB would load another book instead of Revelation.

 

I hope you enjoy these changes in version 3.1.

If you are enjoying the Equipd Bible app please take the time to add a quick review on the App Store. It helps others to see the value of the app, and it definitely helps me to keep motivated in supporting and improving it further.

If you are able to help with translating the app please let me know. I am especially after translators for the following languages.

Thanks for your support.

 

31 May 2016 NZDT: Version 3.1 is now with Apple for review.
3 June 2016 NZT: Version 3.1 was approved by Apple and should be on your App Store soon.

Equipd Bible Version 3.0

/12 Comments/in /by

This next version of the Equipd Bible app contains so many exciting and significant new features that I just had to make it version 3.0.

Let’s review what is new in this update…

Bible Reading Schedules

I have wanted to add this feature for so long that I almost can’t believe it is finally here! A lot of thought has gone into the design of this feature. I wanted to support options that many Bible websites and apps with schedules do not support – for example the ability to run multiple schedules at the same time, instead of just one. And the ability to support weekly schedules.

Here is an overview of just some of the features of the schedules:

  • Many different Bible Reading Schedules supported. How you decide to read the Bible can have a direct impact on your enjoyment. Why not mix it up? You can read the Bible sequentially from start to finish in a year, or if you’re up to the challenge try the 90 day schedule! Or read a chapter from the Hebrew scriptures and the Greek scriptures each day. Or read the Bible chronologically, in the order events happened.
  • If the default schedules don’t spin your wheels then hit the “Download more schedules” button and check out the Contributed Schedules available on the community forums.
  • Once you have activated one or more schedules, you can now start reading. Just tap on a scripture and the fullscreen, distraction free Chapter window will launch. As you scroll towards the end of the reading you will see the green “Mark as Read” button appear. Tap this, the window closes, and the reading is ✔ ticked as done. If you tick all the readings as done for that schedule, then the schedule heading will also turn green – well done!
  • Let’s be honest. Despite the best of intentions we often skip our planned daily Bible reading for whatever reason. If only something could prompt us or remind us! The Equipd Bible app supports 2x reminder notifications a day. You can set these to the times that suit you. I have mine set to 6:30am and 6:30pm. I try to do the reading first thing. But if for whatever reason I have not “marked as done” my scheduled reading for the morning, then at 6:30pm I will be reminded again. The second reminder will not activate if I have already completed my reading. Never miss your Daily Bible Reading again. You can change the times or deactivate the notifications to suit you.
  • As mentioned the Equipd Bible supports weekly schedules. One of the default reading plans is the Weekly Bible Reading schedule used by JW’s at their midweek meetings. The weekly schedule starts new readings every Monday, but in reality the readings are relevant up to your meeting night. So if you have a Tuesday meeting, then you can tell the weekly schedule to start your new week on the Wednesday. That means that on the Wednesday it will switch to the next weeks readings in preparation for your next meeting. Now you can read, meditate and add notes for the Bible Highlights you want to share!
  • The daily schedules allow you to specify the start date. So you can change the start date of the plan to some date in the past, and it will move you forward in the schedule.
  • When it comes to the structure of the schedules the Equipd Bible supports schedules with commentaries, such as a Daily Text with Comment. It also supports sub-headings in the schedule so that you can group readings – these are used in the example Memorial Bible Reading Plan for 2016. I will post detailed instructions on the format and technical requirements of the schedules in the near future so that you can create and share your schedules on the forums.

Sample Screenshots of Bible Reading Schedules

Here are some screenshots of the Bible Reading Schedules in action…

 

Improvements to Notes

The ability to add your own notes to scriptures is a key feature of the Equipd Bible app and a powerful study aid. In order to raise the profile and visibility of your Notes in version 2.0 I added the ability to view notes via a Side Panel in the main Bible window (iPad only), and via the Library button on the top toolbar. In this version further enhancements have been added:

  • You can now view the Side Panel in the Chapter window on your iPad, which is great if you have multiple bibles installed and frequently jump to this window. It also allows your notes to be visible while doing your scheduled Bible reading. And on the larger iPhone (6/6S Plus) the same Side Panels will activate if you rotate into landscape orientation – you can slide in from the right edge of the screen to show the panel, or slide the other way to hide it.
  • Notes now allow formatting options. The formatting does not yet appear inside the note window- but it will show in the Side Panels, and in the Notes Library. You can highlight text, make text bold, red, italics, underlined, strikethrough and more. The different options and instructions on how to add formatting are covered on the forums here.
  • Notes now support links! This was a highly requested feature. Read more about manually adding links to your notes here. It even supports the markdown link format. But one of the most powerful improvements is that the Equipd Bible will now now auto-detect and link scriptures inside your notes. Just make sure your scriptures are wrapped in round brackets like so (Matt 24:14; Rev 21:3,4; 2 Tim 3:16-17) etc and the app will take care of the rest!  See full examples and instructions about working with scripture links here.
  • You can now view all Notes per Bible book in the Notes Library. As requested by several users you can click on a Bible Book > All Notes and scroll through all the notes for that book in one place.

Sample Screenshots of Notes

Here are some screenshots of the Notes in action…

 

Other Improvements

While addition of Bible Reading Schedules and improvements to Notes are significant, there are many other improvements in this update:

  • Support for JW Library scripture links. Tap+hold on a scripture link in the JW Library app, and then switch to the Equipd Bible and it will automatically look up the scripture for you! Read more about this feature here.
  • Support for Japanese Furigana and Romaji! Similar to how the Pinyin, Zhuyin and Sidney Lau works for Chinese character EPUBs, this new feature will auto-generate Furigana and Romaji above Japanese characters in 2-line format, and can be enabled in the settings for any Japanese EPUB file.
  • Multiple improvements to Split Screen support. There is even a new manual Clipboard Lookup button to work around limitations in the Split Screen mode.
  • There is a new Verse Quick Menu available when you tap+hold on a verse number. This will allow you to perform quick actions on a verse – read more about this feature here.
  • A new search option is available for English users – the Concordance Search! This used to be available in the older Equipd app, and now it returns even better than before.
  • Many EPUB files do not include cross-references. This is most likely because the sheer number of references would make the EPUB large and many generic ebook readers would struggle. The Equipd Bible now automatically supplements several EPUB files with cross-references to work around this limitation. Further support for this will be added in the future.
  • New EPUB Viewer, so you can navigate the EPUB contents outside of just the Bible structure. This is not intended to be a full ebook reader – there are plenty of other apps you can use for that, and it is not the focus of the Equipd Bible. But it is handy to be able to view additional features of any installed EPUB file, especially if it includes Appendices and supplementary chapters of interest. Tap on the Library button on the toolbar, and you can browse the EPUB Table of Contents of your Preferred Bible from the first tab option. Read more about the new EPUB Viewer here.
  • Glossary and Appendix links inside footnotes to the EPUB file are now supported. This has to be included in the EPUB file to work.

Sample Screenshots

Here are some screenshots of just a few of the above features in action…

 

Important Fixes

There are many performance improvements and minor bug fixes included in this update, but here are the important ones that users were asking about:

  • The audio detection for Psalms is now fixed. If you have downloaded audio files for Psalms these should now play automatically instead of asking you to manually select the file to play.
  • Switching between Bibles in the fullscreen Chapter window is now fixed. Inside the Chapter window just double-tap or triple-tap (depending on your settings) to switch between your visible Bibles.
  • The random issue where editing a Bookmark comment would not save should be resolved.

 

Thanks for reading all that! I hope it wasn’t too long winded, but I didn’t want to miss anything. If you want to know more about any of the above features or changes, they are all explained on the forums in detail. I encourage you to become familiar with the forums as much as possible.

You can read about all the new features here.
You can read about notable bug fixes here.

Request: If you are enjoying the Equipd Bible app and these new features, please take the time to add a quick review on the App Store. It helps others to see the value of the app, and it definitely helps me to keep motivated in supporting and improving it further. Thanks for your support.

Enjoy Equipd Bible 3.0!

 

Update 16 May 2016 NZDT: Version 3.0 is now with Apple for review.
Update 17 May 2016 2pm NZDT: Version 3.0 was just approved and should appear on your App Store soon.

 

PS: If you are able to help with translating the app please let me know. I am especially after translators for the following languages.

Equipd Bible Version 2.0

/1 Comment/in /by

It has been several months since version 1.0 of this app was released. It has taken me longer than anticipated to add several key features, and I am very pleased to finally announce version 2.0 of the Equipd Bible app.

So what is new in this update?

Tip: follow the links to read more about the features and see screenshots.

—

I am already working on the next update with more key features to help you with your daily Bible reading.

If you enjoy using the Equipd Bible app your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Enjoy!

 

Update: Version 2.0 is now available on the App Store.

 

Here are some screenshots highlighting a few of the new features…