This blog post is a bit random, not the one that most people would expect me to write, but here goes. Those of you that know me personally will be well aware that I like my gadgets, my toys, and my doodahs. I've had some sort of iOS device since my trusty old iPod Touch back in 2007, and have watched the smartphone wars take off, sampling the various delights of Android, Windows, WebOs, Bada and iOS since then. In this post, I just want to share a few apps that I have had on my phone for a while, that I use regularly, and would recommend to anyone!
The seven apps I'm going to have a brief look at today are above (not the default phone, mail, messages and music apps!), and I'm looking at them as an enthusiastic amateur, rather than a technological professional or developer!
First up is probably (apart from the core apps) the longest standing/remaining app on my phone, and indeed that I've used consistently: "CCEL Bible". This uninspiringly named app is a gateway to brilliant content. It flows out of the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, and acts as a sort of Kindle-lite to access the huge amount of stuff from CCEL. I'm a big fan of always having a bible in my pocket, and while I mostly use my ESV study Bible on the Kindle App, the CCEL app is a lot quicker to jump to individual verses. For free, I currently have the ASV and the KJV Bible translations, which are adequate for anything I might do off of my phone! I also (again for free!) have a couple of books here, "Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis, and "Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence. This app is great for the classics. The highlight for me, though, is the way that this app uses Charles Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening". I have used this as the lynchpin of my devotional life for a while - with a separate page for each morning/evening. I'd highly recommend this - not least as it has a convenient 'today' button for when you've missed a few...
Secondly, and this probably needs not introduction, is the Amazon Kindle App. For those of you who are able to read the news, you will have heard about Amazon's kindle ecosystem, particularly the black and white e-readers. I love my Kindle reader, but the idea comes into its own when you get the app (for your phone, tablet, computer or web browser) and start syncing. I can buy a book on my laptop, read it for a while there, pick it up later through my phone on the loo, then relax later on the sofa with my kindle. Notes, bookmarks, highlights and so on all sync up with each other for free - so the notes I made on my ESV study Bible in my Kindle on holiday are also on my laptop, now, without me doing anything. The Kindle app is free, and there are loads of free books, though quality does vary.
A friend of mine (who you can find on Twitter here) is an app developer, and "iBluesky" is his creation. It is a bit of mind-mapping software that I really like using, and that he updates with good features fairly often. I like its simplicity and utility, and am using it to plan out seminars, books, blog posts and so on. It is very simple and usable, and if you have a spare few pounds to splash out, do! I love it on the iPad, where the big screen comes into its own, and you can zoom and pan around to your hearts content.
The Desiring God app is another gem, as it is a gateway to biblical content! Drawing largely from the ministry and writings of John Piper, it even includes ALL of Pipers books for free to read. In addition, there are sermons to watch, listen and read to from throughout Piper's ministry. The DG app is quite nicely designed and well laid out - and it is a treasure trove of content!
A hidden gem, with both an uninspiring name and rather bland icon is "Theology". The more theologically nerdy amongst you will recognise that the picture on the app icon is of Louis Berkhof. The app is quite simply an electronic version of his "Summary of Christian Theology", in simple app form. This is quite a useful tool, and makes reading this book very easy. The app is very well laid out, pleasing to the eye, and has a useful note-taking function. Its not going to win many awards, but what it does, it does very well. For a little while I read a chapter a day from this app - which didn't take too long - and helped cement my understanding of some basics, from a Reformed persepctive. It deserves a space on your iPhone!
Christians in the UK will need no introduction to the organisation behind the eponymous "UCCF" app. UCCF - The guys behind the vast majority of UK University Christian unions - have made this excellent little app available, and the focus is clear from the simple icon: Jesus. In the vein of the Desiring God app, this is a resource heavy little app, that acts as a portal to the wealth of content from various speakers and Pastors who have helped UCCF. The Old and New Testament talks sections are currently a little bare, but there is a lot of useful stuff here. This is a great app for students to redeem the time spent walking around and sitting around - my friend used to listen to UCCF talks whilst playing xbox! It also has a handy 'find a CU' tool, and the 'CU People' videos baked in.
The Pages app is an Apple-ecosystem lynchpin, and one of my big favourites. Basically, it links Pages (the Apple version of Word) into iOS and iCloud, which is genius. I love using it because I rarely think at the right time - and ideas need to be tweaked in the document. Its useful because it links straight into the desktop via iCloud - which other services do less well. I also use Keynote on my phone - tweaking slides before presentations, and then as a remote too. Apple have (after years of teasing and not quite managing it) nailed the syncing in my opinion.
On a completely different note, and not perhaps the most used app on my phone, is "Map My Run". Whether through fate or design, I've found it to be the best, basic free fitness app. I can track my speed and calories burned, and race myself round the same routes. I don't share my stats and maps - but there is a big social option baked into the app. This app has done more than anything else to get me off my chair and waddling round the streets - because the competitor in me wants to beat old times. Clever.
The final two apps are sort of similar, and sort of not. They use 'cloud' technology to keep stuff on different devices in sync. Dropbox is great because it can have anything on it - so I use it to back up some of my most precious files. Its quite straightforward, though integration into various devices and OS's does vary. Evernote, on the other hand, does syncing of one thing. Notes. Voice or text, and with various options, Evernote is great because it keeps notes (of various lengths) synced and organised across devices. It beats Apples own Notes app because of its multi-platform support, and also because its icon is a green elephant. For someone like me, who has ideas, gets inspiration, or notices random things throughout the day, evernote is great, because even if the only device near me is someone elses, I can still recover my observations at the end of the day.
So these are some of the apps I use! What apps do you use, do you have any recommendations? I'm particularly interested in apps that offer similar things to the DG and UCCF apps - including other perspectives. Resources are great - and its great to see organisations embrace the tech revolution.
Thanks for reading!
The seven apps I'm going to have a brief look at today are above (not the default phone, mail, messages and music apps!), and I'm looking at them as an enthusiastic amateur, rather than a technological professional or developer!
First up is probably (apart from the core apps) the longest standing/remaining app on my phone, and indeed that I've used consistently: "CCEL Bible". This uninspiringly named app is a gateway to brilliant content. It flows out of the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, and acts as a sort of Kindle-lite to access the huge amount of stuff from CCEL. I'm a big fan of always having a bible in my pocket, and while I mostly use my ESV study Bible on the Kindle App, the CCEL app is a lot quicker to jump to individual verses. For free, I currently have the ASV and the KJV Bible translations, which are adequate for anything I might do off of my phone! I also (again for free!) have a couple of books here, "Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis, and "Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence. This app is great for the classics. The highlight for me, though, is the way that this app uses Charles Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening". I have used this as the lynchpin of my devotional life for a while - with a separate page for each morning/evening. I'd highly recommend this - not least as it has a convenient 'today' button for when you've missed a few...
Secondly, and this probably needs not introduction, is the Amazon Kindle App. For those of you who are able to read the news, you will have heard about Amazon's kindle ecosystem, particularly the black and white e-readers. I love my Kindle reader, but the idea comes into its own when you get the app (for your phone, tablet, computer or web browser) and start syncing. I can buy a book on my laptop, read it for a while there, pick it up later through my phone on the loo, then relax later on the sofa with my kindle. Notes, bookmarks, highlights and so on all sync up with each other for free - so the notes I made on my ESV study Bible in my Kindle on holiday are also on my laptop, now, without me doing anything. The Kindle app is free, and there are loads of free books, though quality does vary.
A friend of mine (who you can find on Twitter here) is an app developer, and "iBluesky" is his creation. It is a bit of mind-mapping software that I really like using, and that he updates with good features fairly often. I like its simplicity and utility, and am using it to plan out seminars, books, blog posts and so on. It is very simple and usable, and if you have a spare few pounds to splash out, do! I love it on the iPad, where the big screen comes into its own, and you can zoom and pan around to your hearts content.
The Desiring God app is another gem, as it is a gateway to biblical content! Drawing largely from the ministry and writings of John Piper, it even includes ALL of Pipers books for free to read. In addition, there are sermons to watch, listen and read to from throughout Piper's ministry. The DG app is quite nicely designed and well laid out - and it is a treasure trove of content!
A hidden gem, with both an uninspiring name and rather bland icon is "Theology". The more theologically nerdy amongst you will recognise that the picture on the app icon is of Louis Berkhof. The app is quite simply an electronic version of his "Summary of Christian Theology", in simple app form. This is quite a useful tool, and makes reading this book very easy. The app is very well laid out, pleasing to the eye, and has a useful note-taking function. Its not going to win many awards, but what it does, it does very well. For a little while I read a chapter a day from this app - which didn't take too long - and helped cement my understanding of some basics, from a Reformed persepctive. It deserves a space on your iPhone!
Christians in the UK will need no introduction to the organisation behind the eponymous "UCCF" app. UCCF - The guys behind the vast majority of UK University Christian unions - have made this excellent little app available, and the focus is clear from the simple icon: Jesus. In the vein of the Desiring God app, this is a resource heavy little app, that acts as a portal to the wealth of content from various speakers and Pastors who have helped UCCF. The Old and New Testament talks sections are currently a little bare, but there is a lot of useful stuff here. This is a great app for students to redeem the time spent walking around and sitting around - my friend used to listen to UCCF talks whilst playing xbox! It also has a handy 'find a CU' tool, and the 'CU People' videos baked in.
The Pages app is an Apple-ecosystem lynchpin, and one of my big favourites. Basically, it links Pages (the Apple version of Word) into iOS and iCloud, which is genius. I love using it because I rarely think at the right time - and ideas need to be tweaked in the document. Its useful because it links straight into the desktop via iCloud - which other services do less well. I also use Keynote on my phone - tweaking slides before presentations, and then as a remote too. Apple have (after years of teasing and not quite managing it) nailed the syncing in my opinion.
On a completely different note, and not perhaps the most used app on my phone, is "Map My Run". Whether through fate or design, I've found it to be the best, basic free fitness app. I can track my speed and calories burned, and race myself round the same routes. I don't share my stats and maps - but there is a big social option baked into the app. This app has done more than anything else to get me off my chair and waddling round the streets - because the competitor in me wants to beat old times. Clever.
The final two apps are sort of similar, and sort of not. They use 'cloud' technology to keep stuff on different devices in sync. Dropbox is great because it can have anything on it - so I use it to back up some of my most precious files. Its quite straightforward, though integration into various devices and OS's does vary. Evernote, on the other hand, does syncing of one thing. Notes. Voice or text, and with various options, Evernote is great because it keeps notes (of various lengths) synced and organised across devices. It beats Apples own Notes app because of its multi-platform support, and also because its icon is a green elephant. For someone like me, who has ideas, gets inspiration, or notices random things throughout the day, evernote is great, because even if the only device near me is someone elses, I can still recover my observations at the end of the day.
So these are some of the apps I use! What apps do you use, do you have any recommendations? I'm particularly interested in apps that offer similar things to the DG and UCCF apps - including other perspectives. Resources are great - and its great to see organisations embrace the tech revolution.
Thanks for reading!
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