Have you ever used an app that has never crashed, never frozen, never not worked or lost your notes? Or taken an extra second to load for absolutely no reason?! An app that just works, every single time you want to use it? I would love to know what that app is for you. I would love to try it. An app that just flows, doesn’t give me a headache or make my life miserable. Fantastic Human: meet the Olive Tree Bible.
User Interface
This app is perfect in every way. I use it every day, and I am yet to find an annoyance, an inconvenience, or even a malfunction. Do you want small print for your Bible? They’ve got you! Large print? Not a problem either, and the range is very wide. Vertical scrolling, horizontal scrolling. You can even use any system font you like. You have control over pretty much everything in the app: fonts, colours, display, gestures. These are the most gesture options I have seen in any app, ever! What is most exciting about the Olive Tree Bible app is that it’s free.
In-app Shop
But, they also have an in-app shop with free books and some of the most expensive reference books I have ever seen. It is very functional, when you know what you’re looking for. But I wanted to show you guys the most expensive reference book I have ever seen. Unfortunately there are no filters for that. Those would have been lovely to have this one time! $399 is not bad for the app. I have seen a reference book going for a thousand dollars in the app. I forgot what it was called, otherwise I would have just searched for it. The point, however, is that the app is for everyone. Simple humans like myself that just want to read or study the Bible and professionals that need robust tools to study the scriptures. Some are one-time purchases, others are subscriptions. But, everything is there in one single app! If you know a better Bible app that I can try, I’d love to know about it. I have tried YouVersion (now called Bible) and Logos as well. So, any other app that is not those ones.
I just saw that now, there are even some videos, even. These are clearly embedded into the app, so let’s hope soon we’ll be able to do that with our own videos. Maybe we already can, I can’t help but wonder. So imma try… and it doesn’t look like we can. That is at least something to look forward to, if you want that.
Bible Resources
It is very easy to switch between Bible translations in the Olive Tree Bible app, and I have a few. You can add as many bibles as you like; both free and paid. This shop setup is new, though. I am not sure when they changed it but the older shop was a lot better. It had filters where you could focus on free resources, or those within a certain price range. I haven’t been in the store for years. So, I guess now there is something I dislike about the app, after all. To the Olive Tree Bible developers, please bring back the filters in the shop. The current setup is terrible.
The macOS version has a bit of the old vibe, with free resources, those under $15 and $5 dollars. But the filters are still gone Why are the filters gone? And I have finally found a $1000 resource. Usually when I see such sales, I question them. Most of them are questionable. But, I have tracked these before, a sale in this app is really a sale. It doesn’t last years like it does with most things or online shops. Unless if that has changed now. A lot has changed in the shop these last years.
Supported OS
The Olive Tree Bible app is available on any operating system that you’re likely to pick up. I have it on every device, and it syncs everything via an account you create. I first used the app on Windows and that’s when I fell in love with the app. Never looked back since. All your notes, highlights, and purchases sync across all your devices. Seamlessly!
Bible Study
There are Bible apps that can compare four resources at once, but I don’t need that many. That is why the Olive Tree Bible app is great for me. You can compare two bible translations side by side and resize the windows as you like. Your comparison can show different verses, but if you wanted the exact same one, you can quickly get to it in a single tap. I love that my highlights apply to all the bible translations that I have. The app automatically does this for you!
You can label your highlights and customise them as much as you need. Instead of highlighting, you can choose to underline instead. Once you’ve added them, your highlights are easy to access according to each highlight. I love this app!
Taking Notes
Usually, though, I don’t use the second screen for a Bible. I use it for notes. For the longest time, the notes in the app was the worst feature because notes were too basic. You see how plain these are? I wrote these before we had formatting options, which the developers later added to the app for $20! I thought that was the most expensive update I had ever seen, until Goodnotes 6. But, to add some structure to me notes; I really needed them so I bought the feature the very day it came out. I had been waiting for years to get them! But then, fast forward a couple of years later, I still haven’t come around to actually fixing my notes.
Hyperlinks
I love the hyperlinks for Bible verses that the app creates each time you quote a verse. That is the coolest, most convenient setup I have ever seen. It gets me every time! After all these years, I still love the Bible hyperlinks and that the app automatically creates it in such an intuitive way. Look at that! How awesome is that?! This is the best reference app I have tried so far!
Organisation
You can tag your notes, organise them into folders, or simply link them to verses. Each note can have a cute icon from a few options and colours. It’s really more than I ever expected, so I am happy with the collection. At some point, I thought maybe I would want some handwritten notes in the app, but, I mostly take notes on the phone because that’s easier to take to church than an iPad. I have just stuck with that since.
Audio Bibles
The Olive Tree Bible app has audio books and Bibles as well. The one free Audio Bible I have is alright, but the paid one that I got is much better, though. Getting to your verses is fairly simple, but I wish I could see more of the bible in this window. If not, then perhaps it could open on the side, which it can’t. The closest to that is minimising it to the bottom of the screen. I would rather open it on the side or in the app itself. At the moment, it feels over imposed on the app in full screen. I hope that changes.
Besides that, you get speed options that can either slow down or speed up the reading. You can easily rewind, fast forward, and set a time when the reading should automatically stop.
Widgets
Who doesn’t like widgets? When I have hectic work schedules, I like displaying these on my iPad screen. It is a perfect reminder for me to do my bible study for the day. Verse of the day is usually a perfect place to start. So, I really love that feature.
I could go on and on and on about this app, but, I would love to know your perfect app in the comments. I would love to try them! And maybe even avoid to reviewing them to save our relationship. There is obviously a lot of features the app could incorporate, but, as it is; the app is great. It works, every single feature is intuitive (except the new shop). That is really all that matters, at the end of the day.
