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Tuomas Airaksinen edited this page Jan 16, 2024 · 88 revisions

AndBible FAQ

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I can't find ESV any more in Downloads. What's wrong?

The publishers of the ESV have unfortunately decided it is not longer in their interest to publish towards SWORD platform (by Crosswire Bible Society) which AndBible is using.

We are in progress in investigating options to bring ESV back to AndBible. See #390.

If you still have ESV on your other device, you can get ESV from your old device by backuping module and restoring on new device. Please see https://youtu.be/2zcme61EajQ how to do it via "backup modules" feature. This applies to AndBible 3.3 and later.

Please add module X to AndBible!

Modules to AndBible are provided via JSword engine, which uses Sword modules by Crosswire and couple of other freely available module repositories. Thus, you should primarily make your requests to Crosswire modules team.

You can also get in touch with them via email to their email list or via their other contact methods. See also their FAQ and their Instructions how to contact copyright holders.

If the text is not copyrighted (i.e. it is public domain), there could be a shortcut to get it quickly to AndBible. In that case, please contact us.

If you know that a module is available in MySword or MyBible applications, it is possible to install it in AndBible too, see instructions here.

I found text issue in one of the Bible / Commentary etc. modules in AndBible.

AndBible developers don't fix module issues. Modules used by AndBible are provided primarily via JSword engine which uses Sword modules made by multiple providers. You can determine who provides the module from the Download Documents list. If you have an issue we encourage you to contact them directly.

Crosswire: Use their issue tracker You can also get in touch with them via email to their email list or via their other contact methods.

eBible: Submit a message through their online form

AndBible/AndBible Extra: Raise and issue on our Github issues page

I have older phone, that doesn't have Android 6.0+. Can I use AndBible?

Yes, you can download older versions here:

Android AB Version Link to download
2.3 (Gingerbread) and newer 2.9.5 (Not supported) Download
4.4 (KitKat) and newer 3.2.343 (Not supported) Download
5.0 (Lollipop) and newer 4.0.687 Download
6.0 (Marshmallow) and newer Latest Download

Is there any way to change the voice of the speech synthesis in AndBible?

How voice is changed varies between different TTS engines.

If you are using Google Text To Speech Engine in particular (which you can also install from here), you can change the used speech voice as follows: System TTS settings -> Settings icon button -> "Install voice data" -> "English (United States)" -> voice selection appears.

Is there version for iOS (Apple iPhone / iPad) in plans?

No, unfortunately this app is exclusively for Android at the moment, and there are no plans to make it for iPhone, as long as there are no easy paths of porting native Android apps to iOS. It would require a passionate professional IOS developer volunteer with significant amount of time available for contributions to join the project to get that done (or perhaps 100-200k€ funding allowing hiring a full-time IOS developer to make IOS implementation).

Our recommended options:

  • consider buying a cheap Android tablet device (however, preferrably with most recent Android version) to take advantage of our app. For something like 50-100€ you will get more than enough power to run our app (yes, it does not need to be that powerfull). Tablet device is best suited for using AndBible as you will surely appreciate the extra cm²s it provides when studying the Bible with multiple windows.
  • You could run the app on Windows 11 (it runs Android apps)
  • You could run the app on Linux using Waydroid
  • You could install MEmu or BlueStack to run it emulated on older Windows versions or Mac OSX

I have downloaded one Bible but how do I download more Bibles, commentaries etc.

To download Bibles, commentaries, and books start AndBible and select Menu button (see 'Where is the Menu Button' below) / More / Download Documents.

Downloads are best done when connected via WiFi but you can download using your normal mobile data connection.

Where is the Menu button?

The Menu button is not always clearly visible on some recent phones. Sometimes it is represented by 4 horizontal lines or 3 vertical dots. Recent HTC devices may have a stripe along the bottom of the screen containing only 3 dots, or you may need to long-press the App-switcher or Home button. The Acer Z3 requires that you double tap the multitask button.

How do I copy My Notes and Bookmarks to my new phone?

This is done by backing up on one phone and restoring on the other.

  • On the old phone select Menu/More/Backup/Backup
  • Note the backup directory location in the confirmation message
  • Either copy the backup folder to the new phone or move the SD card.
  • On the new phone select Menu/More/Backup/Restore

If one device has an internal and external SD card the location of the backup folder may not be on the removable SD card but can still be copied via USB cable.

The backup created by AndBible is a SqLite database file named andBibleDatabase.db stored in a folder named andbible_backup on your SD card or, with some devices, the primary internal storage.

You may wish to copy this file to your pc via usb after backup to ensure you do not lose any data.

If you are having difficulty restoring i) ensure you have a copy of your backup file ii) do a backup and observe the location of the new andBibleDatabase.db iii) overwrite the

Where is the exit button?

You can exit the application like any other android application by going to home screen (via home button).  Android memory management might stop the application if it needs memory for other apps. In normal Android applications there is (and should not) be a specific exit button.

Where do the Bible translations for AndBible come from?

All documents available in AndBible are either in the public domain or are licensed such that they are permitted for distribution. You can see a full list of them at these sites:

This app used to be great, but now it is total garbage! Why are you doing this?

Everyone has their opinion about the app and how it is changing. Obviously we, the developers, love the changes we make. It appears that a majority of users love them as well -- but some do not. Some complaints we have heard:

You made it slower. Why?

On reasonably new devices (less than 3 years old) it still functions very well. But it is a little slower due to the inclusion of new functionality. Android 8 and 8.1 devices also are impacted by Chrome bug (see #1765 and #1756) that hopefully will be resolved with a future Google Chrome update.

You've changed things! Why?

Two main reasons.

  1. We wanted to add new functionality that we think is valuable.
  2. We wanted to make it easier for new users.

We think we are achieving this but time will tell. Existing users are harder to please because they have got used to the way things are done. One of the biggest changes (in 4.0) was the 'single-tap' verse action dialog. This makes bookmarking, comparing, sharing, and more much faster and easier. And it allows for more features in the future.

You made things harder! Why?

We have made some things different but we don't believe they are necessarily harder. In fact we spend a lot of time trying to make things easier. But sometimes new features force changes to old ways of doing things.

You removed my favourite function! Why?

It is very rare that we remove functionality. It is more likely that the functionality is now performed differently. Check the video tutorials or contact us and we can help.

I just want the old app back.

We add features that we want in a Bible app. One of the advantages of doing this work for free is that we can choose what we think is important to us. We are sorry if you don't like it. But all our hard work is freely available so you could go back to the old app or even make your own (or pay someone to do it for you). But here is how you can get it.

You added bugs. Why?

We did a lot of testing - months - before releasing it to the general community. There were no serious bugs when it was released. But the trouble with Android devices is there are SO many of them and they do things quite differently. Many bugs related to older devices. Some bugs related to particular manufactures.

Do you listen to your users?

Absolutely! Many changes have been made as a result of listening to suggestions. And we encourage you to submit your suggestions on our github page so we can discuss them with you.

Tutorial videos are there for you!

If you have trouble in using the latest version of app, please first see our tutorial videos. They are there to help you get around the app.

How do I downgrade from 5.0 to 4.0, or 4.0 to 3.3?

DON'T uninstall the app yet. This will remove all data including the automatic backup that was created when the update to version 4 or 5 happened.

Go to Main menu > Backup & Restore

  1. From under Import & Export, select an earlier backup (file called dbBackup-33-*.db when upgrading from 3.3 and dbBackup-57-*.db when upgrading from 4.0 (where * is timestamp)) to be exported (it is preserved for 3 months). Back it up somewhere - either on your device or send it to yourself. Make sure this file has been saved correctly.
  2. You might want to backup other documents from this screen as well. This will save you having to download them again. Use the Share or backup documents to option to do that.
  3. Now uninstall the app as normal.
  4. Then install earlier version 3.3 (from 4.0) or 4.0 (from 5.0) form Github Releases page. This will probably prompt you to allow installs from Unknown Sources. Change the setting so you can install the desired version.
  5. Then from Main Menu > Backup & Restore, restore the backup file that you just exported.

To make sure AndBible does not get upgraded automatically, you might need check your auto-update settings in Google Play (or in any other App store you that are using that provides AndBible).

Please note that using versions other than latest is unsupported. It might stop working any time, might not work on newer devices, it might not be possible to make module downloads in the future etc, new modules might not work there etc etc. On the other hand, we are working hard on making v4 work for everyone.

Short link to this section: https://andbible.github.io/go/d43

How to get paid NET module working?

  1. At https://store.bible.org/store/product/108, buy "NET Bible Crosswire Bible Society Sword module (Premium Version) [NOT e-Sword]" for $19.95 USD.
  2. You will receive an email with a link to a download page and an unlock code.
  3. At the linked page, click on "The Sword for Windows version (all Microsoft Windows platforms - AKA BibleCS)" or go straight to "https://bible.org//assets/sword/net_win_install.html".
  4. You will find links for netnotes and the net module. As far as I can tell, only of the files is needed. I used the netnotes successfully. Download which ever one you want.
  5. In AndBible, use Backup & Restore>Restore>Documents, then click RESTORE FROM.
  6. Browse to your downloaded file and select it.
  7. Once it installs, go to Choose Document in the main menu. You will see netnotes with a red lock. Tap on it and enter the unlock code you received in the email from Bible.org. With this completed, you now have access to all the notes. In my case, all my bookmarks and notes that were tied to the NetFree version were intact and accessible in NET Notes.

Is there a way I can support the project?

Yes, multiple ways. You could contribute by your skills or your money.

And Bible homepage

And Bible @ Play Store

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