Ultimate Faith & Geekery Combo: Christian iPhone Apps

Most people know by now that you can get the Bible for your iPhone, but what other apps are available for the Christian geek?  I wasn’t really sure what would be waiting for me in the iTunes App Store when I went looking, but I did find some noteworthy things.  Some are good, some are not so good, and some are just plain weird.

Bible

Let’s start with the basics.  There are over 30 applications dedicated to making sure you have access to the Bible itself at any point.  Personally, I have Holy Bible by YouVersion and it does the job quite nicely.  The app allows me to look up verses, search by keyword and provides many translation choices.  For more on which Bible app is the best for you, check out these articles by FreeChristianResources, Prodigal Magazine, and Inspiks.

Social Media

Christian iDate – Netway Enterprises, Inc. – Free
“How did you two meet?”… “Oh, we met through our iPhones.” As if meeting your significant other on the internet wasn’t taboo enough, we’ve taken it one step further with Christian iDate — the Christian social media dating platform for the iPhone!  Update your current picture directly from your phone so those dating potentials can see you volunteering at a homeless shelter, sitting in a commission meeting, or hanging out with your small group.  Hey, God works in mysterious ways!

Devotional / Spiritual Life
My Utmost For His Highest – pkbeckapps – $1.99
In this version of the classic devotional by Oswald Chambers, you can enter a given date and the app brings up the corresponding devotional.  My Utmost for His Highest App has the same great content that you can find in the physical book conveniently stored right on your cell phone, ready for your regular devotion time or when you just have a few minutes to kill.

The Love Dare: Reminders – LifeWay Christian Resources – $.99
Is your marriage Fireproof?  The Love Dare — featured in the recent movie by Samuel Goldwyn Films and Sherwood Pictures — challenges readers to spend 40 days intentionally showing love to their spouse.  This application features the full 40 Day Love Dare as well as the Bible — definitely a value at $.99 vs. the $22.99 (Legacy Editon) or $14.99 (Paperback Edition) price tag from the publisher.  This book has been inspirational to many couples and now comes in convenient app form!

Prayer List – Request Organizer – Vurgood Applications – $1.99
Sick of unorganized prayer requests?! Looking for an app to keep everything stored electronically in one place?  This app is for you! Prayer Request provides a convenient place to store, date, edit, and update prayer requests. If you need a visual reminder of what you are praying for, take a picture and add it to the entry! Prayer Request also provides a separate place for your own personal prayer requests and a password protection option to ensure privacy.

Purity Ring – Island Wall Entertainment – $.99
This app lets you choose your gender and then walks you through a pledge to God, your family, and your future spouse to remain pure.  Complete with snazzy graphics and your very own picture of a purity ring.

Bible Shaker – Moxic Studios – $.99
This well-designed app lets you choose a topic, shake your phone, and receive a topic-related verse!

Mars Hill Church – Mars Hill Church – Free
This is a great example for churches of how to be current and relevant. This app features sermons and music from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Sure, it may not be the most universally marketable iPhone app, but it seems to be a great way to keep their community connected or just let you keep up with the latest Mark Driscoll sermon.

Nooma Series – Flannel – $4.99 Each (4 Videos)
From the other Mars Hill Bible Church (in Michigan) comes applications based on their Nooma video series.  If you are a fan of Rob Bell or just the Nooma series then these apps are a must have!

Entertainment / Music

Christian Rock Music – nuTsle- $1.99
In all honesty, this app is like a Christian version of Pandora. If you are looking for purely Christian music and don’t have access to a good radio station, this may be a great option for you.  Here are a few reasons why Pandora might be a smarter choice, though:

• It’s Free.  Pandora doesn’t cost anything and you can program it to be all Christian music if that’s what you’re looking for.
• Better Sound Quality.  Being a smaller app with no advertising support, Christian Rock Music won’t be able to provide the same sound quality as Pandora.  If you’re all about good sound quality, Christian Rock Music probably isn’t the best choice
• Variety.  Pandora is part of the Music Genome Project.  As a music nerd, I am always looking for new and different stuff and I have found a lot of great new Christian music just by entering in my favorite artists and letting Pandora do its thing.
• More “Rock” Music.  One of the criticisms of Christian Rock Music is that is more like Christian “Pop Praise” Music.  If you’re looking for real rock music, you’ll be better off seeking out Underoath, Demonhunter, Children 18:3, Flyleaf or Pillar on Pandora.

Christian Rock Music isn’t for everybody, but if you want to support a Christian entrepreneur and don’t mind slightly less variety and poorer sound quality, then you just might like it!

Israel Houghton – Integrity Music – Free
Apparently Integrity Music thinks that Israel Houghton is so important that he needs his very own iPhone App, complete with song reviews, discography, blogs, videos, news, tour dates, etc.  Personally, I don’t understand.  You don’t see very many artists with their own iPhone apps, except for T-Pain, and I don’t think Integrity Music really wants to be keeping up with what T-Pain is doing.

Bible Blocks – Ernest Properties – $.99 (Lite version available for free)
This crazy circular Tetris-like app is mildly amusing, but is definitely not for the hardcore gamer.  The best part of this application is that no matter if you win or lose, the app brings up a Bible verse.

Bible Facts/Dictionaries

Bible Trivia Extreme – Jeff Lacki – $3.99
Pretty much just what it sounds like, Bible Trivia Extreme is like the old school Bible trivia games with a modern technological edge.

Bible Geneology – Handeck International Limited – $.99
Often stuck, wondering who the great, great, great, great, great, great grandson of Adam and Eve was? Wonder no more; now with Bible Geneology you can know in an instant!

Bible Animal – Handeck International Limited – $.99
Ever wondered what an addax looks like?  Did your boyfriend just tell you that your eyes are like doves?  Wondering how many times ants are referenced in the Bible?

Evangelism Apps
There seem to be a plethora of evangelism apps, and like most other evangelism tools there seem to be some pretty cheesy ones and some pretty powerful ones.  I’m not going to be one to judge what could bring someone to Christ, so check them out for yourself to see if there might be something that would help you with your evangelistic efforts:

• Steps to Peace with God – Billy Graham Association – Free
• Mobile Jesus – Evangelism tool – J.Bushnell Software – Free
• 1Verse – Renegade Apps – $.99
• iChristian – Valeriy Petrenko – Free

Overwhelmed yet?  These are just a few of the many Christian apps available for the iPhone.  Check out the App Store for these and many others, and if you know of any other noteworthy apps, be sure to share with the rest of us!