God is limitless. Access to His Word, the Bible, should be too! The mission of Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) is to provide people everywhere with free access to God’s Word through Audio Bibles in every translated language.
The Global Bible App initiative makes the Word of God available to the worldwide community of Android smartphone users. The major focus is on people who are not connected to the internet. Global Bible Apps are designed and built by Faith Comes By Hearing using SIL’s Scripture App Builder tool for Android devices and contain the Bible text and audio in the language of preference. These standalone Bible Apps synchronize the text and audio in a “karaoke” style, enhancing the user experience.
There are two editions of Global Bible Apps:
- Apps that only contain partial audio and are thus distributable via Google Play store—these are called “Expandable Editions (EE)”.
- Normal full-audio apps—these are called “Full Editions (FE)”.
Global Bible Apps facilitate individual engagement of Scripture in the most suitable language(s) even when the user has no cell or internet service.
Features of Global Bible Apps
- Self-Contained - The Global Bible App provides Android device users a self-contained app with both the Audio Bible and the Scripture text. The user is able to listen to the Audio Bible in their own language and follow along in the Scripture text.
- Offline - Receiving the FCBH Global Bible App (Full Edition), using it, and passing it on to others requires no internet, no cellular service provider and no data plan.
- Secure Content - Neither the Scripture text nor the Audio Bible can be extracted from the Global Bible App by the average user. This means the Scripture text and the Audio Bible are secure and stay within the Global Bible App.
- Manageable Size - The Global Bible App (Full Edition) .apk file with an entire New Testament (audio and text) is less than 200 MB.
- Customizable - Ministry partner information such as website info, Facebook info, an email address and other contact information can be included in the Bible App. A personalized splash screen with a ministry logo may also be included as per the preference of a ministry partner.
- Deployment and Sharing - The Global Bible App is easily deployed via Micro SD cards, a Micro SD card adapter that plugs into the cellphone Micro USB port, a portable Wi-Fi transmission device (hub), and many other options. Phone-to-phone sharing enables more and more people to receive and share the Global Bible App.
- Analytics - FCBH has created an analytics service that reports a small anonymous summary of Scripture engagement activities when a user has an internet connection or is connected to a cellphone service provider. Personal information and GPS location are not part of the analytics. FCBH makes the anonymous summary of Scripture engagement information available to partner ministries via an internet-based dashboard.
Distribution of Global Bible Apps
After building your app, you will have an APK file. This is the app installation file containing all the text, fonts, images, and app code. The APK needs to be copied or downloaded onto users’ smartphones in order for them to install and use the app. There are several possible ways of transferring the APK to a smartphone:
- Phone-to-phone sharing - The downloaded Global Bible App can be transferred from a smartphone using a Wi-Fi file share technology, the phone’s web browser and a sharing app (Xender, SHAREit). The sharing app employs the Wi-Fi technology of Android smartphones to transfer content between them. In this way, a person can share a Global Bible App with another person without either of them being connected to the internet or to a cellphone data service.
- Micro SD cards/adapter sharing - Micro SD cards and adapters can be used to transfer the same Global Bible App to OTG (On-The-Go)-compatible Android smartphones. The user inserts the Micro SD card in the adapter, then connects the adapter to the smartphone’s Micro USB charging port. The user can then view the digital content of the Micro SD card using a file manager app. The user then transfers the desired content from the Micro SD card through a simple copy and paste process. Once the Global Bible App is on the cellphone, it can be shared with others using phone-to-phone sharing.
- Web download - The FCBH Global Bible App webpage (https://apk.fcbh.org/) provides all available Bible Apps for immediate download.
- Lightstream Hubs - The Global Bible Apps are copied into the memory of a Lightstream Hub. Users then connect to the Wi-Fi device and choose the APK file to transfer to their phone.
- FCBH Google Play store - The Expandable Edition apps are uploaded into the www.FCBH.org/GlobalBibleApps for online downloads.
Obtaining a Global Bible App
The FCBH Global Bible App webpage (https://apk.fcbh.org/) and FCBH Google Play Store (www.FCBH.org/GlobalBibleApps) provides all available Bible Apps for immediate download. These may be transferred to Android devices using the methods described above. To request an FCBH Bible App that is not on the FCBH Global Bible App page, simply follow the link below and fill out the easy-to-use request form: https://www.FaithComesByHearing.com/App-request-form
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