As the YouVersion Bible App tops 200 million installs, the milestone accompanies some of the most impressive engagement increases to date for the world’s largest digital Bible community.
Installed in every country on the planet, the Bible App saw triple-digit growth and beyond in countries like Iran, Suriname, Cameroon, Bulgaria, Uruguay and more since it reached the 100-million install mark in July 2013.
Bible reading plans, one of the app’s most popular features, rose from 22 million completions in December 2014 to 42 million just one year later, a 90 percent increase. Top searches for topics included marriage, love, faith, prayer, and fasting.
The YouVersion community bookmarked, highlighted, listened to, and shared verses in record numbers, including the most popular verse throughout the app’s entire history, Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
“What God is doing through YouVersion is incredible—changing mobile devices into Bibles that people carry with them everywhere they go,” said Bobby Gruenewald, creator of the Bible App and Innovation Pastor at Life.Church. “As we see the magnitude of 200 million installs, what we’re really celebrating is what that number represents: countless moments of individuals transformed by their time in the Bible.”
In a recent survey of the YouVersion community, 65 percent of respondents said they read the Bible to stay close to God. “We live in a world hungry for hope, and people are reaching for the Bible as they seek answers, encouragement, and God’s unconditional love,” Gruenewald said.
The Bible App is available for virtually every mobile device (including Amazon Echo, Apple TV and Apple Watch). Together with their partners, YouVersion is working to make God’s Word available to everyone no matter their location or language. The app launched with just 12 versions in two languages and now offers 1,237 versions in 900 languages.
“We absolutely would not be looking at a milestone like this without the unity and combined talent of hundreds of ministries, Bible societies and publishers who are working tirelessly to put the Bible into the hands of people all over the world,” Gruenewald said.
The YouVersion team has another milestone in their sights, and it’s a big one for little ones. The Bible App for Kids, launched in November 2013, is on target to reach 10 million installs in January. Overall, 69 percent of YouVersion survey respondents said they were introduced to the Bible by or before age 9.
Thanks to the work of passionate translation volunteers, the app’s 41 Bible stories are available in Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Indonesian, Korean, Russian, and Spanish. The app also made its debut in print this fall with the release of The Bible App for Kids Storybook Bible.
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