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layout: post
title: "What is MinimalBible?"
modified: 2014-04-29 17:29:03 -0400
tags: [outline, why, bible, minimal, minimalbible, youversion, esv, andbible]
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When we're talking about starting a project, I think it's incredibly important to make sure you're clear on why it is that the project is being undertaken.
On that note, what exactly is MinimalBible?

**MinimalBible** is going to be a Bible reading and study app for the Android platform with three goals in mind:


1. Usability
2. Efficiency
3. Simplicity

In my opinion, the current offerings for a Bible app could really use some improvement. The three main apps I'm aware of are: [YouVersion][1], [ESV][2], and [AndBible][3]. I have a few issues with each:


* YouVersion - Tends to be very slow, and I think it tries to accomplish way too much (friends, videos, plans, etc.). Additionally, I'd prefer having a pure offline app, YouVersion gives me a lot of notifications if my data is off.
* ESV - Hasn't been updated in a while, and from conversations with people, it tends to crash on some devices. Additionally, it's hard to share verses, bookmarks, etc
* AndBible - The interface just seems to be very out of date. I like how focused it is, but it doesn't take advantage of a lot of modern UI design. It does use the same [backing library][4] I'm planning on though.
So in addition to changing a lot of things that I think are frustrating in other Bible apps, there are a few things I want to do in addition:


* Infinite scroll - I don't want to keep clicking buttons to switch between chapters, disrupting how they flow. I'd like to be able to scroll through an entire book at a time.
* Search - Search functionality seems to be problematic for everyone. I'd like to get a more fuzzy search implemented, as the current searches I've used haven't been very helpful unless I already know most of the text.
* Footnotes/Commentary - I think it would be great to make it easier to view Commentaries or footnotes inline. This will take some work to get a usable UI, but trying to view footnotes especially is challenging with the apps listed above.

So I'm hoping to use this site to document my ongoing development and progress, so other people can use this as a resource in the future! Looking forward to taking this journey, and I'd appreciate prayers for grace and strength to go through with this!

[1]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sirma.mobile.bible.android
[2]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.subsplash.esv
[3]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.bible.android.activity
[4]: http://www.crosswire.org/jsword/

