Anselm App 3.0: Doom Scroll from Genesis to Revelation

Version 3.0 of the Anselm iOS app is now live on the App Store. Version 2.1 used the website's layout, with nine options on the home screen and thirteen rows in a drawer. Every feature had a separate screen. If you wanted to ask a question about Genesis 1, you left Genesis 1 to ask it. I did everything I could think of to make this process as seamless as possible, and as a result, you can now do so much through gestures, and almost everything from the Bible reader I could manage naturally.

"Doom" Scroll

The app opens on the Bible, where you left off. There is no home screen. The so-called rage right now is "doom scrolling" the Bible, and this version does that, and does it really well. The text is one scroll from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21; keep going and the next chapter and the next book load as you go. The English is the Anselm Project Bible 4.0, the translation I wrote about on October 4, and it is stored on the phone, so reading works without a connection.

Changing Books

When you swipe right on the Bible reader, you quickly slide over to a menu for selecting a new book and chapter of the Bible to navigate to. For the sake of speed, I wanted people to have quick ways to navigate that are easy and intuitive to use. Old Testament is on the left, and New Testament is on the right.

If you also want to, the bottom bar on the reader can be used to quickly change books, and takes full names as well as numerous shorthand names (e.g., Jn1 will take you to John 1). I tried to make navigation as easy as possible now.

Original Language

If you swipe to the left, you will swipe into the original language, which also doom scrolls at the same rate so you can see it. You can switch between English and the original languages very quickly this way. If you play the audio, it will play it in English or the original language based on what screen you're on. That's TWO doom scrolls. Don't you feel blessed? Actually, for me, this was the start of 3.0; I wanted a fast way to go back and forth.

You can choose the Paper or the Night appearance and set the type size. The menu and the bar at the bottom fade as you read and come back when you touch the screen.

The Verse

Tap any verse to open a drawer with the details of the Hebrew or Greek words, including their meaning and speech parts, notes on where the manuscripts differ, parallel passages, the places named in the verse, and questions for starting a study. Tap a Hebrew or Greek word and the app lists every other verse that uses it. Pull the drawer up further and you can ask a question about the verse with Inquiry.

The book button at the top opens the passage commentary for whatever pericope you are on. You can copy its text or open it as a document for easier sharing.

Research

The plus button on the bar opens four kinds of work: a Study, a Synod, a Preparation brief and a Teaching check. Each form opens with the passage you were reading already filled in, and each shows its credit cost before you commit. The studies are the same seven as before: Minor, Major, Summa and Devotional on a passage, and Character, Topic and Apologetics. The Preparation brief and the Teaching check are the Pulpit tools from the October 20 post; in 3.0 you open them from the passage.

While a report is being written, the app shows a moving bar and a sentence saying what stage it is at. You can leave that screen. The app goes on writing the report and marks it ready in the Library.

The Live Synod

A Synod puts your question to three to five AI experts, and was one of the most fun things I worked on before "adversarial" AI approaches were a thing. In 3.0 you can watch the discussion before the report is finished. The speaker's name appears in color at the top of the page as the expert's words arrive. Tabs for the other experts run down the right edge; tap one to read what that expert said last.

A "Next speaker" button moves the discussion along, and "View report" opens the report when it is finished.

The Library and the Menu

The Library opens on an Index of your reports, with a search by title or reference. The Gallery of shared studies is also here.

The Blog, which has been surprisingly but pleasantly more popular than I expected, is also present in the library.

The menu is a history of what you have done in the app, with a search field for finding the passages you have read and the questions you have asked.

Pastor Tools

Some people have known already, but I've also built a few tools specifically for pastors. It's a gated feature that I have to approve, but once you have access to the "Ministry" features, you have options for Funerals and Weddings.

Funerals are rather self-explanatory. It allows for the quick parsing of obituaries but also helps organize follow-up for ministers. The tool uses the family's answers to write a service with a homily, prayers, committal and song suggestions based on your music library or hymnal.

The wedding tool is actually primarily for pre-marital counseling sessions, but is also based on my own work flow. It incorporates info for counseling session guides, and once that work is done over six sessions, will help build the ceremony. The greeting, the homily, the prayers and the ceremony. In 3.0 each case opens as one document with those pieces listed down its side.

Enjoy

I hope you enjoy this. I was happy this came together how it did. The next major push is an Android build, which I've already started on. Hopefully that will go quickly. Prayers appreciated.

The 2.1 app keeps working until the update reaches you. If you use the app and something in 3.0 is in your way, you can send me a message through the support page.

Cheers.