Welcome to the Verbum mobile app! In this article, we’ll briefly walk through the basic features of the app. For more detailed help, visit the Verbum Support center. We also have a large collection of videos to help guide you through some of the Verbum mobile app’s most popular features.
Note: Some features available below may require the latest version of Verbum Bible Software.
Skip ahead to:
Set Up the App
Note: If you’ve already logged in, skip ahead to get oriented.
If you haven't already, download the Verbum mobile app from your device's App Store (iOS) or Play Store (Android). The first time you open the Verbum mobile app, you'll have two options: start reading one of the free Bibles or other free books associated with the app, or sign in to your Verbum account (or create a new one).
Get Oriented
Tabs View
When you open the app, it will automatically display your last-viewed resource in the main tabs view. If you have multiple tabs open, swipe to switch between them.
Note: If you have a book set to display in scrolling mode, you will need to use a two-finger swipe to switch to another tab.
Bottom Navigation Bar
A navigation bar at the bottom of the screen provides quick access to the major sections of the app. If you can’t see these options, tap the top bar of the screen to bring up the navigation bar. Tap any icon to view the respective area.
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Dashboard
gives you quick access to your reading plans, Quickstart layouts, lectionaries, prayer lists, and more. It also displays featured Verbum content and links to popular resources and media. To close the Dashboard, tap Done on the upper right of your screen. Learn more about the mobile Dashboard.
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Library
holds all your books. By default, all your books stay in the cloud, though you can tap the download icon
to place a book on your phone or tablet for offline use. Learn more about the mobile Library.
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Tab View
opens an overview of all opened tabs. Each tab represents an open book, search, guide, or any other feature. You can split tabs between two items, link tabs to scroll together, save tab layouts for use later, and more.
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Bible
opens your Top Bible. Learn how to set your Top Bible.
- The More Items Menu
provides access to all of the areas and features available within the Verbum app. It’s a great place to go if you can’t remember where to find a specific feature.
On tablets, you'll also find icons for:
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Factbook
opens the Factbook.
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Documents
opens a list of your recent Verbum documents.
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Tools
opens a list of tools and guides available in Verbum.
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Store
opens the Verbum store.
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Layouts
offer a set of pre-defined layout options for your current panel. Learn more about layouts in the Verbum mobile App. This option appears instead of Tab View.
Each of these features is available for your phone in the More Items Menu .
Insights Panel
You can open the Insights Panel by tapping the Insights Button or by selecting text. Tap any sentence to select it. For larger or smaller selections, drag one of the blue handles to set your selection. The Insights Panel is resource-dependent, so each selection card will reflect the selected content.
The panel includes three sections:
- Highlights: select or delete a highlight style.
- Guides and Tools: quick access to common guides and tools.
- Additional Information and Insights: includes a number of sub-sections containing access to more detailed information; tap one to open it and see the information it contains. Learn more.
Top Navigation Bar
The top navigation bar provides helpful context-aware options and tools.
- Tap
to return to your last position in the current book.
- Tap the Change Book button
to see available parallel books.
- Tap the Table of Contents icon
to visually navigate to any section of your current book.
- Use the search bar to navigate to a new location in the book (e.g., “John 1:1”).
- Tap the Audio icon
to hear your book read aloud.
- The More Actions Menu
holds a variety of powerful tools and features, like view settings, where you can adjust font size, change to a dark theme, and more.
Find Your Resources
Read the following sections for a quick introduction to some of the most-used resources in the Verbum mobile app.
Books
You can open any book you have access to from the Library .
Open your top Bible from its dedicated icon in the bottom navigation bar. To switch to another version, tap the version icon at the top of the Bible tab.
To view all Library options, open the More Items Menu and scroll to the Library section.
Tools
To view all the tools available in the Verbum mobile app, such as the Factbook, Notes Tool, or Text Comparison Tool, open the More Items Menu and scroll to the Tools section.
Note: Some tools that are available in the Verbum desktop or web apps may not appear in the mobile app.
Documents
To view or create Documents, such as Bible Studies, Passage Lists, or Homilies, open the More Items Menu and scroll to the Documents section.
Note: Some Document types that are available in the Verbum desktop or web apps may not appear in the mobile app.
Guides
To open a Guide, such as the Bible Word Study Guide or the Topic Guide, open the More Items Menu and scroll to the Guides section.
Note: Some Guides that are available in the Verbum desktop or web apps may not appear in the mobile app.
Engage in Study
The Verbum mobile app flexes and adjusts to each user. As you study, you’ll find paths that work best for you. Because everything syncs between devices and platforms, you’ll always have access to your latest notes and resources. Here are a few of the most popular study functions in the Verbum mobile app.
Note: For more detailed help, visit the Support center or view our large collection of videos to help guide you through some of the Verbum mobile app’s most popular features.
Read the Bible
To open your Top Bible, tap the Bible button . Learn how to set your Top Bible.
Quickly change references using the Table of Contents tool. It offers 4 options:
- Verse: Select book, chapter, and verse.
- Contents: Select chapter and book using a traditional Table of Contents view.
- Recent: Open recent references you’ve viewed.
- Favorites: Open favorite Bible references.
Note: Consider starting a Reading Plan to read the Bible on a schedule.
Create Notes, Clippings, and Highlights
There are several ways to mark important details in your study. Knowing which tools are available to you can help you choose the best tool for each portion of your study.
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Notes: Notes are your personal comments on any book in your library. Tap and hold until blue handles appear and the word is selected. Drag the handles to complete your selection and then tap Note
in the Insights Panel. This anchors your personal comments to your selected text and inserts a small note icon by default so you can quickly view your note. The notes tool makes it easy to sort, filter, and search to find previous notes. You can also group individual notes by notebooks for further organization. Learn more about the notes tool.
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Clippings: Clippings are personal collections of saved quotations. They help you pull together important quotes and insights on any theme, passage, or topic. To add any selection to a clippings document, tap and hold on your book until blue handles appear and the word is selected. Drag the handles to complete your selection and then tap Clip
in the Insights Panel. Learn more about the clippings tool.
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Highlights: You can quickly highlight any word or phrase by tapping and immediately dragging (this requires you to have Swipe to Highlight enabled in View Settings for the resource.). This applies your most recent highlight. To change or delete any highlight, tap the highlight to show the Insights Panel. The top section shows your most recently-applied highlights. You can access additional highlights by tapping the More Actions Menu icon
Search
With the Verbum Bible mobile app you can run basic and intermediate searches to scan through your open books or search within your entire library for words or phrases.
There are three main search methods (full details are available in this article):
- Using the Search tool
from the More Items Menu
- Using the Insights Panel
- Using the Search Button
Note: For more information on using search operators, check out the Advanced Searching section of the Verbum help file.
Split Screens, Linked Tabs, and Access Saved Layouts
You adjust how your resources display by splitting screens, linking tabs, and using saved layouts. If you need some help setting up layouts, go to the mobile home screen and choose a default Quickstart layout. Learn more about split screens, linked tabs, or saved layouts.
Use Reading Plans
You can set aside books to read, create reading plans for nearly any book in your library, and receive daily reminders to engage in your reading plans.
The Reading tab in the Library holds your saved books for reading later and any reading plan—those shared with a group, personal plans, and plans you’ve already completed.
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Save books to Read Later: The Verbum mobile app lets you mark books you’d like to read later. Find any non-reference book in your Library or open a non-reference book in a new tab. Then, tap the More Actions Menu icon
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Create a reading plan: Tap the More Actions Menu icon
- Set up notifications: In the Settings menu under Reading Reminder, you can set up a reading reminder to be notified to read each day. Tapping the notification opens the app.
Note: Learn more about reading plans in the Verbum mobile app.
Use the Print Library ISBN Scanner
From the More Items Menu , tap Print Library ISBN Scanner
. Verbum will now let you upload books from your Print library and show that you have access to that particular resource. This will help further join your digital and print libraries.
Learn more about Print Library ISBN Scanner.
Use the Reference Scanner
Snap a photo of a Bible reference in a book, bulletin, and more, and the Verbum mobile app will open your Bible to that reference. You can use an existing photo on your device or scan a document live.
- Open the More Items Menu
- Tap Scan to take a picture of your references. Verbum will identify any references in the photo.
The reference scanner returns a list of biblical references from your Top Bible. Tap a reference to expand it and view the entire verse. You can even save the list of references as a passage list.
Learn more about the Reference Scanner.
Perform an Original Language Study
The Verbum mobile app includes several ways to study original languages:
Insights Panel
The easiest way to study original languages is with the Insights Panel. Tap and hold a word to open the panel. Then, tap Word Info to view an Info Card offering quick access to original language study tools. Tap the More Actions Menu icon on the card relating to the word and select the Word Study option
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Note: The Louw Nida number used to appear in the Word Info card but was removed because it didn't provide a mechanism to copy / paste the information to use elsewhere. It was removed to make that space available for more helpful word information.
Exegetical Guide
Double tap a verse and select the Exegetical Guide from the Insights Panel.
This guide provides a detailed analysis of the underlying Greek or Hebrew text in any Bible passage to help you understand and interpret it accurately. It includes entries from your apparatuses, grammars, and includes a word-by-word lexical analysis of individual words in your passage. Learn more about the Exegetical Guide.
Note: You can also access the Exegetical Guide from the More Items Menu .
Note: Learn more about searching in the Verbum mobile app. For more information on using search operators, check out the Advanced Searching section of the Verbum help file.