YouVersion Bible App is largely the brainchild of LifeChurch and its innovation leader, Bobby Gruenewald. Born on July 31, 1977, Gruenewald is a pastor, former businessman, and creator of two multi-million dollar online companies. He has revolutionized the world by putting scriptures in the hands of millions of people around the world who own smartphones. This achievement is even more impressive when considering that it has reached more readers than the total population of the world when Johannes Gutenberg printed his Bible in 1454. Gruenewald's app has a variety of features that make it stand out.
For example, it can identify a light source in a photo and suggest a biblical verse about Jesus being the light of the world. Additionally, Planes with Friends allows users to connect and talk about the Bible even when they are not in the same room or country. The app also allows users to quickly switch between different versions of the Bible and create images of verses from photos saved in their camera roll. Adora, a New Jersey native, used the Bible app to rebuild her relationship with her mother. She added her mother as a friend in the Bible app and sent an invitation to make a Bible plan together using the Plans with Friends feature.
Recognizing the opportunity for greater relational interaction around the Bible, YouVersion introduced community features such as a home feed of friends' activities and the ability to study the Bible together. YouVersion will soon launch Bible Lens, a new application that analyzes objects in a photo and detects biblical themes to suggest the best fitting Bible verse. This feature was created by Jerry Pattengale, a university professor at Wesleyan University in Indiana and author of “The New Book of Christian Martyrs”. The app has been downloaded on more than 330 million devices and in every country in the world, making it more popular than any TV show with 26.6 million average weekly viewers.
