📖 Reading the Bible
When you open Tap Bible you land directly in the reader. Text is displayed verse by verse for easy reading. Scroll continuously through the text — previous and next chapters flow in seamlessly as you scroll up or down, in both Bible and commentary documents. Use the navigator at the top to jump anywhere in the Bible.
The app remembers your position, and all tabs are synchronised — navigating to a new passage in one tab moves all tabs to the same location.
🕐 History
Every passage you visit is recorded in your history, making it easy to return to a previous verse or pick up where you left off in a reading plan.
- Open history from the navigation menu
- Tap any entry to jump straight back to that passage
🗂 Using Tabs
Tabs let you keep multiple documents open at the same time — for example, two different Bible translations, or a Bible alongside a commentary or dictionary.
- Tap the tab bar at the bottom to switch between open tabs
- Use the tab edit button (pencil icon) to add, remove, or reorder tabs
- All tabs stay synchronised — switching tabs shows the same passage in each document
⬇️ Downloading Bibles, Commentaries & Dictionaries
Tap Bible uses free modules from the CrossWire and eBible catalogs — there are hundreds of Bible translations, commentaries and dictionaries available across most languages.
- Open the catalog from the tab edit screen or the navigation menu
- Browse or filter by language
- Tap a document to download it
- Once downloaded, it is available offline
📚 Dictionaries
Bible dictionaries open in their own tab — the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) is included as a default tab, and more dictionaries are available in the catalog.
- Tap the entry name at the top of the screen to open the entry list
- Type in the search box to filter the list as you type, then tap an entry to open it
- Scroll continuously — previous and next entries flow in as you scroll, just like Bible chapters
The app remembers your place in each dictionary, so switching tabs or restarting the app brings you back to the entry you were reading.
🔍 Search
Full-text search is available for any downloaded Bible translation or commentary.
- Open search from the toolbar or navigation menu
- Type a word or phrase and tap the search key (or press Enter) to run the search
- Results show the verse reference and a snippet — tap any result to jump to it
- Previous searches are saved in a history list below the search box
Search is scoped to the translation in the current tab. Dictionary tabs don't show the search icon — to find a dictionary entry, use the filter box in the dictionary's entry list instead.
✋ Selecting & Copying Verses
You can select a single word or verse, or a whole passage, then bookmark or copy it.
- Long-press to select a word or verse
- Keep your finger down and slide up or down to extend the selection across a range of verses
- Tap the copy icon to copy the selected text to the clipboard — a brief confirmation appears
- Tap the bookmark icon to bookmark the selected verse or range
🔖 Bookmarks
Save any verse or passage with a bookmark so you can return to it later.
- Select a verse or range (see above), then tap the bookmark icon
- When a verse is bookmarked the icon appears filled — tap it again to remove the bookmark
- View all bookmarks from the navigation menu
- Tap a bookmark to jump straight to that verse
Bookmarks are stored locally on your device and are never sent anywhere.
🔤 Word & Verse Popup
Long-press any word in the text to open a tabbed popup with two views:
- Word tab — shows the Strong's concordance entry for the word you pressed, including the original Hebrew or Greek word, its definition, and how it is used across the Bible. If you have a dictionary installed for the translation's language, the matching dictionary entry is shown below it, labelled with the dictionary's name. Useful for deeper word studies.
- Verse tab — temporarily highlights the whole verse and shows a list of cross-references, helping you find related passages across the Bible.