# Most useful iPad apps... for a minister



## SolaScriptura

Alright, folks! I presently possess a notebook for this and a notebook for that... I want to streamline and start using my iPad to its full potential.

I would appreciate your list of *the top 10 (or so) most useful apps for your iPad* along with what each app does or why it is ranked as one of the most useful.

** I am not interested in game apps. **

Thanks!


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## ClayPot

A few that I can think of:

1. Pages or Office 365. To view or edit sermons you've written.
2. Accordance. This is simply the best computer software for a Mac in my opinion. They have an iPad version too that is useful for bible study on the iPad.


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## PuritanCovenanter

I like the icloud app. https://www.icloud.com/ipad_welcome/

Espcially since I like to work with word, excel, and microsoft stuff.


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## Semper Fidelis

Olive Tree Bible Software - fantastic Bible reader. Worth paying for the various Bibles. You can use any resources across the platform.
Logos
Chrome
Lastpass
Goodreader - It's a Good reader for docx and PDF files.
Dropbox - immediate access to all my files that I store there.
iBooks - built in. I convert my sermons to ePub and then open them up in Dropbox and transfer them to iBooks. I then preach from iBooks.
Twitter - follow tech blogs on it.
The Weather Channel
Stopwatch - I use this a lot while working out (free)
SkyDrive - I used SkyDrive for work files much like I use Dropbox
Facebook
LinkedIn
Tapatalk HD - To read the Puritanboard while with my iPad
Instapaper - great app to save web articles to and read later
Amazon


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## SolaScriptura

Semper Fidelis said:


> Olive Tree Bible Software - fantastic Bible reader. Worth paying for the various Bibles. You can use any resources across the platform.
> Logos



Rich - What does the Olive Tree Bible Software bring to the table that the Logos app doesn't? 
Thanks for this list!


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## Semper Fidelis

SolaScriptura said:


> Semper Fidelis said:
> 
> 
> 
> Olive Tree Bible Software - fantastic Bible reader. Worth paying for the various Bibles. You can use any resources across the platform.
> Logos
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Rich - What does the Olive Tree Bible Software bring to the table that the Logos app doesn't?
> Thanks for this list!
Click to expand...


A *much* better Bible reading app. I actually bought an NA27 with the Mounce concordance so I can view the English in the top window and the Greek in the bottom and click on a word if I don't recognize it and need to parse it.

Olive Tree is the most used app on my iPad. I use it for my Bible in a year reading and when I'm reading Scripture to the family.

Don't get me wrong, Logos has access to a wider library but Olive Tree has been making apps for handhelds for so long and that's not really Logos' focus. The basic app from Olive Tree is free and you only pay for translations you add.

By the way, esvbible.org is pretty slick in Chrome (or even Safari). You can actually have it read the Scriptures to you, which my kids enjoy sometimes.


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## Semper Fidelis

BTW, if you want to see me with my iPad in action, I actually was reading Chapter 20 on Liberty of Conscience during the Wed PM session of GA. 

I also used it during the Overtures committee to read the Overtures and would tab over to notes I had taken ahead of time if I needed to make arguments in favor or for particular motions.

You didn't ask this, but I *love* this iPad case: Amazon.com: Snugg iPad 4 & iPad 3 Leather Case in Black - Flip Stand Cover with Elastic Hand Strap and Premium Nubuck Fibre Interior - Automatically Wakes and Puts the Apple iPad 4 & 3 to Sleep: Computers & Accessories

Beautiful leather with a strap thing that I can hold the iPad in one hand without worrying about it slipping.


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## fredtgreco

There are many, many good apps for the iPad:

GoodReader - the best app for viewing all kinds of documents, and syncing both files and whole folders to your iPad
Logos - the best Bible and commentary app
ESV app - if you use this version of the Bible, the app is very nice, and does not require an internet connection (unlike the very good esv.org website)
CloudOn - very good Microsoft Office substitute. (Unless you use a Mac, don't even bother with the pricey iWork apps)
Penultimate/Notes Plus/Notability - all good note taking (handwriting with stylus or typing, or audio recording) apps
PrintBureau - print almost anything from your iPad to any network printer
iThoughtsHD - good mind mapping app (Mindjet Maps is better if you have the great but expensive Mindjet PC program)
Dropbox and Google Drive - a given to access cloud files
Ligonier app
YouVersion Bible app - free, every possible version, good Bible reading plans
FighterVerse - Bible verse memorization app
Covenant Pocket Library or Christian Creeds & Reformed Confession apps - Westminster standards with easy access
Quickoffice or DocsToGo - word processing apps
Slideshark - simply the best PowerPoint presentation app, bar none. We use it for all our Sunday school PowerPoints
Mental Case - great flashcard app
GoToMeeting - very nice videomeeting app


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## Semper Fidelis

Good list Fred. Ours overlap and I remember getting a good list from you when I first bought my iPad.

I use some of the others above you mentioned (i.e. Mental Case, GoToMeeting, QuickOffice) but rarely.



fredtgreco said:


> YouVersion Bible app - free, every possible version, good Bible reading plans


My only problem with this app in the past is the need for a connection to the internet to read all the versions.


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## fredtgreco

Semper Fidelis said:


> Good list Fred. Ours overlap and I remember getting a good list from you when I first bought my iPad.
> 
> I use some of the others above you mentioned (i.e. Mental Case, GoToMeeting, QuickOffice) but rarely.
> 
> 
> 
> fredtgreco said:
> 
> 
> 
> YouVersion Bible app - free, every possible version, good Bible reading plans
> 
> 
> 
> My only problem with this app in the past is the need for a connection to the internet to read all the versions.
Click to expand...

You are right - although you can download some of the versions for offline use. Because we use the ESV, I can usually have an offline version of that in any event.

One trick I use with multiple apps that read documents is if I need to flip back and forth between documents, I open one (or two) in each app. Then using the four finger swipe I can go back and forth between GoodReader, Dropbox, etc.

One other app I forgot to mention is iAnnotate. It is simply the best PDF editing app around.


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## CovenantalBaptist

Great question and suggestions so far:

To add (maybe a bit more than 10) to those that others have identified:

* Polaris Office - cheaper and In my humble opinion better than Quickoffice and it has built in integration with Dropbox. It is also cheaper than Pages or MSOffice 365 as $10 will give you Word, Excel and Powerpoint and I like the formatting/bulleting options better than Quickoffice. 
* YouVersion - Dead simple way to read the Bible on a plan (or have it read to you)
* Pocket - Instapaper like app - used to be called "Read it Later"
* Overdrive - Not sure if this is relevant to you guys, but, this is the technology used by the Toronto Public Library (and many libraries around the world) to lend out e-books. I use it to reserve, download and skim the NYT/ Globe and Mail bestsellers to keep a finger on cultural pulse or to skim bad theological books in the mainstream.
* Free MP3 - one of the things I find frustrating about iOS is the hassle of getting regular sermon MP3's off sites other than SermonAudio. Free MP3 gives you a browser within the app which you can use to visit any website on the web and when you click an MP3 link it brings up a dialogue to save it. It also contains a fairly functional media player in the same app. You can also get a non-ad version, but, I just use the free one.
* TuneIn Radio - I work mostly from home or busy coffee shops, I use TuneIn to provide background streaming music. 
* LogMeIn - a remote access to your computers when you're away from home - good for me since I have several old book apps (Waldron's 1689 exposition for example) that don't run on my iPad but I can run them on my computer and view them on my iPad
* Feedly - Google Reader replacement
* Book of Mormon, Quaran Explorer (until I need the storage space) - free searchable "bad theology" resources for apologetics
* Forever Map - if you have an extremely restricted data plan (as I do for my phone) this is a free and extremely detailed offline/downloadable road and street atlas that is useful for visitation
* Pixter - mobile scanner with limited OCR functionality (for books at the library)
* Christian Creeds & Confessions - For RB's you can get the 1689 as an add in.
* Reformed Forum Mobile - lots of good Podcasts if you have the time.
* Seminary Apps for free courses: RTS, WTS (Itunes U), GPTS, and Covenant
* Quora - useful crowdsourced questioning app
* Flipboard, Digg, TED - useful for cultural and techological zeitgeist
* RefNet - background radio station
* MagicJack (free short VOIP calls home when I'm at General Assembly)

If you speak using your iPad (I haven't preached using it yet) remember to adjust the settings for dimming and locking.


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## SolaScriptura

What do you guys think about Evernote?


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## Semper Fidelis

fredtgreco said:


> One trick I use with multiple apps that read documents is if I need to flip back and forth between documents, I open one (or two) in each app. Then using the four finger swipe I can go back and forth between GoodReader, Dropbox, etc.


Ditto. I've actually found iBooks to be a pretty decent PDF reading app because I can browse bookmarks easily. I actually use that when I'm reading the BCO.


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## fredtgreco

SolaScriptura said:


> What do you guys think about Evernote?


I have not really ever used it, because I find it too comprehensive and overwhelming. I just don't really take notes electronically for the most part.


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## DMcFadden

fredtgreco said:


> There are many, many good apps for the iPad:
> 
> Slideshark - simply the best PowerPoint presentation app, bar none. We use it for all our Sunday school PowerPoints



I just picked up Slideshark (free version). My question: will it handle imbedded videos? In my Sunday School classes I use a number of video clips and would love to be able to work off iPad rather than my laptop.


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## Semper Fidelis

fredtgreco said:


> SolaScriptura said:
> 
> 
> 
> What do you guys think about Evernote?
> 
> 
> 
> I have not really ever used it, because I find it too comprehensive and overwhelming. I just don't really take notes electronically for the most part.
Click to expand...


I agree. I've used Evernote in the past but never really got into it. If you're an Evernote user then the app is great.


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## Jake

SolaScriptura said:


> What do you guys think about Evernote?



In general, I have had problems with formatting staying consistent between platforms. The mobile versions do not have as many formatting features as the desktop and web versions and I often lost essential formatting to documents, like bullet points. I mainly went between Android and web, but I have heard the problems are the same on the iOS version, which seems nearly identical. I tried using it for a semester at college and it has a lot of nice features, but I ended up reverting to using Word documents and such in Dropbox and using that between platforms.


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## fredtgreco

DMcFadden said:


> fredtgreco said:
> 
> 
> 
> There are many, many good apps for the iPad:
> 
> Slideshark - simply the best PowerPoint presentation app, bar none. We use it for all our Sunday school PowerPoints
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just picked up Slideshark (free version). My question: will it handle imbedded videos? In my Sunday School classes I use a number of video clips and would love to be able to work off iPad rather than my laptop.
Click to expand...

It's supposed to, if the video is wmv or avi

https://www.brainshark.com/ideas-bl...mber/slideshark-now-plays-embedded-video.aspx

I have not used that yet, but I may soon.


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## Scottish Lass

I don't have an Ipad, but I do use Evernote. I clip stuff directly from the web (homeschooling projects, childrearing tips, recipes, etc.) With a smartphone (which I don't have), you can snap pics of stuff (favorite new wine label at the restaurant, and so on). I like being able to tag, sort, etc. I don't use it for new notes much, but I don't use anything for that.


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## SolaScriptura

Semper Fidelis said:


> You didn't ask this, but I *love* this iPad case: Amazon.com: Snugg iPad 4 & iPad 3 Leather Case in Black - Flip Stand Cover with Elastic Hand Strap and Premium Nubuck Fibre Interior - Automatically Wakes and Puts the Apple iPad 4 & 3 to Sleep: Computers & Accessories



Rich - 

I meant to ask about this case - with that hand strap on the back, does it affect how the iPad lies? Does it lay flat, or is it sort of off-kilter?


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## DMcFadden

fredtgreco said:


> DMcFadden said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> fredtgreco said:
> 
> 
> 
> There are many, many good apps for the iPad:
> 
> Slideshark - simply the best PowerPoint presentation app, bar none. We use it for all our Sunday school PowerPoints
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I just picked up Slideshark (free version). My question: will it handle imbedded videos? In my Sunday School classes I use a number of video clips and would love to be able to work off iPad rather than my laptop.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> It's supposed to, if the video is wmv or avi
> 
> https://www.brainshark.com/ideas-bl...mber/slideshark-now-plays-embedded-video.aspx
> 
> I have not used that yet, but I may soon.
Click to expand...


Fred, you are genius! Thanks for the link. That is my problem. In order to maintain maximum compatibility, I typically save into an older version.


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## Semper Fidelis

SolaScriptura said:


> Semper Fidelis said:
> 
> 
> 
> You didn't ask this, but I *love* this iPad case: Amazon.com: Snugg iPad 4 & iPad 3 Leather Case in Black - Flip Stand Cover with Elastic Hand Strap and Premium Nubuck Fibre Interior - Automatically Wakes and Puts the Apple iPad 4 & 3 to Sleep: Computers & Accessories
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Rich -
> 
> I meant to ask about this case - with that hand strap on the back, does it affect how the iPad lies? Does it lay flat, or is it sort of off-kilter?
Click to expand...


Flat, The strap is recessed into the case.


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## One Little Nail

I would like to give a list of some useful Ipad Apps, which a Minister or any other Christian 
would find useful for that matter...

i) PocketSword - This would be the single most useful App as it has many downloadable
Bibles ,Commentaries & Lexicons which may be found useful. Both English & Foreign 
Language Bibles, King James with Strong Numbers ,KJB Pure Cambridge Edition,Geneva,
Tyndales, Green's Modern & Literal Versions etc.
Commentaries in abundance Calvins, Gill's, Keil & Delitzsch O.T. & many of the usual JFB, 
Henry's, Peoples N.T., & many English & Greek Dictionaries/Lexicons plus it's FREE !

ii) iBooks - a reliable PDF reader that's Free & you can arrange all those free Google Ebooks
into folders for convenience sake.

iii) KJV Bible Audiobook - great for knowing the pronunciation of some of those difficult 
O.T. Names & Places, what it's only me that can't pronounce them ! Free

iv) The Bible Scholar - You get Schaff's History of the Christian Church, Calvin's Institutes,
Berkhof's N.T. intro, Treasury of David + others all for a measly $3.

v) Stong's KJV - I paid for the 2010 KJV but cant see what it does more than the Free version
maybe the search function not entirely sure ?

vi) Strongs Concordance - This is worthwhile paying for,when you press a word it gives you the 
Hebrew/Greek word that underlies it as well how many occurrences in the Bible,were they occur 
& into what different English words it is Translated into,on the other hand search an English word
& it displays the different Hebrew/Greek words that that are used. $5:49

vii) Christian Creeds & Reformed Confessions - be sure to use the Additional Documents Tab through
the Settings Buttons as there are Additional Creeds & Confessions located there. Free

viii) Paul Avery - Use it for the KJB myself like the Appearance of the Text, has other Bibles. Free

iv) Bible Gateway - Lets a King James/Received Text guy like myself view other versions Free online.

v) Sky Gamblers Air Supremacy - This is not a Religious App but is the best Damn Air Combat game
out their ! paid app.


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## sevenzedek

I would add:

Outlines
Notebooks (very, very versatile!)
Image to Text (for transferring old books to text)
Reading Plan (best reading plan app out there)
Daily Routine (if you need a very efficient way to organize your time)

I also found Creative Book Builder quite useful for creating books from text. The books can then be bookmarked and notes can be added to them in an easy and accessible format.


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## sevenzedek

I should also add Flashcards Deluxe, since that is the app I use to the memorize scriptures and the WSC. A picture can be added as a mnemonic aid. Various decks can be created for various organizational reasons. Individual cards can be flagged to help you know where you are in your repetition regimen.


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## sevenzedek

Oh, and Prayer Notebook. Organize the names of your congregation according to the days of the week.


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## GulfCoast Presbyterian

This has little to do with theology or ministry, but I use RadarScope frequently. Perhaps it may help to predict attendance based on rain adjacent to the church building?


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## SolaScriptura

Semper Fidelis said:


> BTW, if you want to see me with my iPad in action, I actually was reading Chapter 20 on Liberty of Conscience during the Wed PM session of GA.
> 
> I also used it during the Overtures committee to read the Overtures and would tab over to notes I had taken ahead of time if I needed to make arguments in favor or for particular motions.
> 
> You didn't ask this, but I *love* this iPad case: Amazon.com: Snugg iPad 4 & iPad 3 Leather Case in Black - Flip Stand Cover with Elastic Hand Strap and Premium Nubuck Fibre Interior - Automatically Wakes and Puts the Apple iPad 4 & 3 to Sleep: Computers & Accessories
> 
> Beautiful leather with a strap thing that I can hold the iPad in one hand without worrying about it slipping.



I wanted to follow up about this - thanks for recommending this cover. My wife got it in brown. We were a bit leery because on Amazon the brown looked kind of cheesy. However, it actually has a bound leather look. The cover is marvelous. I'll be getting it in black. Thanks!


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## jogri17

Feedly, Tweetbot, logos, Olivetree, GoogleDrive, Ligonier App, Pages, Amazon MP3 player app (upload all your sermons and audio stuff and stream it from there), amazon kindle app, RPCNA Psalter app, Skydrive app, mailbox.


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