# Best way to utilize Greek resources on iPad?



## Semper Fidelis (Jan 14, 2012)

I'd like to get some inout on the ways folks are using Greek texts and reference materials on the iPad. I've got some Olive Tree Greek Bibles but don't have any built in dictionaries. I tried Vryso to access my Logos resources but it seemed clunky. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## rbcbob (Jan 14, 2012)

There are these:
LOGOS BIBLE
BLUE LETTER BIBLE
LEXIPHANES

I feel sere that iPad would support even better tools but these work on my iPhone.


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## amg (Jan 14, 2012)

I used to use Blue Letter Bible, but found it to have a poor layout and to be generally lacking in helpfulness. I currently use both LOGOS and Pocket Sword (e-Sword for iPhone/iPad). LOGOS particularly is very helpful as you have the ability to basically do a word study of the Greek and Hebrew right from the English text. Pocket Sword also allows for you to download a plethora of free material from Bibles, to commentaries, to lexicons.


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## ClayPot (Jan 14, 2012)

Have you had a look at the Accordance Bible app? I know a Greek text is included, but I'm not sure about a built-in dictionary. I would imagine you could add one, though I'm not sure if that would cost extra money.


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Jan 15, 2012)

Semper Fidelis said:


> I'd like to get some inout on the ways folks are using Greek texts and reference materials on the iPad. I've got some Olive Tree Greek Bibles but don't have any built in dictionaries. I tried Vryso to access my Logos resources but it seemed clunky.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Suggest you use the logos app wherein all your logos content is made available via biblia.com

Painfully sent via my kindle Fire


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## JohnGill (Jan 15, 2012)

Semper Fidelis said:


> I'd like to get some inout on the ways folks are using Greek texts and reference materials on the iPad. I've got some Olive Tree Greek Bibles but don't have any built in dictionaries. I tried Vryso to access my Logos resources but it seemed clunky.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk



Have you considered getting pdfs/epubs/mobi files of your Greek texts and reading them through the iPad book reader instead of a Bible reader? This is the way I read various theology texts in differing languages on my mobile devices.


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## Semper Fidelis (Jan 16, 2012)

I need to be more descriptive of the problem. It's not that I lack Greek resources or Bible Software. I have Logos and even the Logos and Vyrso apps. My problem with the Logos app on the iPad is that it's kind of clunky. What I'd like to have is the ability to open up a Greek resource quickly or even jump from the English translation to a Greek text (NA27, Byzantine, TR, etc) and, while in the Greek text, be able to click on a word and access a lexicon or morphology or even a textual platform.

I'm trying to get a sense on what folks use toward that end. I am not impressed with Logos' iPad app for that purpose. I'm sure I'd be able to access some of those resources but slowly on the iPad. I have the Olive Tree reader with a few translations already but am hesitant to pay $150 for the BDAG on that or even some of the other things they have. Logos has the SEBS and some other resources and I don't want to be paying twice for some resources. I've heard Accordance and Bibleworks are pretty decent but I'm hesitant to buy another top shelf Bible software program simply for convenience sake.


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## rbcbob (Jan 16, 2012)

Semper Fidelis said:


> I've heard Accordance and Bibleworks are pretty decent but I'm hesitant to buy another top shelf Bible software program simply for convenience sake.



Rich I love BibleWorks but as far as I know it is not available on iPhone or iPad.


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## JohnGill (Jan 16, 2012)

Semper Fidelis said:


> I need to be more descriptive of the problem. It's not that I lack Greek resources or Bible Software. I have Logos and even the Logos and Vyrso apps. My problem with the Logos app on the iPad is that it's kind of clunky. What I'd like to have is the ability to open up a Greek resource quickly or even jump from the English translation to a Greek text (NA27, Byzantine, TR, etc) and, while in the Greek text, be able to click on a word and access a lexicon or morphology or even a textual platform.
> 
> I'm trying to get a sense on what folks use toward that end. I am not impressed with Logos' iPad app for that purpose. I'm sure I'd be able to access some of those resources but slowly on the iPad. I have the Olive Tree reader with a few translations already but am hesitant to pay $150 for the BDAG on that or even some of the other things they have. Logos has the SEBS and some other resources and I don't want to be paying twice for some resources. I've heard Accordance and Bibleworks are pretty decent but I'm hesitant to buy another top shelf Bible software program simply for convenience sake.



Have you looked at the amount of programs you have open on your ipad at the same time? This can dramatically slow down memory intensive programs. You might try closing all prgs and opening only your Bible software prg before looking around for a new one. And don't forgot the opensource prgs that are out there. Many of them contain the same features and books and the more expensive versions.


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## Semper Fidelis (Jan 16, 2012)

Chris,

I'm not having a performance issue with my iPad. Do you actually use an iPad or any of those open source resources to access NA27, SEBS, and BDAG or are you simply opining about the capabilities of an iPad? Many of the important lexical and morphological sources are not available on every program and they are never free. The point of my question is not wanting to buy multiple programs as I can get them all in Logos but I'm also dissatisfied with the way Logos works on an iPad. It does not allow me to work quickly with the resources or it's possible I just haven't figured out how to do so. This is why I'm getting opinions not on Bible programs in general but people's experience using Greek resources on the iPad in particular.


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## ooguyx (Jan 16, 2012)

I deleted and then reloaded the Logos app from my iPad and have seen a good improvement (be sure to restart the iPad after install). I've also found that downloading the resource for Offline use speeds the program up too. I'm sure that I don't do anything like what you are trying to do, but perhaps these suggestions will help.


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## Phil D. (Jan 16, 2012)

Rich, I agree the iPad version of Logos is comparatively clunky in this area. When I have done Greek study on it, I have basically used the following procedure, which seems to work OK:

I open an English translation in the left pane, and a Greek text in the right (for some reason the straight NA27/USBS4 doesn't seem to be available with my iPad accessible resources, so I usually use Robinson's Byzantine Textform (2005), which does show all the variant readings in the BT, TR and 27/4 via footnotes). The texts will track together as you turn pages from within either panel. You can then place and briefly hold your finger on a word in either panel, which will bring a pop-up bar with the option to "look up" that word, which in turn brings up another pop-up panel that gives some basic info and the option to do a full fledged Bible Word Study. From there you can easily access your usual translation and lexical resources.

You are probably already aware of this option, and I agree it is a bit unwieldy, but it's the best I've been able to discover so far.


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## JohnGill (Jan 16, 2012)

Semper Fidelis said:


> Chris,
> 
> I'm not having a performance issue with my iPad. Do you actually use an iPad or any of those open source resources to access NA27, SEBS, and BDAG or are you simply opining about the capabilities of an iPad? Many of the important lexical and morphological sources are not available on every program and they are never free. The point of my question is not wanting to buy multiple programs as I can get them all in Logos but I'm also dissatisfied with the way Logos works on an iPad. It does not allow me to work quickly with the resources or it's possible I just haven't figured out how to do so. This is why I'm getting opinions not on Bible programs in general but people's experience using Greek resources on the iPad in particular.



I own and write personal apps for my iPad. The reason I mentioned resource management is that if you have other prgs open it will slow down the currently running app. Especially if that app is as resource intensive as Logos is. And if Logos is pulling from the network as you switch back and forth the delay will be even worse. I'd look around for a system manager for your iPad such as Activity Monitor Touch to see which apps you have on in the background. Memory Management app might also be a good idea. 

I don't currently have any Bible programs installed as I am working on porting Linux to my iPad. The opensource prg I used when I had iOS was PocketSword. It had various Greek texts in it and one that included NA27/UBS4 readings.


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## bug (Jan 17, 2012)

I think we have to be realistic about the capabilities of current tablets and other devices. they simply cannot compete with a semi decent PC, less screen real estate, less memory, less processing speed - etc, etc, also the programmers of Logos ahve been working for years with PC architecture and they are only just getting searches within decent timeframes - it takes time for programmers to learn how to get the best out of a system, especially one as limited as a tablet. For the foreseeable future the logos app will be clunky I am afraid.


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## Semper Fidelis (Jan 17, 2012)

bug said:


> I think we have to be realistic about the capabilities of current tablets and other devices. they simply cannot compete with a semi decent PC, less screen real estate, less memory, less processing speed - etc, etc, also the programmers of Logos ahve been working for years with PC architecture and they are only just getting searches within decent timeframes - it takes time for programmers to learn how to get the best out of a system, especially one as limited as a tablet. For the foreseeable future the logos app will be clunky I am afraid.



That may be the case but that's why I'm getting input. I've heard good things about the Accordance iPad app but I'm not going to buy Accordance simply for the convenience of accessing the resources more elegantly on my iPad. Also, Olive Tree has a very well written iPad app but (again as I noted), I don't want to drop $150 for the BDAG simply for elegance' sake.

At the end of the day, I'm not really lacking in understanding the challenges of software design nor am I concerned about the lack of performance on my iPad. I'm asking _specifically_ for input from people who are using lexical resources on their iPad. Please keep the thread on track and only answer if you have specific experience regarding using the iPad to read and analyze Greek text.


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## bug (Jan 17, 2012)

And I am specifically saying that unless you are willing to drop the cash (for something that will only function marginally better due to the limitations I have already highlighted) then all you can do is make do with the options already offered my friend. Perhaps one aught to accept that an ipad is just an ipad because simply put there is no way to turn logos on the ipad into logos on the PC at present, and it seems to me that is what you are asking us to do! Clunky is all you have. I am sorry you don't like that answer, but in my opinion that is simply the way it is and is on topic - I haven't found a better way to use the ipad then the one detailed above already and yes I read Greek, Hebrew and Latin and use lexical resources on a weekly basis - mostly in book form, or PC based nowadays, but also on the ipad when I am on the road!


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## Brother John (Jan 17, 2012)

My six year old has been working on the greek alphabet and wants to start with the hebrew, does anyone know any apps for the iPad that would teach the two alphabets to children? Chris would you like to write one


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## JohnGill (Jan 17, 2012)

Brother John said:


> My six year old has been working on the greek alphabet and wants to start with the hebrew, does anyone know any apps for the iPad that would teach the two alphabets to children? Chris would you like to write one



No need. Here are the two links you'll need to create the flashcards for Aleph to Tav (and many more):

App Store - Flashcards+ It's FREE!

Flash cards, vocabulary memorization, and study games | Quizlet - Click on the make flashcards. Hebrew is one of the selectable languages. You could even go further by making flashcards for the most common words in Greek & Hebrew. It's a listing of 300 words. A few may not have equivalents, but you'll have a good vocabulary for them to learn.

And if you don't want to make your own alphabet (alephtav..nah) cards, type Hebrew alphabet into the search on Quizlet and you get:

Hebrew Alphabet flashcards | Quizlet

It's just one of many. If you go over to Textkit | Greek and Latin Learning Tools you can find Greek & Latin language texts for free and can then put the lessons into Quizlet. Someone has already done so for Wheelock's Latin: Wheelock's Latin Ch. 1 Vocab flashcards | Quizlet


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