AF Studies is also now available on the App Store

There are two main strengths to this AF Studies app:

1. People who don't know what Amazing Facts is are more likely to download this app than AF Mobile, as this is less intimidating and more focused. (when it comes to iPhone apps, a lot of people prefer focus and simplicity over large amounts of features)

2. AF Studies supports landscape mode.  AF Mobile has a tab bar at the bottom which disables the ability to rotate your screen for a different view.  AF Studies allows for this rotation that some people prefer when reading large amounts of text (such as the study guides)

And now for the moment we've long been waiting for... The Amazing Facts iPhone app is finally available for a free download on the App Store! An extremely minor issue held things at a standstill in Apple's often picky approval process for several weeks, but I knew it would eventually get through by God's grace. After re-submitting an almost identical binary once the holiday madness was over, it finally got the green light, making this my third app on the App Store!

When you open the application, you'll notice the division of Amazing Facts' content into 4 major areas: News, Videos, Audio, and Studies. The first three tabs pull the latest content from the Amazing Facts' website every time you launch the app, while the fourth tab has the traditional AF Study Guides local on your phone always ready for you to use even when you may be out of cell service and don't have an internet connection.

The Mormons, Catholics, etc. all have multiple apps out there on the App store. It's about time that our church, and more importantly the 3 Angels' Messages, started reaching out to the 50+ millions of iPhone and iPod touch users around the world through this unique medium. It is my prayer that this app, along with many others to come, will aid in leading people to a deeper understanding of the Bible, and ultimately to be inside the New Jerusalem at the end of time. I had to agree with Doug Batchelor during the initial planning stages of this project when he told me that he's especially excited about the Study Guides section of the app. Not only could this be used as a resource for Bible Workers, but many could even go through them all on their own without ever coming into contact with a soul-winner.

Already over 200 people have downloaded this app from over 30 different countries around the world.

Please tell your friends about this app, even those who may not know what Amazing Facts is.  This is a witnessing opportunity for you!

Scriptionaire Lite is also now available on the App Store, allowing you to get a feel for the full Bible Trivia iPhone game without having to spend any money.  If you want to go past level 3, however, you'll have to take that extra step. :-) It doesn't get much better than being able to learn your Bible better for yourself in a fun and unique way on the go all in the palm of your hand, does it?

The official website should be updated soon to reflect this new change.

Apple approved my first iPhone app today, exciting! :-) This game kinda plays off of the idea of the popular TV Show called "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" except it's with Bible questions instead. At one point I had this game working on the Windows Mobile platforms, but this iPhone version is a lot better and has a much nicer looking color theme with the  updated graphics.

Click Here to download the app! You can also visit the official website (still a work in progress!)  Spread the word! :-)

I haven't released a free trial version yet so if you want to try it out, you'll have to purchase it for now. Please download and give it a good review if you are able to and if you feel it deserves it!  If you encounter any bugs or want to make any suggestions for the app, feel free to do so here as comments on this blog or alternatively you can e-mail me.  It is my hope and prayer that this app will encouarage many to learn more about their Bibles!

Here's the current description for the app in the App Store:

Based on popular TV show concepts, Scriptionaire is an addicting game that makes learning the Bible fun and rewarding! Explore over 2,000 available questions as you answer your way through 15 levels of ever-increasing difficulty. But don't worry--you have three lifelines at your disposal! This game is for all ages and makes a great family game. Are you smart enough to be a Scriptionaire? Download now to find out! Tip: Have a Bible handy--it will be very helpful as you play!

On Thursday I made the trip down to San Jose for the day to participate in the Tech Talks 2009 seminars for iPhone Development. I learned a lot about some of the more advanced programming techniques, and I got many of my questions answered. On top of the breakout sessions, I really liked their decision to dedicate one room to questions and answers, and hands-on help from Apple employees all day! That was pretty cool. I met some pretty awesome and knowledgeable people, including the young man who is in charge of the Facebook for iPhone app now.

The biggest disappointment of the day for me was to find out that the Apple gurus there who were making the presentations (also known as "evangelists" which I find kinda humorous) didn't have anything substantial to say about the fact that the UIImagePicker control only returns a UIImage object and does not contain any extra information such as the date and time the photo was taken, or even more importantly, the location (latitude and longitude) of the photo. There are several apps out there on the app store that clearly tap into this functionality using private APIs, but nobody wants to talk about that lol. One "evangelist" was even very rude and cold with me about it when I asked him about it saying that he could not comment. After talking to two of the other "evangelists" I was finally able to find one of them who was cool enough with me to talk about it and said that it is embarrassing to him that Apple doesn't allow this basic ability and he hopes Apple will add it soon. Wishful thinking? I sure hope not! He did suggest to file a duplicate bug report about it. I plan to do that soon. I just see so much potential to be able to tap into this kind of functionality, and right now we have our hands tied. I say that Apple needs to get their act together soon about the limitations they enforce on their developers, because being treated like an untrustworthy child can only be tolerated for so long by the developer community. I hear Android is making some noise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPYM-XTqcec) and will be for some time. :-)

Choosing which breakout seminars to attend was hard, and almost made me feel like I was at GYC again, lol. I chose to attended the following seminars:

• Effective iPhone App Development - Part 1
• Preparing and Delivering Video for iPhone
• Working with Core Data
• Finding Your Way with Location and Maps
• Implementing Push Notification

When I fist bought my iPhone, I was thrilled to run into other iPhone owners who could tell me what their favorite apps were so that I could be sure to get the most out of my new phone. I have owned an iPhone for about 2 months now, and I finally feel like I have seen most of the really cool apps out there. Maybe you are one of those new iPhone/iTouch users, or perhaps you just don't like to spend time on the app store. Allow me to suggest to you some of my favorite apps: