#YOUVERSION BIBLE APP HOW TO#
#YOUVERSION BIBLE APP FOR ANDROID#
#YOUVERSION BIBLE APP ANDROID#

King James Bible (KJV) from Salem New Media (a freemium app) has accumulated more than 10 million installs and a rap sheet from Privacy International, which discovered the app sending user data to Facebook in March after claiming it had stopped. When you search for 'Bible' in the Play Store, four of the top five search results request dangerous permissions from users. Little appears to have changed since the Proofpoint study emerged and Bible apps in the Play Store started coming under scrutiny. It's time to turn over the table on data-trading Bible apps.

#YOUVERSION BIBLE APP ANDROID#

Here's what you need to know before letting them onto your Android phone. These six popular apps aimed at a Christian audience talk to your phone far more than is necessary, potentially eliciting sensitive information. For the faithful, a similar note of guidance might be found in Proverbs 20:19: 'A gossip betrays a confidence so avoid anyone who talks too much.' Most security researchers express a general rule of thumb: The fewer permissions an app requests, the better.

Read more: 7 Android VPN apps you should never use because of their privacy sins Those red flags alert you to an app's overall security: That book-reading app doesn't need to read your list of phone calls, pinpoint your exact location or change your system settings in order to function, does it? But sometimes these dangerous permissions include unnecessary requests for more information than needed. Some permissions that could be considered dangerous may not put you in harm's way - like when a book-reading app asks permission to save a book to your phone so you can read it offline. But 'dangerous' permissions ask for sensitive data that, if mishandled, could easily compromise your privacy. 'Normal' permissions are usually granted by Android - these let apps stay awake during use or get online when you tell them to. Security issues with many religious apps - and apps in general, for that matter - start with permissions. A spokesperson for Proofpoint confirmed that the firm has not since released the names of the offending apps covered in the 2015 study. But things have been quiet on the religious app front since then. Of the 4,500 Quran apps it analyzed, 16 contained malware and 38 were classified 'high risk.' Only two of the 200 Torah apps available at the time contained malware.ĭespite these findings, Proofpoint did not share the names of any of the malware-laden apps at the time, telling several media outlets it was negotiating with the apps' developers.

Proofpoint's study wasn't restricted solely to Christian-audience software, either. The firm went so far as to say it had found more malware in Bible apps than even gambling apps. Proofpoint categorized 140 Google Play Store apps as 'high risk' over suspicious behavior and flagged 208 apps for malicious code.

#YOUVERSION BIBLE APP FOR ANDROID#

A widely profiled 2015 white paper from security research firm Proofpoint analyzed more than 5,600 unique Bible apps for Android and iOS. Religious apps have long been dangerous, malware-laden territory. As public focus on the security of apps on the Google Play Store intensifies following years of data leaks, adware infections, security scandals and malware contagions, little coverage has been devoted to one of the most commonly exploited types of Android app: those aimed at believers.

#YOUVERSION BIBLE APP HOW TO#

New: In Discover, you’ll find Podcast episodes relevant to topics you’re searching for.įor more information on downloading YouVersion Bible App to your phone, check out our guide: how to install APK files.Sometimes developers of religious apps take the edict to be 'fishers of men' too far, and sometimes the faithful put their faith in the wrong apps.

Youversion bible app