Catholic Answers Live

If you've spent any time online looking for clear answers about Catholic teaching, you've probably ended up at Catholic Answers at some point. This is their app, and it does a good job of putting their best material right in your pocket.

The main thing here is three podcasts. Catholic Answers Live is a call-in show hosted by Cy Kellett — people phone in with everything from "why do Catholics confess to a priest" to questions about Mormon theology, and the guest apologist answers. Catholic Answers Focus is shorter, more focused episodes that go deeper on one topic. The Counsel of Trent is Trent Horn's show, which leans more philosophical and takes on tough cultural questions.

The app itself is straightforward — play, pause, skip, queue up episodes, listen offline. Search works decently for finding old shows on a specific topic. There's also a library of articles and tracts from the website if you want something to read instead.

What it's good for: anyone trying to explain or defend the faith. Maybe you have a family member asking questions and you want better answers than "the Church just teaches that." Maybe you're being asked about Catholicism at work and want to actually know what to say. The hosts and guests don't dodge the hard questions, and they don't get defensive. That's the part I appreciate most.

What it's not: this isn't a prayer app, and it's not for daily devotion. If you want help getting through the Rosary or doing morning prayer, look elsewhere. This is meat-and-potatoes apologetics — the why behind what we believe.

Free. From Catholic Answers (catholic.com), one of the more serious lay apologetics organizations out there. On the App Store: Catholic Answers Live. Worth keeping on your phone, especially if you find yourself in conversations about the faith more often than you'd like.