iMissal Catholic Bible

A reading at Mass is often just a slice of a longer story, and reading the whole chapter afterward can bring it alive. iMissal Catholic Bible makes that easy. It is a proper Catholic Bible on your phone: the New American Bible Revised Edition, the translation used at Mass in the United States, with an Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat. The whole Bible is stored on your phone, so it works without a connection.

Best with iMissal

Its best feature is how it works with the iMissal app. From the day's Mass readings in iMissal, you can jump straight into the full chapter to read the passage in context. For anyone already using iMissal, that link turns a few verses into a fuller encounter with Scripture. It comes from Cantcha, Inc. and runs on iPhone and iPad.

Even on its own, an approved Catholic translation that works offline is valuable. You can read on a flight, in a chapel with your phone in airplane mode, or anywhere coverage is poor.

Price and age

The app costs $9.99 as a one-time purchase and holds a 4.4 rating from 38 users. The real concern is that it hasn't been updated since 2015, which is a long time for an iPhone app. It may look dated, and it is worth confirming that it runs properly on your device before relying on it. The link with iMissal also depends on both apps continuing to work together.

It suits American Catholics who want the NABRE on their phone, iMissal users who want the readings in context, and anyone who prefers a trusted, approved translation that doesn't need the internet. Lectors preparing to proclaim may find the full-chapter context especially helpful.

The verdict: iMissal Catholic Bible is a trustworthy offline NABRE with a clever link to iMissal. It is worth the price for iMissal users, but its age means you should check it works well on your phone first.