Catholic Apps!
Technology offers Catholics many tools for praying, communicating, and learning about their faith. One such tool comes in the form of apps. Apps, short for applications, are software programs used on a smartphone and other mobile device such as the Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, or iPad. While members of the younger generation used to be the primary users of apps, driving sales and popularity, all age groups are using them today. Figures, as reported in a March 2010 survey released by The Nielsen Company, attributed the growth projection to falling prices, increasing capabilities, and the explosion of apps available for the devices.
iPieta (
http://www.ipieta.com): "Great one-stop shop" for Catholics who want to grow in their faith. It includes the Bible, feast days, daily readings, devotions, prayers, writings of saints, popes and Church fathers, and Catholic commentaries.
A similar but less-robust alternative to iPieta is Universalis (
http://www.universalis.com).
New Mass (
http://www.thefaithexplained.com): This app was designed to help prepare for changes to the Roman Missal by listing the current translation of prayers, the new translation (implemented Nov. 27) and a brief explanation for the change.
iBreviaryTS (
http://www.ibreviary.com, site requires translation): Handy for anyone who prays the Liturgy of the Hours. A comparable app is Divine Office (
http://www.divineoffice.org/).
Other apps on the list of favorites are: Confession, iMissal, Catholic Mass Times, Catholic News Live, iRosary, and Compendium of the Catechism.
Some apps are free, many are as low as $.99-$3.99; and premiums apps can run up to $20.