Problems with the Logos app for Android

Michel Pauw
Michel Pauw Member Posts: 560 ✭✭✭
edited November 21 in English Forum

So far the Logos Bible app (for Android) hasn't impressed me as the 'most powerful Bible Study app' and I wish some folks here can help me out of my most apparent troubles with the app (because I would LOVE a good working Bible app on my phone!).

1. Searching
My first reason to use a Bible Study app on my phone is to be able to quickly find some info in the palm of my hand. However, my Logos app doesn't seem able to help me with this basic feature.

  • To start with: why is the results section of the search screen so small that you can only see a few results at a time? After the selection of your Bible (NIV in the first picture below) there is a lot of wasted empty space before the results are displayed.
    (Btw, this only happens with Bible search, not with basic search)
  • Then, more importantly, (apart from a few seemingly randomly selected resources) I cannot select a specific resource to search in, neither in a Basic search, nor in a Bible search.
    When I click on the triangle under Bible a list pops up which should give me the option to choose my resource that I want to search in. But it only gives me:
    • 'Entire Library': which is useless for most of my searches that I (would) perform on my phone
    • a random, seemingly unsorted list of collections (basically a selection of my commentaries collections - not all of them, and not my Grammar collections, nor my Apologetics collection, etc. etc.
    • a somehow random list of a few (again unsorted) resources, including some Bibles, dictionaries and even an Greek NA28 apparatus (see picture 2 below).

To keep it simple: I just cannot even perform a search in my preferred Bible, as this Bible is not given in the list of random resources to search in. I hardly can believe that the app is developed this way, and I'm almost thinking I might have a deviant version of the app... . Can others confirm this experience?

  • Thirdly, there are no parameters for limiting a search to e.g. the New Testament, or a certain book.

2. Notes
The second reason why I would love to use a mobile Logos app, is to quickly jot down a few notes and attach them to a reference.
So I open a Bible, select a word, phrase or a whole verse, in the popup bar click on 'Note', and then it is automatically attached to the particular selection in the particular Bible. There is no way to attach the note to the reference.

I just did find the option to tap the three dots, then select 'Make a Note', then choose a location from a range of verses around the verses that were being displayed. That will attach the note to the reference.

It would be awesome, though, to have that option of 'attach to reference' also in the first approach.

3. Font
I find the font Calibri superb for reading, as it is much more 'quiet' than the font Times New Roman, which seems to be used in the app. There doesn't seem to be a way to change the font type of the resources. However, e.g. the font type for my searching results is Calibri!

4. Speed
Finally, it would be nice if your Bible Study app would be fast enough to keep up with e.g. a discussion. However, with my pretty decent Samsung Galaxy S7 in my hand, I always have to wait 5-10 secs to launch the app, even when after switching apps and turning back to the Logos app.

Any advice to make me a more efficient Logos-app-for-Android user?

Dell XPS 17 9700, W11, 32GB, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 | L5+L9 Portfolio, TW

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Comments

  • Michel Pauw
    Michel Pauw Member Posts: 560 ✭✭✭

    No ideas?

    I would at least appreciate to hear if people experience the same issues, or rather not...

    Dell XPS 17 9700, W11, 32GB, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 | L5+L9 Portfolio, TW

  • Bill Anderson
    Bill Anderson Member Posts: 501 ✭✭

    Faithlife has said that they are looking into offering us the ability to change the font in the mobile app in a future release. No timetable has been given.

  • Martin Denham (Faithlife)
    Martin Denham (Faithlife) Member, Logos Employee Posts: 42

    Hi Michel, thanks for raising these issues. 

    Regarding Search, we are currently making some enhancements to Search which should be available soon. The list of user collections will be sorted, all user collections will be available in Basic search, and the method of determining collections for use in Bible search is improved.

    The large gap in your Search screen seems to result from a combination of selecting a Large font size in Android Settings and user defined collections with long descriptions and should be fixed in the next release.  You may find that reducing Android font size is a short term work-around.

    The list of Bibles that appear for selection in the Search list is determined by which resources have been recently used, so if you wish to search in a particular resource then ensure you have used it recently.

  • Michel Pauw
    Michel Pauw Member Posts: 560 ✭✭✭

    Hi Michel, thanks for raising these issues.

    You are most welcome :)

    Regarding Search, we are currently making some enhancements to Search which should be available soon. The list of user collections will be sorted, all user collections will be available in Basic search, and the method of determining collections for use in Bible search is improved.

    Looking forward to see those improvements. Will it be possible to just select the resource of your own choice to search in?

    The large gap in your Search screen seems to result from a combination of selecting a Large font size in Android Settings and user defined collections with long descriptions and should be fixed in the next release.  You may find that reducing Android font size is a short term work-around.

    I actually don't think this is an issue, as my font size on all my devices is usually very small. But we'll see.

    The list of Bibles that appear for selection in the Search list is determined by which resources have been recently used, so if you wish to search in a particular resource then ensure you have used it recently.

    Interesting and good to know. Is there a (technical) reason why we cannot search in any resource of our choice?

    Thanks for responding!

    Dell XPS 17 9700, W11, 32GB, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 | L5+L9 Portfolio, TW

  • Martin Denham (Faithlife)
    Martin Denham (Faithlife) Member, Logos Employee Posts: 42

    Logos attempts to keep the list size manageable by only showing recently used resources.

  • Graham Criddle
    Graham Criddle MVP Posts: 32,455

    Logos attempts to keep the list size manageable by only showing recently used resources.

    Thanks Martin

    But I do find not being able to specify a particular resource is a real drawback.

    Is there any way to make this possible?

  • EDUARDO JIMENEZ
    EDUARDO JIMENEZ Member Posts: 414 ✭✭

    So far the Logos Bible app (for Android) hasn't impressed me as the 'most powerful Bible Study app' and I wish some folks here can help me out of my most apparent troubles with the app (because I would LOVE a good working Bible app on my phone!).

    1. Searching

    2. Notes

    Hello!

    Wellcome! This is one of my greatest sorrows in Logos. The App for mobile in Logos is a shame. Really, a complete failure. Seems like they do not give it the slightest attention. You can not limit searches to a specific book; collections are not available (would be a useful tool!), you do not have access to interlinears; and taking notes goes against all logic (both, in the mobile and desk, look at this topic in the forum). They persist in imposing that it is IMPOSSIBLE creating a note by, simply, selecting any text. I've come to think there is someone obstinate out there, who thinks that no one, under penalty of excommunication, can ever create a note IF YOU DON'T CREATE THE FILE FIRST! I'm still in Logos 7. Don't want to think that, just for correcting obvious stuff, I have to pay for it! Saludos!

  • Mike Measley
    Mike Measley Member Posts: 79

    Thanks Martin

    But I do find not being able to specify a particular resource is a real drawback.

    Is there any way to make this possible?

    Amen!

    Mike Measley

    Using Logos Desktop Software, Proclaim, Faithlife Groups, Faithlife Apps (Android), app.logos.com

    Windows 10, Android  7, Chromebook (app.logos.com/Chrome Desktop Remote)