Pencil Bible questions, answered

Pencil Bible is the Bible you can write in. Each chapter is laid out as a real page, and you underline, sketch, journal and pray right on the text, just like a paper journaling Bible. It works on iPhone and iPad, there's a separate edition for Android, and it has been on the App Store since 2022.

Both let you write on Scripture with Apple Pencil on iPad. Pencil Bible also lets you write and draw on iPhone, includes 20 translations built into the app (Digible's website lists 7, and it added the Spanish NTV in September), and offers a one-time Lifetime option with no new account to create. See our full comparison: Pencil Bible vs Digible (/compare/digible).

Yes, it's one app for both. On iPhone you can write and draw with your finger for free, with no time or page limit, and your Bibles and notes sync between your devices through iCloud. It needs iOS or iPadOS 16.6 or later.

Yes. Look for "Pencil Bible: Study & Notes" on Google Play. The Android edition is a separate app, so notes you make there don't sync with an iPhone or iPad. The answers on this page describe the iPhone and iPad app.

No. There's no sign-up and no login, so you can download Pencil Bible and start reading right away. If you're signed in to iCloud, your Bibles and notes sync through your own private iCloud.

Yes, that's exactly what Pencil Bible is made for. Open any chapter and write, underline, circle or draw right on the page with Apple's own pens, pencil, highlighter, eraser, lasso and ruler. Hold still at the end of a stroke to straighten a line, drag its middle to bend it, and use the lasso to cut, copy or paste your notes.

You don't need one. On iPhone you write with your finger, and on iPad you can turn off Apple Stylus Mode in Pencil Bible's Settings to draw with your finger too. If you do have one, Pencil Bible is built on Apple's PencilKit, so it works with the Apple Pencil your iPad supports, including Apple Pencil Pro.

Yes. Every Bible has its own layout that you can edit at any time: widen the left or right margin, open up the space between lines (up to 80 pt), and choose a text size from 8 to 64 pt in one of 7 typefaces, including the dyslexia-friendly OpenDyslexic. There's also a Left Handed option. On iPad, you can choose blank, lined, dotted or grid paper in Settings.

Yes. Tap + to add a photo, one of 500 stickers, a shape (9 to choose from, including arrows, stars and speech bubbles) or a typed text box. You can move, resize, rotate and layer each one on the page.

Your handwriting sits on its own layer above the text, so changing the text size or line spacing after you've written can leave some notes slightly out of line, and the app warns you before you make the change. You can move any note back into place yourself. Tip: settle on your layout before you start writing, or create a second Bible with the new layout.

Yes. Pencil Bible gives you Apple's own pens and highlighters, like a notes app, but the Bible is already built in, so there's no huge PDF to import or scroll through. You jump straight to any book and chapter, search your translation for any word, and keep several translations as separate Bibles you can swap between.

Pencil Bible has 20 translations: 14 in English, 5 in Spanish and 1 in Portuguese. They include the KJV, NIV, ESV, NLT, CSB, NASB, Amplified, The Passion Translation (New Testament plus selected books), Berean Standard Bible and the Catholic Douay-Rheims. Every translation's text is built right into the app.

15 are free to read: the NLT, NASB, Amplified (AMP), KJV, ASV, Berean Standard Bible (BSB), World English Bible (WEB), The Passion Translation (TPT, New Testament plus selected books), Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB), World Messianic Bible (WMB) and Douay-Rheims 1899 (DRA), plus the Spanish LBLA, NBLA, Reina Valera 1909 and Nueva Biblia Viva. The ESV, NIV, CSB and the Spanish and Portuguese NVI are one-time purchases.

Yes. These are licensed editions sold separately as one-time purchases. The app shows the current price for your country before you buy; on the US App Store the ESV is $8.99 and the CSB is $9.99. You don't need a subscription to buy one. A translation purchase covers the text only: on iPhone, writing is free in every Bible, and on iPad, writing in any Bible after the 14-day trial needs Premium.

Yes. In Spanish, La Biblia de las Américas, Nueva Biblia de las Américas, Reina Valera 1909 and Nueva Biblia Viva are free, and the NVI Santa Biblia is a one-time purchase. In Portuguese there's the NVI Biblia Sagrada, and Catholic readers can use the free Douay-Rheims 1899. The app's menus are in English.

Yes, as many as you like, each with its own translation, layout and notes, like a shelf of journaling Bibles. A button in the top bar swaps you instantly to another of your Bibles. The menu shows them all as tiles, and you can swipe a tile to rename or delete that Bible.

Yes to all three. Search finds any word in your translation and groups the results by book. Dark mode is adjustable, and an optional "Show Words of Christ in Red" setting works in the translations that mark Jesus' words, including the KJV, ESV, NIV, NLT and CSB. On iPad, you can also zoom the page up to twice its size.

It's free to download, and reading the 15 free translations is always free. Verse highlighting, bookmarks, folders, search and iCloud sync cost nothing too, and on iPhone so do writing and drawing. On iPad, drawing starts with a 14-day free trial. After it, every page you've written on stays editable, and Premium lets you write on new pages.

On iPad, your 14-day free trial starts automatically when you first use Pencil Bible. There's no plan to choose and no payment details to enter. When the trial ends, nothing is deleted: every page you've already written on stays fully editable, so you can keep adding to it, and a Premium plan lets you write on new pages. On iPhone there's no trial to watch, because writing is free.

You can choose a monthly or yearly subscription, or Lifetime Access for $79.99 one time (US App Store price; may vary by country). The app shows the current price for your country before you buy. You can cancel a subscription at any time: on any device, go to Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions, and on iPad you can also use Manage Plan in Menu > Account.

Yes. Lifetime Access is a one-time purchase ($79.99, US App Store price; may vary by country) that unlocks Premium with no subscription. Translations sold separately, such as the ESV and NIV, aren't included in Lifetime or in any subscription. Each one is its own one-time purchase.

No. Pencil Bible has no ads and no third-party advertising SDKs. It's independent, and your Premium support is what keeps it ad-free.

Yes, through your own iCloud, free and with no account to create. Your Bibles, handwriting, highlights, bookmarks, folders, shapes, text boxes and stickers sync across iPhones and iPads signed in to the same Apple ID. Photos you add to a page stay on the device where you added them.

Yes. Every translation's text is built into the app, so once your Bible is set up you can read and write with no internet connection, whether you're at church, on a plane or anywhere else.

On the new device, sign in to iCloud with the same Apple ID, then install Pencil Bible and open it. Your Bibles and notes come down from iCloud, and your purchases come back automatically when you open Pencil Bible with the same Apple ID. On iPad you can also tap Menu > Account > Restore Purchases. Photos added to pages don't transfer, because they're stored only on the device where you added them.

Bible journaling means writing, drawing and praying alongside Scripture: underlining what stands out, noting what God is teaching you, and lettering or sketching a verse in the margin. In Pencil Bible you do it on a digital page that never bleeds through, and you can undo or erase any stroke.

Yes, on iPad or iPhone. In Pencil Bible you widen the margins and fill them with handwriting, sermon takeaways, prayers and dates, add photos and stickers beside the verses that shaped you, and iCloud keeps your handwriting in step across your Apple devices. "Loaded Bible" is the name people use for a Bible packed, over many years, with that kind of underlining, notes and drawing.

Open Pencil Bible to the passage being preached and write beside the verses as you listen, instead of in a separate notes app. Highlight key words, add a text box for the main points, and save the passage to a folder such as "Sunday sermons" so it's easy to find again.