To try out the new listening player, download our newest release in the App Store. For our Android users, the new listening player is coming later this summer. If you happen to have automatic updates disabled on your device, you can come back to this page and tap here to update manually.

The Why Behind the Player Refresh

Just want the Cliffs Notes version of this post? Watch the video below.

For a good part of the spring, we’ve been hard at work redesigning arguably the most important screen in Dwell, the listening player. We began this project with a few goals in mind: 

1) A Return to Simplicity – Over the last five years, we’ve added a lot of exciting new features, such as Read Along, Read, Repeat and Reflect, etc. These new features, while making your experience with Dwell more robust and useful, have also caused the player itself to become more clunky. So we really wanted to streamline and simplify the UI where we could, making it easier for you to focus on what matters most. 

2) Digital Wellbeing – It’s important that Dwell be a digital space that’s life-giving to you. We want you to feel a sense of calm when you interact with the app, and nowhere is that more important than when you interact with the listening player. 

3) One Player for All – The new listening player design not only improves upon our classic Scripture listening experience, it paves the way for new guided biblical experiences, such as devotionals, meditations, and prayers, all coming to the app this fall. In fact, we have a sample of the new daily devotional coming to Dwell below that we’d love for you to hear!    

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What’s Changed

Streamlined Primary Player Options: Voice & Version and Background Music

We’ve consolidated the four UI elements that help you view and select your voice, version and background music into two, providing some much-needed breathing space at the bottom of the player. 

Things are just more intuitive now. Simply tap the new voice pill to switch voice or version of the Bible that you’re hearing. Likewise, tap the music pill to change the background music.

Built new Options screen to keep Dwell’s growing suite of controls in one place

We’ve consolidated all of the Listening and Read Along controls into a single screen giving you one place to make any and all adjustments as well as view which controls are “on” or “off” at a glance.

This consolidation of the Listening and Read Along options means that the Sleep Timer and Repeat buttons are no longer visible at the bottom of the screen, but they are just one tap away in the new Options area.

Made it a breeze to favorite and share Scripture

We’ve made it a lot easier for you to share and favorite the content you love. We’ve provided quick access to each action at the bottom of the listening player. With the release of Scriptural devotions, meditations, and prayers, this change will be even more beneficial for you.

Repositioned Title and Subtitle for easier viewing

We’ve relocated the title and subtitle near the bottom of the listening player so that your eyes no longer have to scan up and down the screen to view all of the relevant information about what you’re listening to. The comparision above makes it easier to see some of the other, smaller tweaks we’ve made to the player. For example, when Dynamic Background is turned on, the background color of the player is not as strong as it once was. We want this player to be enriching and have a sense of freshness when you come back to it to hear God’s word, but we don’t want it to be visually overpowering so that it becomes a distracting. We feel like we’ve arrived at a good balance.

Made the Scripture reference tappable

Related to that, we’ve made the Scripture reference, which is more often than not the subtitle of any piece of listening content, tappable. It will now pull up the corresponding chapter and book of the Bible, giving you quick navigation to another chapter within the book you’re listening to or access to all of the books of the Bible.

This means that we no longer need the books of the Bible button and is another example of us trying to simplify the screen for you, taking away everything that isn’t necessary, but no more.

Shrunk the artwork to allow the UI elements to better breathe

We’ve done a lot of work to remove visual friction to the listening player; one of the ways we’ve done this is by shrinking the artwork to allow for the other UI elements on the screen to breathe better. More margin, more padding, and more empty space makes for a more relaxed viewing experience. 

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Listen to a sample of the new daily devotional coming to Dwell

The really exciting thing about all of the work we’ve been doing on the new player, is that it helps pave the way for all of the new biblical content (devotionals, meditations, prayers, sleep experiences, etc.) that is coming to Dwell this fall. Listen to a sample of our new daily devotional experience that will be launching at the beginning of September. We hope you find it as life giving as we do.

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We hope this post has given you some helpful info on the new listening player. Please reach out with any questions or suggestions! Thanks again for supporting Dwell, and we look forward to continuing to serve you. ❤️

Warmly,
Team Dwell

Download our newest release in the App Store next week. For our Android users, Read is coming later this summer. If you happen to have automatic updates disabled on your device, you can come back to this page and tap here to update manually.

Dwell Adds Bible Reading Experience

Just want the Cliffs Notes version of this post? Tap here to see what’s new!

When we launched Dwell in 2018, our goal was to create an audio-first Bible app that would help modern-day disciples reclaim the ancient practice of hearing Scripture. We were convinced that having the words of God spoken over you could be a life-giving practice that could deepen your faith. We still are. And for the last four years, our small team has been dedicated to creating the most beautiful listening experience for the most important book in history.

Of course, there’s no way we could have done this without the support of our unbelievable subscribers (all 100,000 of you!). Each of you have made Dwell a reality and we cannot thank you enough for believing in us and financially supporting the ongoing development of the app. And today, as we announce a brand new chapter in Dwell’s history, we want you to know that audio always will be in Dwell’s DNA; it always will feature as a core component of what we do around here.

And yet who can deny the power of the printed word? As you know, movable type is the technological innovation that sparked our information age and the modern world. Martin Luther and the reformers knew the power of text and the written word and that is why they worked so ardently to produce printed Bibles for Christian communities throughout Europe. They knew that there was no tangible gift greater than the gift of possessing a copy of God’s word.

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that at least once a week we hear from a subscriber who wishes that they could read the Bible in Dwell. They say things like, “You have the best Scripture listening experience. Why not complement it with an amazing reading experience?” Over the years, we’ve learned that when your subscribers speak, it’s wise to listen. So for all of you who’ve been asking, be on the lookout next week for a notification about the release.

Today, we wanted to give you a sneak peek of what you’ll find when you open up Dwell next week. For a long time, we’ve known that Dwell needed Scripture text inside the app. That was the rationale for our release of Read Along last summer. And as wonderful as the read along experience is, there’s something equally wonderful about reading the Bible at your own pace. The challenge for our team over the last 18 months has been how to authentically integrate a reading experience into an audio Bible app. The last thing we’ve wanted to do in our pursuit to create a text-only experience of Scripture is compromise our own identity as an audio-centric Bible app. Here’s how we’ve tried to thread the needle:

Listen and Read share equal billing

When you open up the Player in Dwell, you’ll notice that Read has replaced Read Along in the top toggle. We’ve made this change because of how important we believe Read will be to the future of Dwell (We haven’t gotten rid of Read Along, just changed the way you access it. More on that soon.).

Every Piece of Content in Dwell is Now Readable

One of the real distinctives about our new read experience has to be that every piece of Bible content you tap on in the app can now be read. That means every Bible chapter of course, but it also means every playlist, every plan, every story, even your own user-generated playlists can now be read inside the app.

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How to now access Read Along

Access to Read Along now takes the form of a “speech bubble” icon and is located just to the right of the fast-forward icon for quick and easy access. The placement is similar to how you currently access Apple Music’s lyrics feature.

And while we’re on the topic of Read Along, check out these other notable improvements you’ve been asking for. 👇🏼

You can now customize your Read Along screen choosing to display the default dynamic background or a clean black background. Also, you can adjust the size of your Read Along text.

All of Your Favorite Bible Versions Available to Read

All of the Bible versions you enjoy listening to are available for reading. That’s the ESV, NIV, NKJV, KJV, NLT, The Message, CSB, NRSV, and more. You can quickly access Bible versions using the Bible version picker on the Read screen.

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Quick Access to the Books of the Bible within Read

The Read screen also offers a Scripture picker which gives you quick access to the books of the Bible and their corresponding chapters.

Also, we’ve included the same Scripture picker on the Listen screen! No more having to navigate away from the player to listen something new from the Bible!

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Customize Your Bible Reading Screen

We’ve given you some options for tailoring your read experience. Choose between Dark and Light themes.

Pick from five excellent font types including Dyslexie, an award winning typeface specially designed for people with dyslexia. You can also adjust the font size for easy reading and increase vertical line spacing for more or fewer words on the screen.

Our Advanced Settings lets you nix clutter by hiding verse numbers and chapter headings, as well as turning on and off Red Letter for the words of Jesus.

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We hope that gives you a good sense of what’s coming next week. We’re so excited to get this release in your hands and get your feedback on it. Please reach out with any questions or suggestions! Thanks again for supporting Dwell and we look forward to continuing to serve you.

List of New Features:

• Read the Bible using Dwell. Includes every chapter, playlist, plan, or story
• A new Home screen that showcases featured content, the Dwell Daily, and quick access to your next day’s listening or reading plan
• Improvements to Me screen including quick access to your listening metrics. The Me screen is now your handy way to easily access all of your favorited Bible content in Dwell, as well as your downloads and group content
• Improved navigation. Quick access to the Books of the Bible Picker on the Listen and Read player
• New way to access Read Along feature in the player
• Customize your Read Along experience now by adjusting background type and text size, plus access nearly all of the Listen player controls without having to leave Read Along mode
• Easily jump back to something you read or listened to earlier from right within the player

We are thrilled to announce that Dwell has acquired NeuBible: the beautiful, thoughtfully-designed Bible-reading app for iOS.

What’s the backstory?

All of us at Dwell have long admired NeuBible’s emphasis on aesthetic excellence, and when we set out to begin building our app’s Pure Read experience, we reached out to the NeuBible founders to glean wisdom from them. Our conversations quickly uncovered the similarities in each organization’s values. Like Dwell, NeuBible valued beauty, and was passionate about creating sacred ‘digital’ spaces that could help those living in our modern world meaningfully connect with God. During our conversations we also learned that NeuBible was in the midst of transition, and in need of finding a partner to whom they could pass the baton, someone who would carry forward their values and their mission for building and perpetuating beautiful, thoughtfully-designed Bible experiences. Dwell fit the role like a glove.

What does this mean for NeuBible customers? 

First off, welcome to the Dwell family! For a good chunk of this year, you won’t see any changes inside the NeuBible app. This isn’t a bad thing! As it stands, NeuBible is both a delightful and soulful tool for reading the Scriptures.

All of us at Dwell are continuing to consider the ways in which Dwell and NeuBible can and ought to live together. Also, Aaron Martin, one of NeuBible’s co-founders, has generously made himself available to the Dwell team to help us imagine and explore the possibilities between the two apps. As things progress, we’ll be in touch.

What does this mean for Dwell customers?

NeuBible is now a part of the Dwell family, which we’re all thrilled about! There are no integrations currently in place between the two apps. This is largely because we’re still in the long process of unfolding how both apps will work in conjunction with one another in the future. Stay tuned!

Onward!

Jon and I set out 5 years ago to help recover the ancient practice of hearing Scripture with our ears, so that God’s Word might be formed deep within our hearts. We’re still passionately committed to that vision, and yet, over the last 18 months, we’ve sensed a need to broaden that vision. Things are certainly expanding over here, and it’s all quite exhilarating! But at its core, Dwell is about helping you create space to be with God. Being with Him, after all, is how we become like Him, which we think is the goal of the Christian life. All in all, we look forward to sharing the next chapter of Dwell’s story with you soon.

We’re excited to finally show you what we’ve been up to this summer & fall! Here are a few sneak peeks of the new Read experience coming in 2022. 👇🏼

How to access Read using Dwell

Maybe one of the first things to say is that this new Read experience will be different than the Read Along experience we launched in the spring of this year. As you can see from the video above, we’ll be replacing Read Along for Read in the top toggle. We’ve done this because we believe Read will become one of the fundamental ways you engage with Scripture in Dwell. But fear not, all you fans of Scripture karaoke, we’re not getting rid of Read Along! Not by a long shot. We’re simply changing the way you access it (see below 😉).

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New way to access Read Along

Access to Read Along will take the form of a button and will be located just to the right of fast-forward for quick and easy access. The placement is similar to how you currently access Apple Music’s lyrics feature.

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All of Your Favorite Bible Versions Available to Read

All of the Bible versions you enjoy listening to will also be available for reading! That’s the ESV, NIV, NKJV, KJV, NLT, The Message, CSB, NRSV, and others. Quickly access Bible versions using our Bible Version picker on the Read screen.

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Quick Access to the Books of the Bible within the Read experience

The Read screen will feature a Scripture picker that will give you quick access to the books of the Bible and their corresponding chapters.

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Bible Reading Tailored to You

Just as we’ve provided helpful ways to personalize your Scripture listening experience, so too have we furnished you with options to tailor your reading experience in the app. Here’s how:

• Choose between Dark and Light themes when reading Scripture

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• Pick from six elegant font types: three serif & three sans-serif

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• Adjust the font size for easy reading; increase vertical line spacing for more or fewer words on the screen

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• Nix clutter by hiding verse numbers and chapter headings

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“Listen” and “Follow Along” to Scripture in Read

Beautiful, formative audio recordings of Scripture will always be at the heart of who Dwell is. Thus we couldn’t leave out an auditory element in our new Read experience. Anytime you’d like to take a rest from reading, just tap the verse you’d like to begin hearing, then the play button, and Dwell will begin reading Scripture to you so you can follow along. Of course, you’ll have access to all of your favorite voices, and we’ll even bold the verse as it’s being read so you can track with the text more easily.

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Until next time…

There’s a lot more we want to share, but we’ll stop there for now!

As we get closer to releasing Read, we’ll reach back out and show you everything else we’re planning. Stay tuned, and thanks for supporting what we do here! None of this is possible with you. ❤️

Listen to Voice Previews Now

Those of us with kids spend a good chunk of our time in the car. According to research, around 7 hours a week. That figure surprised me until I began crunching the numbers on all the back and forth between school, church, soccer practice, piano lessons, and the other excursions I undertake with my own kids each week.

On average, parents spend about 7 hours a week in a vehicle with their kids.

OnePoll Study

As a parent, I’m eager to fill that time with good and beautiful experiences: good conversation and beautiful music, among other things. I’ve also longed to weave Scripture listening into those mini-van moments, but have found my own app, Dwell, to be less than ideal for my eight, six, and four-year olds.

Of course, I love Dwell, but my kids have a difficult time grasping the language of the ESV or NKJV. When we listen together I’ve noticed them tune out the adult narrators, assuming that “adult voices” equals “adult things.”

So for the last year, we’ve been asking ourselves a couple of questions:

1) Where can we find a version of the Bible that’s kid-friendly but also maintains fidelity to the original text?

2) And how can we keep kids engaged as they listen to it?

Today, we’re excited to announce our solution! We’re recording the International Children’s Bible (ICB) in kids’ voices. This will be the first-ever recording of the Bible narrated by children from all over the world.

We’ve partnered with the International Children’s Bible to create the first-ever recording of the Bible narrated by children from all over the world.

 

The ICB is an incredible resource for parents who want to immerse their kids in Scripture. Unlike many Bibles for kids, the ICB is a complete translation, based upon the original Hebrew and Greek and overseen by a team of trusted scholars, many of whom were involved with the NIV and NKJV. At the same time, it’s totally geared for children, translated at a third grade reading level, making it easier to understand, study, and memorize! And to hear the ICB actually narrated by children…it really brings the Scriptures to life!

We’re making great progress on the recording, and we’d like to introduce you to some of the newest kid voices coming to Dwell!*

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_{*Kids’ names and faces have been changed to protect their privacy.}

As wonderful as these five narrators are, we’re not stopping there! Our mission is to provide at least a dozen diverse and unique kids’ voices from all over the English speaking world. We’ll keep you posted as we find more!

Our hope is to have the New Testament released this holiday season; we’d love for it to be our gift to you, our subscribers! 🎁

As always, thanks for your continued support of Dwell! You make it possible for our small team to continue to bring projects like Dwell Kids to life. In the near future, parents, we’ll have a new resource in which to immerse our kids between piano and soccer practices (and beyond)!

 

“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.“

– Psalm 119:11

When asked about Dwell and its origins, I sometimes begin the conversation by remarking that Scripture listening was never actually the goal of the app. Dwell certainly does that. And it does it well. And we believe it’s an important part of spiritual formation. But listening alone has never been Dwell’s ultimate aim. All along our team has been working to build an app that would help God’s people saturate themselves in His Word, giving them a beautiful and convenient way to essentially “live in the Bible,” as Charles Spurgeon so succinctly put it. That includes listening, but we believe it also includes other spiritual practices like Scripture meditation and Scripture memorization.

The new feature we’re announcing today helps us take a step toward meditation and memorization. We’re calling it Dwell Mode.

What is Dwell Mode?
Dwell Mode allows you to go deeper with Scripture through repetition and reflection. Particularly, it gives you the ability to repeat just about anything you listen to inside the app. That means a passage of the Bible, a chapter, playlist, plan, or even your entire queue can be looped in order to meditate on or memorize it. At the same time, Dwell Mode also lets you add quiet moments of reflection in between whatever you repeat. You can easily control the time between each repetition by adding 3, 10, 30, or 60 seconds between each hearing.

How to use Dwell Mode
It’s easy to get started using Dwell Mode. When you open the player, you’ll now see a new icon at the bottom (Psst! It’s the one circled in the screenshot above ☝🏻). Tapping it will reveal Dwell Mode’s two primary features.

Once opened, you’ll notice two new toggles: Repeat and Reflect. ☝🏻

Repeat
To begin repeating what you’re listening to, just tap the Repeat toggle (If you see pink, you know the feature has been activated 🙌🏼).

When the Repeat feature is activated, you’ll see two options for repeating:

1. This track – When selected, the track you’re currently listening to will be repeated indefinitely (that could be a chapter, plan, passage or playlist).

 2. Queue – When selected, your entire queue will be repeated.

By default, “This track” will be selected which means that whatever you’re listening to will automatically be repeated. In the screenshot above, Psalm 100 would continue to repeat until you either paused the playback, toggled the repeat feature off, or closed out of the app.

But wait! There’s more!

Reflect
If you activate the Reflect toggle you can add a period of silent reflection in between whatever it is you’re repeating.

This is really beneficial if you’re wanting to memorize a certain passage of Scripture, or just wanting to reflect and process what you’re listening to.

The screenshot above ☝🏻, highlights the different duration options available for Reflection. Shorter durations are great for memorizing short passages of Scripture. Longer durations give you more time to think through what you’re hearing, even incorporating times of prayer. Try them all out and see which one works best for you!

How to know Dwell Mode is activated
When you tap out of the Dwell Mode menu, you’ll know the feature is activated because the “head” icon will turn pink. 👇🏼

With that said, when you want to turn Repeat or Reflect off, you’ll need to tap on the Dwell Mode icon again and turn off each toggle.

Soaking in Scripture
We’re hoping Dwell Mode will make Scripture memorization and meditation easier than ever before for you. Like I said, our vision from the beginning has centered on helping people soak in Scripture—to truly dwell in it, wherever they are. With the release of Dwell Mode, we feel like we’re moving closer to realizing that vision. There’s a lot more to do. We have so much more in store for you! Thanks for your continued support of Dwell. Onward! 

Note: Dwell Mode is currently available for iOS only. It is coming to Android soon.