More people installed the Bible app YouVersion than ever before on January 5.
Along with over 798,000 installs, 18.2 million people opened the app on the first Sunday of 2025. This comes one year after the previous record was set on the first Sunday of 2024.
“We tend to see a seasonal uptick in Bible engagement at the beginning of the year as people start new habits and are interested in reading the Bible for the first time,” Bobby Gruenewald, founder of YouVersion and a pastor at Life.Church said in an interview with The Christian Post.
The app continues to grow each year, across the world. "What’s interesting to us is that this year’s increase is even higher than this same time last year, and it’s a trend we’re seeing globally,” he says.
Across the world, the YouVersion app is reporting the most growth in installations and engagement in Africa and through Asia and the Middle East. Activity in Ethiopia grew 198%, 94% in Egypt, 74% in Turkey, 65% in Ghana, and 48% in Pakistan.
Gruenewald says the team is always looking for ways to help others read the Bible more consistently. "We know people are interested in creating new rhythms, we put a lot of work into designing features to help them make Bible engagement a daily practice that is sustained throughout the year.”
On the app, readers have the ability to read the Bible in several translations, as well as doing a Bible plan either solo or with friends, something that Gruenewald says is one of the popular features. According to the YouVersion website, they provide "daily devotional content rooted in Scripture to study, understand, meditate on, and apply biblical truths to their lives.”
New plans are being added each week in multiple languages according to Gruenewald, something that will continue in 2025. "We will be making it easier for people to find meaningful Bible Plan content that’s specific to where they are in their faith journey.”
“Every time someone opens the Bible is an opportunity for the power of God’s Word to change their life,” he said.
YouVersion was launched in July 2008 by Life.Church, and consists of apps that have been installed in over 850 million devices globally, and is offered in 2,100 languages.
By the end of 2024, YouVersion averaged 11.2 million new device installs each month and 14 million people engaging in the app each day.