Everything you need to get the most from your study
BibleCosmos has three zones — the header at the top with a rotating verse of Scripture, the left navigation panel giving access to every feature, and the content area where everything opens.
On mobile, tap the ☰ icon at the top left to open and close the navigation panel. On desktop it is always visible.
The Bible Reader is the heart of BibleCosmos — the complete Bible in four public domain translations with a full suite of study tools. Navigate to any book from the left panel, then tap any chapter number to jump directly there.
Your reading position is saved automatically. The Continue Reading entry in the left panel always shows your last position — one tap to return.
🔍 Whole-Bible Search
Type any word or phrase in the search box. BibleCosmos searches all 31,102 verses simultaneously. Tap any result to jump directly to that verse.
🎨 Highlighting Verses
Select a colour from the palette in the toolbar, then tap any verse to apply it. Tap the eraser to clear a highlight. Five colours available — use them however your study method calls for.
★ Bookmarks
Tap the star (☆) to the right of any verse to save a bookmark. Add a topic label to organise them. Tap Bookmarks in the toolbar to browse or jump to any saved verse.
📊 Reading Progress
Tap Progress in the toolbar to open the scorecard — a colour heatmap of every book of the Bible from unread (dark) to deeply studied (bright gold). Tap any book to see a chapter-by-chapter breakdown.
Every verse number is a small square button. Tap it to reveal two powerful study tools — Add Note and Compare Translations — without leaving the page. This is one of the most useful features in BibleCosmos and the easiest to miss.
📝 Chapter & Book Notes
Look for the 📝 Note button in the chapter heading (next to the ◀ ▶ navigation) to add a note for an entire chapter. The 📝 Book Note button in the book header lets you record your overall thoughts on a whole book of the Bible.
BibleCosmos includes a full four-tier personal journal — one of the most powerful and least obvious features. Tap Journal in the Bible toolbar to open it.
✦ Four Tiers of Notes
Journal Entries — free-form personal reflections not tied to any verse. Verse Notes — tap the verse number then Add note; a gold dot marks the verse. Chapter Notes — tap 📝 Note in the chapter heading. Book Notes — tap 📝 Book Note in the book header.
Recent vs Browse
The Journal has two tabs. Recent shows all your notes newest-first with a live search box — great for finding something you wrote last week. Browse organises everything by book of the Bible in canonical order — ideal for reviewing your study of a particular book.
📄 Export Your Journal
Tap Export Journal inside the Journal dialog to download a beautifully formatted HTML file of your complete journal with a navigable sidebar, all four note tiers, and quoted verse text — a keepsake of your Bible study.
Switch between four complete public domain translations in Settings. Your reading position is preserved when switching.
KJV — King James Version (1769)
The most beloved English Bible, renowned for its majestic prose and deep influence on English literature and worship.
ASV — American Standard Version (1901)
A precise word-for-word translation favoured by scholars for its faithfulness to the original Hebrew and Greek.
WEB — World English Bible
A modern public domain translation in contemporary English, based on the ASV. Readable and accurate.
YLT — Young's Literal Translation (1862)
Robert Young's remarkably literal rendering — stays as close as possible to the Hebrew and Greek originals, word for word.
BibleCosmos can read the Bible aloud using your device's built-in speech engine. It automatically selects a clear English female voice and reads one verse at a time, scrolling the page to follow along. Ideal for listening during a walk, commute, or quiet time when you want to hear Scripture rather than read it.
▶ Starting Playback
Tap any verse number to open the verse menu, then choose Read from here. Playback begins from that verse and continues through the rest of the chapter. A slim control bar appears at the bottom of the screen.
⏸ Playback Controls
The control bar shows the current verse reference and three buttons — 123 to toggle verse numbers on or off, ⏸ to pause and resume, and ⏹ to stop. The bar disappears automatically when playback ends or is stopped.
✓ Mark Verses as Read
When you tap Stop, BibleCosmos asks whether to mark all the verses you listened to as read. Tap Yes to add them to your reading progress — the checkmarks update immediately. Tap No to dismiss without recording anything.
Stories are guided narrative studies tracing the great threads of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, each centred on Jesus Christ as the unifying thread. Open any story from the left panel — the panel transforms into a section outline. Tap any entry to jump directly to that part of the narrative. Doré engravings appear inline alongside the text.
Five great movements of Scripture on real interactive maps using archaeological GPS coordinates. As you scroll through the narrative, the map follows automatically — panning and zooming to each location as it appears in the text.
Abraham's Journey · The Exodus · The Life of Jesus · David's Journey · Paul's Missionary Journeys
Pastoral meditations on the great themes of the Christian life — grief and hope, doubt and faith, anxiety and peace — grounded deeply in Scripture and written for the heart. The left panel shows a section outline while reading — tap any heading to jump directly there.
Two gallery experiences built around Gustave Doré's extraordinary 1866 Bible engravings — the most celebrated visual Bible ever produced.
✦ The Gallery
Browse all 224 Doré illustrations with search and filter by book of the Bible. Click any image for its full description and biblical context.
📖 The Living Bible Gallery
The complete 1880 Cassell edition pairing Doré's engravings with Talbot W. Chambers' original scholarly commentary, restored as an immersive reading experience.
Signing in with Google is optional — BibleCosmos works without it. But signing in unlocks something genuinely valuable: your notes, highlights, bookmarks, reading progress, and journal are saved to your own Google Drive and available on every device you use.
Without sign-in, your data lives only in your browser. Clearing your cache or switching devices means starting fresh. With sign-in, your complete study history travels with you.
Settings are at the bottom of the left navigation panel. Three controls:
Font Size — Small · Medium · Large
Applies to all content pages immediately. Large is recommended for extended reading or for readers who prefer generous text.
Art Mode — Color · Original
Switches all Doré illustrations between AI-colourised and the original 1866 black and white engravings, across every page in the app.
Bible Translation — KJV · ASV · WEB · YLT
Switches the Bible Reader to the selected translation. Your last-read position is preserved when switching.
Listening — Read Verse Numbers On · Off
Controls whether verse numbers are announced during text-to-speech playback. Default is Off for a smoother listening experience. Can also be toggled live in the playback bar while audio is active.
☰ Opening the Menu
Tap the ☰ icon at the top left. Tap anywhere outside the panel or tap ☰ again to close it.
Verse Actions
Tap the small square verse number to reveal the Note and Compare popover. The ☐ Read and ★ Bookmark buttons are always visible to the right of each verse.
Font Size
If text feels small, open Settings and switch to Large — it makes a meaningful difference for extended reading on a phone screen.
📱 Portrait Mode
BibleCosmos is designed for portrait reading on mobile. If you rotate to landscape, a reminder will appear asking you to rotate back — this ensures the best reading experience on all screen sizes.
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
— Psalm 119:105