Search function does not work in Gospel Library

Hi guys,

For me, the search function in Gospel Library has never worked. It doesn't matter if I select "find on page", or "search entire library", etc. there are ALWAYS ZERO hits returned.
It doesn't matter if I search for a complex sentence or a simple word such as Jesus or Bishop - still nothing.
Does anyone else have this problem?
I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S2 Android phone.

Regards,
Jason.

jasondavie wrote:For me, the search function in Gospel Library has never worked. It doesn't matter if I select "find on page", or "search entire library", etc. there are ALWAYS ZERO hits returned.
It doesn't matter if I search for a complex sentence or a simple word such as Jesus or Bishop - still nothing.

It works fine for me. One thing to check: Under Settings on the menu, there is an option called "Enable indexing"; if that is not checked, search won't work at all.

Nah, I tried that option weeks ago and I just tried it again. Unfortunately it makes no difference. I simply can't search for anything in Gospel Library. I don't have this problem with other apps on my phone. Maybe I should delete it and reinstall.

I was trying to search a phrase in Conference talks in Gospel Library a week or two ago and got Zero results. Thought I was doing it wrong. I'm on a Samsung Note 8.0 running Android. At the next opportunity I'll check to see if I have indexing enabled - I think I do, but cannot remember for sure.

search flat out doesn't work beyond a one or two word request. for everything beyond that, i use the church website through a browser. search doesn't work. never has.

Wow, this seems like a MASSIVE problem with Gospel Library! Hopefully it can be fixed soon.

jasondavie wrote:Wow, this seems like a MASSIVE problem with Gospel Library! Hopefully it can be fixed soon.

I think it would be helpful to be specific, rather than making broad statements. The original post said that search did not work, even for a simple word such as "Jesus" or "Bishop". That is definitely not the case for me. Here are my specifics:

• Gospel Library v 3.1.0.8, on a Nexus 5 running Android KitKat 4.4.4
• I'm in the Scriptures area of Gospel Library
• I press the Search button and choose "Search scriptures"
• I enter "bishop" as the search term
• I get back many results, starting with 6 in the New Testament, 24 in the Doctrine and Covenants, etc.

If I were to get zero results with such a search, it would indeed be a "massive" problem, but that is not the case in my testing.

Now I will certainly grant that a multi-word search gives disappointing results; it seems to only do a phrase search. But single words do seem to work properly.

Please provide similar specifics about your experience. Note that in this post you said that you would reinstall the app. Did you do that?

Search function works on my Samsung Tab 3 but does not work at all on my Galaxy S4.

I have the same problem. I searched the word Isaiah and got no hits. I continued to try simple words and every time it came up with no matches.

When ever I try and search anything with the Gospel Library App, it doesn't matter the word or phrase I use, it always results with a "no matches". I have looked at the advance settings and played around with them, but nothing seems to work. I have a Samsung SCH-I535 (Galaxy S3). My sister also has a Samung, but it is the Galaxy S5. She is able to do a search on her's and get results, why would I not be able to get any results. . Help in solving this issue would be greatly appreciated.

[Moderator note: I merged this post with the existing discussion for this issue.]

viperskillz wrote:When ever I try and search anything with the Gospel Library App, it doesn't matter the word or phrase I use, it always results with a "no matches". I have looked at the advance settings and played around with them, but nothing seems to work. I have a Samsung SCH-I535 (Galaxy S3). My sister also has a Samung, but it is the Galaxy S5. She is able to do a search on her's and get results, why would I not be able to get any results. . Help in solving this issue would be greatly appreciated.

You may want to review other posts in this topic for ideas as to what might help. In particular, make sure that indexing is enabled, as mentioned in this post.

Hey!!! I´m from Peru and I have the same problem with the searching function...the difference is that when I install it on moto g, it works perfectly the first day...but then,,pfff...nothing...I have reinstalled it many times and its the same´....every time..

I too am having the same problem. I am on a Samsung Galaxy S5 running Gospel Library 3.2.3.1 on Android 4.4.4. I also have a Galaxy S4, Galaxy Nexus and several tablets which search without issue. The problem is unrelated to the complexity of the search. I can search "Jesus" (see screenshot) or whatever single word you like and still no results. I uninstalled/reinstalled, which provided momentary relief of the issue only ro revert back to the same problem within days if not hours. I have recently filed a help request and am waiting to hear back from it.

I vote for that. I hope they fix this bug soon.

I have an android tablet and Samsung Galaxy S3 phone, and the search doesn't work on either. (Phone just searched annotations)

I have the Galaxy S5 and had the same problem. I went to "Settings", then "Advanced Options", and "Library indexing" was already checked. I decided to uncheck it and searched again. A message popped up prompting me to "Enable Indexing", pretty much saying that it's required to be able to search. I chose the "Close" option instead and continued with my search, and it worked!

Wow. That worked for me on my Android Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1. I now have search working! Yahoo!

Steps:
Uncheck Settings > Advanced Settings > Library Indexing
Run a search.
When message comes up to turn on indexing, say Close instead of (turn on indexing)
Run another search.
Vois la!

However, I tried this on my Samsung Galaxy S3 and it didn't work, until I closed and reopened the app, then, rechecked the Library Indexing box again. But now I have Search again!

I see that this problem is not a new one
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 and for me the search function in Gospel Library stopped working sometime in 2014.
I am always hoping one of the automatic update fixes the issue but to date no such luck.
It doesn't matter if I select "find on page", or "search entire library", etc. there are always ZERO hits returned ....even for simple one word searches.
I have uninstalled and reinstalled, I have Enabled Indexing. But the Search function just will not work.
Is anyone else still having this issue?
Is there a Fix for this issue?
Please advise
Lisa

It allows me to search if I re-install it, and then the search function breaks again in a couple weeks. It gets frustrating re-installing it over and over. Samsung Galaxy S4

Still waiting for a fix on this problem. Same as before: search function works on my Samsung Tab 3, but does not work on my Samsung Galaxy S5. I am running android version 4.4.2. and Gospel Library app version 3.2.6.0. Even basic single word searches yield no results. I've tried it both ways with indexing turned on and turned off, and there is no change. Ran the latestest update, with no success. This is really frustrating. Is this problem getting any attention from the developer?

Guyvanhorn,

If you haven't, please use the Feedback option in the app (Help > Send Feedback) to be sure the developers are aware. There's no guarantee they'll see this forum (which is for user-to-user support).

Liz

I was having the same problem on my moto g. I verified the index box was checked, as mentioned above, but still nothing was happening. I would type in something like...here's an example from today in church. I typed in "study it out" trying to find the scripture in D&C 9. My search results showed a blank screen. I didn't know what else to do, so I uninstalled the gospel library app and then reinstalled it. It took some time to redownload my gospel library books. I waited until at least the book of Mormon and D&C were downloaded and tried the search again. I was warned that results may be small since everything had not finished downloading and that an index was still incomplete. I got the same blank screen. I decided to use the wonderful gift of patience that I could probably use more of, and waited for the downloads to complete and a few minutes after that. I ran the same search again and got quite a few different hits. I was so excited that it worked.
For those of you still having issues, my guess is that somehow the index didn't start, or failed to finish somehow within the code on your phone. If an uninstall and reinstall doesn't work, as it did for me, I'm guessing it's something the church will need to fix. Try sending some feedback to them and maybe they'll look into it.

Some people can restore the search function, by uninstalling and then reinstalling the app, as some important data files may have become corrupted.

Some users have found that if you go to Settings>Advanced Options>Clear Search History that this may return the search function to a working state.

The developers are aware of this problem and are completely rewriting the search function for release later in 2015.

Related in a way, Search returns no results. But I first get an error message that some of the materials have not been indexed and therefore will not appear in the search results. Based on the search results, I suspect that indexing has not occurred since the latest material download.

Is there a way to force GL to Index the material? It doesn't seem to want to do it on its own.

I have submitted this through the email feedback system. I have tried to clear the search history. I have uninstalled and installed again.

Has anyone here tried anything else that got indexing going again?

My search doesn't work at all. One word or anything simply hasn't worked. I have uninstalled and reinstalled entire library twce. Nothing. This massive problem seems to be on Samsung/ Android systems. I have to go to lds.organization to search.

IT WORKS! Finally!! The search function has never worked on my MotoX (Android) no matter what settings I changed or redownloaded, until I ran yesterday's update (May17th 2017). Now it works perfectly.

I am trying to do a search on "commandments" the only thing that comes up in the search is the friend and old testament stories. I am not getting and scripture results.

I have an IPhone, and it wasn’t working either. I just deleted the app and re-downloaded it! Works fine now!

For me, the search functions seems to be working after I deleted and reinstalled the app. But I do have a question:

The results are not in any particular order. For example, I searched for 'destroy' and then selected the book of Mormon. There were 132 results that are displayed. It lists several results in Alma, then some in 2 Ne, then Alma again, then 2 Ne, then 3 Ne and so forth. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the order of the results. I would think that they would be listed in order of occurrence in the Book of Mormon? Am I missing something?

At the top of the list of results, when you're filtered to a section like Scriptures, there's a drop-down where you can choose to sort by relevance or book order. The default is relevance. Relevance is based on a few things – for example, how many occurrences of the search terms are on the page/chapter; also, whether the search terms appear in the title vs. somewhere else on the page.

If you know you're looking for results in, for example, 2 Nephi, an alternative is to navigate to 2 Nephi, then start a search from there. When you start typing, you'll see a tappable search suggestion appear below the search bar that says something like "Find 'x' in 2 Nephi".

Thank you. That works. I didn't notice that before.