Gospel Library App for Mac

I know this has been posted before, but I'm interested if anyone knows if the tech department has any plans to bring the gospel library app to Macs. The user experience of the app vs the web isn't even close. The app is phenomenally better and it doesn't seem like it would be that hard to move it over to the Mac App Store. Anyone know if this is even a priority for them right now?

A desktop experience was never a plan. GL for Windows 8/10 exists because of Windows tablets. (Notice that GL for Windows 7 doesn't exist.) Even then, GL for Windows exists only because of volunteer developers. There's no church employees on the project like for iOS and Android.

So, if you want to see a Mac OS version, I'd suggest you find a group of Mac developers to write it. (Volunteers for beta testing doesn't count.)

That said, I think some have gotten GL to run on a Mac by setting up a Android emulator.

Highlighting and study mode on LDS.org frequently fails and works much better on the Gospel Library app.

For those with Win7 and Mac, there is now an online version of GL:, at https://lds.org/languages/eng/lib.
Like scriptures.lds.org, it still requires a live internet connection. And, it lacks many of the features you get used to in the mobile apps.
However, it looks just like the app and has all the same content. Logged in, you'll see all your markings (annotation titles are missing, and I can't find bookmarks). And, most importantly for me, annotations work!
I don't know where it came from, and I never heard a word about it, and I still can't find anything about it--anywhere on lds.org nor anywhere on the web. There is no link to it in the lds.org menu. There is no other mention of it in these forums.

Since it hasn't been announced, I'd consider it "beta" at best. Perhaps even "alpha".

Edit: for starters, General Conference content doesn't seem to be loaded and I get an error trying to go back. It may not even be "alpha" but "in progress".

russellhltn wrote:Since it hasn't been announced, I'd consider it "beta" at best. Perhaps even "alpha".

Edit: for starters, General Conference content doesn't seem to be loaded and I get an error trying to go back. It may not even be "alpha" but "in progress".

Good catch. I was able to wrestle it to give up some GC content, but it wasn't smooth or easy.
I remember now how I came across it: looking at the new history, "Saints". This page (https://history.lds.org/saints?lang=eng) has a link to the Online GL at the bottom of the page.

The new "Gospel Library Online" language pages are considered "released" – so definitely send feedback about things that aren't working quite right – but they're not at a Gospel Library level yet in terms of features. For example, as of today you can only view annotations (not create them); and you can't view or create bookmarks.

I Want to download The Gospel Library app on my Mac Book Pro but have not been able to do it. How can I do it?

chief733 wrote:I Want to download The Gospel Library app on my Mac Book Pro but have not been able to do it.

There is no app for the Mac. You'd have to do something like install an Android emulator so you can run the Android version of GL.

I am using the link (https://lds.org/languages/eng/lib) to easily access the contents of Gospel Library on my iMac using Safari, including the General Conference.

sbradshaw wrote:The new "Gospel Library Online" language pages are considered "released" – so definitely send feedback about things that aren't working quite right – but they're not at a Gospel Library level yet in terms of features. For example, as of today you can only view annotations (not create them); and you can't view or create bookmarks.

This would be a great candidate for a PWA. Then you could add a local cache so that it works offline.

I wonder if we might have more room for this possibility due to the fact that the recent Apple WWDC 2018 conference talked about porting iOS apps over to MacOS. It sounds like Apple is automating some part of the process to make the transition much easier. If so, I wonder if we can get the iOS app of Gospel Library working on MacOS. Apple is supposed to release more information about this next year, however, they are already working on the process by porting over their default news, stocks, home, and voice memos apps in Mojave.

caloocan789 wrote:I wonder if we might have more room for this possibility due to the fact that the recent Apple WWDC 2018 conference talked about porting iOS apps over to MacOS. It sounds like Apple is automating some part of the process to make the transition much easier. If so, I wonder if we can get the iOS app of Gospel Library working on MacOS. Apple is supposed to release more information about this next year, however, they are already working on the process by porting over their default news, stocks, home, and voice memos apps in Mojave.

It's definitely something to be excited about! We'll see how much work and maintenance that will require when Apple puts out more information, and if it pans out for Gospel Library.

I love the Gospel Library App - please please would you make the Gospel Library app for mac computers - it is so time consuming to try to find things using the LDS website. Why is this so? Surely if you want investigators to use the church website it needs to be as easy and quick to find things as on a mobile device.

With WWDC 19 now complete, Apple announced further developments with Project Catalyst which deals with porting iOS apps over to MacOS. As mentioned before, Apple has automated the process and last year they did this with a few of their existing iOS apps like news, stocks, home, and voice memos.

Well, now Apple has released this opportunity to 3rd party developers which means we are now getting the tools from Apple with MacOS Catalina to allow for the Gospel Library to be ported over.

Are there now discussions on doing this now that Apple is releasing details for the porting process?

Thank you so much! that is perfect! All my notebooks were able to sync as well as highlights, etc.

caloocan789 wrote:With WWDC 19 now complete, Apple announced further developments with Project Catalyst which deals with porting iOS apps over to MacOS. As mentioned before, Apple has automated the process and last year they did this with a few of their existing iOS apps like news, stocks, home, and voice memos.

Well, now Apple has released this opportunity to 3rd party developers which means we are now getting the tools from Apple with MacOS Catalina to allow for the Gospel Library to be ported over.

Are there now discussions on doing this now that Apple is releasing details for the porting process?

Any updates on this happening or not?

This post was the first o e that solved my problem! Thanks so much. That link was like magic. I can even watch the Book of Mormon videos from the scriptures! Thank yiu

Two or three days ago I updated my Gospel Library app and since then it is not working correctly. This was shortly after the new handbook information was released. The Angel Moroni icon comes on and then the whole site shuts down in about 4 to 5 seconds. I have deleted and reinstalled the app twice but the same thing keeps happening. What can I do? I use the Gospel Library very often?

I would love this! Couldn't this be available using Apple Catalyst?

While catalyst is pretty awesome, it definitely leaves much to be desired in most apps since fundamentally the design for iOS is different than macOS. The toolbar being the main thing, but also the iOS version uses lots of navigation that isn’t standard in macOS.

I realize this is an old thread, but to future Googlers:

ARM Mac users can download and run the iPad version of Gospel Library via the Mac App Store. It isn't pretty, and there are a few bugs, but most features work well enough.

robinson.j wrote:I realize this is an old thread, but to future Googlers:

ARM Mac users can download and run the iPad version of Gospel Library via the Mac App Store. It isn't pretty, and there are a few bugs, but most features work well enough.

I haven't gotten a chance to try Gospel Library on an ARM Mac yet, but am curious what bugs and/or display issues you've run into.

sbradshaw wrote:am curious what bugs and/or display issues you've run into.

So far, the biggest thing is that the Share option on the lower toolbar consistently and immediately crashes the app. (I reported this issue yesterday, and am waiting to hear back.)

Other than that, the app only suffers from the usual consequences of running under iPad assumptions:

• The menus are unwieldy, but they work.
• It takes a lot of clicks/taps to get anywhere. There is very little real keyboard support.
• The page-switch menu moves around when the present page is deleted.
• The list items don't quite support mouse control, other than clicks. No lateral-scroll-to-delete, like in standard apps.

On the bright side, this app is better than some other iOS-on-Mac apps out there:

• The window is fully resizable, even stretching to the full screen dimensions in fullscreen mode.
• Picture-in-picture works nicely.
• The list items fully support the MacBook trackpad (and presumably Magic Trackpad as well), with swipe-to-delete actions working mostly as expected, sans haptic feedback like in standard apps.
• Content downloads work fine, and with a large internal drive I can download and search almost anything! (I can't say this about my smaller mobile devices.)

Overall, GL seems to benefit from the developers' early decision to utilize many of iOS's built-in UI paradigms. With Catalyst, there seems to be a strong foundation in place for a real Mac port one day.

Gospel Library is now available on MacOs if the computer has the new M1 chip.

Interesting it works on Ipad but not Mac. I thought they used the same language.

Well, a little worried, because there is no solution for Mac, I am with my laptop, but I cannot download or install the Gospel Library.
This forces me to install an Android emulator, in order to use all the online features of this application.

If anyone knows a solution, or when the Biblioteca Del Evangelio app for MAC comes out, let me know, let me know.

However, in the AppStore, in the descriptions it details that it can be installed on MAC, that is not clear, because if it says so, why can't it?

Thank you

dhumerez wrote: Sat Mar 11, 2023 2:10 pm I cannot download or install the Gospel Library. [...] However, in the AppStore, in the descriptions it details that it can be installed on MAC

Odds are, your Mac is an Intel-based model. The M1/ARM-based models can run iOS apps, because those apps are built for the ARM architecture that iOS has had for years.

All of a sudden I am having trouble logging into Gospel Library from my MacBook Air. I can access it just fine from my iPhone 15 Pro Max. It keeps telling me the password is not correct but it is. In fact, I changed it and I still get the same message. Help please!

Ok, at least in my case I may have found a solution. I have a MacBook Air (M2) and I notice that the Gospel Library is no longer listed in my Apple Store except for iPhone and iPad. I am guessing it because of the M2 chip. I assume the Church is working on the problem but in the meantime I have switched over to the internet version and now I have full access to all my tags, notes, etc.