Tablet Recommendations for Gospel Library Usage.

With all the new tablets, I am looking for tablets recommendations with some requirements.

1. Must be able to run the Gospel Library.

2. Easy to read scriptures and watch church videos for slightly blind.

3. Able to disable WIFI to prevent Internet usage by youth or has parental controls for internet viewing.

4. Common power cord charger(one I can buy at any store)

5. No cell service.

6. No Windows or Apple software.

I essentially would like a tablet recommendation that you would give to a Bishop or Stake President for the missionaries or Young Mens or Womens to use.

At the risk of starting a religious war......

I essentially would like a tablet recommendation that you would give to a Bishop or Stake President for the missionaries or Young Mens or Womens to use.

I think the church has standardized on a Samsung tablet for the missionaries. If this is for the missionaries, that would be the best pick - however, it would best to buy it though the church as they have a discount and can configure it for missionary usage.

One item I'd add to your list is to make sure to buy a brand that will update the tablet with security updates. That generally means sticking to computer or smart phone name brands like Acer, Apple, Dell, HP, Motorola, Pixel, Samsung. Some lesser-known brands, may never issue an update at all - making the outdated OS vulnerable to hackers. For the same reason, beware of well-known brands that aren't known for being a computer brand. To avoid naming names, I'm thinking of a brand best known for instant cameras and another 3-letter brand known for TVs and radios.

Given that there is no LDS Tools for Windows, I think we can eliminate that. (Although if they're within WiFi range, they can look it up on lds.org.)

At the risk of starting a religious war......

I essentially would like a tablet recommendation that you would give to a Bishop or Stake President for the missionaries or Young Mens or Womens to use.

I was thinking if it is good enough for the church, it would be good enough to be used in Sunday School by family members.

I really don't care about the camera part, since we have smart phones. Sometimes I feel taking a picture with a tablet is not the smart thing to have.

rdcrisco wrote:

At the risk of starting a religious war......

I essentially would like a tablet recommendation that you would give to a Bishop or Stake President for the missionaries or Young Mens or Womens to use.

I was thinking if it is good enough for the church, it would be good enough to be used in Sunday School by family members.

I haven't often been impressed with some of the choices the church makes when it comes to technology. I would not make this my mantra.

rdcrisco wrote:6. No Windows or Apple software.

This narrows it down pretty well to Android...

russellhltn wrote:I think the church has standardized on a Samsung tablet for the missionaries.

Actually, the Church has announced that they are moving away from tablets and missionaries will begin using smartphones. This article at the Newsroom mentions this change, among others.

An iPad or tablet of some sort still might be nice for gospel study, although I do not own one. I have always just used my phone.

Browsing my local blue big-box electronics store, it looks like the Samsung TAB series of tablets could fit the bill. Starting price is $99 which seems quite low for a name-brand device. But they're only 8GB and run an old version of Android. (Android 4.4/5/6, depending on model.)

russellhltn wrote:But they're only 8GB and run an old version of Android.

Be careful with older versions. A some point (which I do not recall at the moment), Gospel Library stops updating content for older versions of GL. This would become a problem if you have a device that will not run the latest version of the GL app.

lajackson wrote:Be careful with older versions. A some point (which I do not recall at the moment), Gospel Library stops updating content for older versions of GL. This would become a problem if you have a device that will not run the latest version of the GL app.

And the web page in the Play Store doesn't say what version - just "varies with device".

russellhltn wrote:

lajackson wrote:Be careful with older versions. A some point (which I do not recall at the moment), Gospel Library stops updating content for older versions of GL. This would become a problem if you have a device that will not run the latest version of the GL app.

And the web page in the Play Store doesn't say what version - just "varies with device".

The Play Store provides old versions of Gospel Library to old devices, so they can at least get the scriptures:

• If you're on Android 2.2 and up, Google Play will give you Gospel Library 2.6.15. You won't get recent content.
• If you're on Android 2.3 and up, Google Play will give you Gospel Library 3.3.4. You won't get any more content after the end of the year.
• If you're on Android 4.0 and up, Google Play will give you Gospel Library 4.2.3. You will continue receiving the latest content for the foreseeable future.
• If you're on Android 4.2 and up, Google Play will give you the latest version of Gospel Library (currently 4.3.0). You will continue receiving the latest content for the foreseeable future.

I would not recommend any Android version below Android 4.4, which is the minimum supported Android version for any new Church apps (like LDS Media Library) and will likely become the minimum supported Android version for Gospel Library and LDS Tools the next time there's a major update. I would never personally want a device that had anything less than, say, Android 6, because the Android experience has improved so much since 4.4 came out four years ago, but if you just want something that "works," Android 4.4 will be good enough.

For reference, the current version of android is 8.

I was shocked to see a name brand selling 4.4 on a new device. I guess it's the "Win7" of Android.

Update, I decided to go with the Amazon Fire HD8 (16 GB) for $49.99. I was able to download the Gospel Library with no issues.

Afterwards, I was reading the scriptures, playing Hymns and watching videos with no issues.

You can use google apps on the Amazon Fire, some configuration and file downloading is required.

Does anyone have an idea how well does Gospel LIbrary work with the Zpad tablet?

faxelgard wrote:Does anyone have an idea how well does Gospel LIbrary work with the Zpad tablet?

I would begin by finding out what operating system and version it uses.

faxelgard wrote:Does anyone have an idea how well does Gospel LIbrary work with the Zpad tablet?

I haven't used a Zpad tablet, but if it's running Android 5 or newer (Android 7 or newer recommended), and it has the Google Play Store and Google Play Services, it should work well.