Welcome to Laridian

Laridian^® is a privately owned company that develops and markets Bible-related software, primarily for mobile devices.

We've been writing and selling Bible software for a long time (36 years now). In 1988, Laridian founder Craig Rairdin wrote the original QuickVerse^® program and took it to Parsons Technology, where it rapidly became the world's best-selling Bible software.

Craig was with Parsons for 10 years but left in 1998 after the company had been bought and sold three times. Craig and two partners formed Laridian to create the PocketBible app for mobile devices, starting with Windows CE and PalmPilot. By 2002 Laridian's products were outselling Bible software on all platforms, including the most popular Bible software for Windows.

PocketBible has been repeatedly praised by the industry. Among our awards are:

• BizRate Circle of Excellence Award for ranking among the best sites on the Web for customer service
• Christian Computing Best Bible Software
• Pocket PC Magazine Best Bible Software
• Church Tech Today Top 5 Bible Software

In addition, Craig was a charter inductee into the Christian Computing Hall of Fame for his work on QuickVerse and PocketBible.

Laridian continues to offer innovative Bible study solutions for the ever-changing mobile device market while sticking to its goal of staying small and efficient. Craig continues to be actively involved in the development of PocketBible and maintains daily contact with our growing base of PocketBible users.

What's Special About PocketBible?

Many things set PocketBible apart from other Bible software.

It didn't start its life as a big, bloated Windows app. Most Bible software was created for desktop computers with big screens, big hard drives, and lots of memory. When mobile devices came along, those apps had to be dumbed down to run on devices with limited resources, resulting in disappointing user experiences. PocketBible began as a mobile app for devices with as little as 4 MB of memory. It had to be efficient while giving people the features they expected. As mobile devices got more powerful and as PocketBible moved to the desktop, we've been able to make it even better.

It's not the same app running on multiple platforms. Some developers use cross-platform development tools to save time and cut costs. You get something that almost looks like an iOS app on your iPhone and something that almost looks like a Mac app on your Mac. PocketBible is a native, unique app on every platform on which it runs.

It's not just Bibles and Bible reading plans (but PocketBible has those). Some of the very popular apps available today offer only the Bible text and lack any commentaries or reference materials. PocketBible offers everything you need for sermon and lesson preparation, and for in-depth Bible study.

It's not just an easy way to look up verses to share on Facebook (but you sure can do that). It seems the focus these days is on social media. If all you want to do is share Bible verses on Facebook, there are lots of ways to do that. PocketBible is about Bible study.

It's not just for your phone or tablet (but is arguably the best Bible software for your mobile device). Many mobile Bible apps limit you to the developer's favorite device or operating system. PocketBible supports all the major mobile and desktop operating systems. And our "Buy it once, own it forever" policy means the books you purchase for your mobile device can be used on your desktop computer and vice-versa.

It's not just for when you're connected to the internet. Believe it or not, the most popular mobile Bible software requires you to be connected to the internet to use the app. With PocketBible, all your Bibles and books are located on your device. You don't have to use up bandwidth, battery life, and time accessing resources online.

It's not just "classic" Bibles and reference books (but it has those, and it's still free). It's pretty easy to create Bible study software and fill it with free, public domain reference materials from the 18th and 19th centuries. PocketBible offers that material, too, but focuses on contemporary scholarship — and it's just as FREE as the other guys who only offer commentaries from the 1700's!

It's not just for original language Bible scholars (though PocketBible has a free Greek New Testament if you want one). A lot of Bible software is unwittingly designed for Greek and Hebrew scholars. PocketBible gives you access to commentaries from contemporary scholars from a variety of denominations and traditions who know WAY more about Greek and Hebrew than you ever will. Why get bogged down parsing verbs when it's already been done?

It's not just about what we want you to read (though we do offer a nice selection of concise and essential reference books). Laridian is the only commercial Bible software company that offers an end-to-end publishing solution for individuals, churches, and publishers. Convert your own material into PocketBible books with BookBuilder, offer it for sale (or for free) on your website, and we'll serve it up from our server! You pay only for BookBuilder — no royalties or fees.