A Flutter Bible reader from Freely-Given.org, built for Android phones and tablets, Linux desktops, and Windows desktops. A publisher's key opens a Bible exported by Bible Drop Box. Downloaded books work offline.
The app intentionally ships without a translation. On first launch, enter a key,
import a Bible Door ZIP, or choose a public Bible in the Library. webbe-123-456
and asv-123-456 are public example keys.
- Key downloads over HTTPS; atomic local storage and optional publisher MD5 checks.
- Recommended format-1 BDTXT text/index pairs, with legacy ByBook JSON fallback.
- Unicode-aware indexes, ordered/localised book names, sections, introductions, poetry, verse bridges, missing references, footnotes, and cross-reference notes.
- Book/chapter/section navigation, pasted references, recent books and back history.
- Two reading panes, linked references/proportional scrolling or independent passages.
- Search across downloaded books, bookmarks, section copy and text selection.
- On-demand downloads, cancellable whole-Bible downloads, and transactional updates of already-downloaded books. Updates preserve the previous copy on failure.
- ZIP import and publisher-permitted export through Android's share sheet or the desktop save dialog. No broad storage permission is requested.
- Persistent reading locations and settings; serif/sans, text size, verse markers, optional red letters, dark/light/system appearance, basic RTL text direction.
- Privacy/help/About screens, contributor list, custom launcher icon, release signing configuration, automated checks and test fixtures.
Open Settings → About Bible Door for the installed app version and build, links to Freely-Given.org and OET.Bible, and app information. Privacy is the last item in Settings. Manage installed Bibles in Library: each Bible's menu contains About this Bible (offline count, export date, source, headings and sharing permissions) and Remove from device (with confirmation). The Find free Bibles link opens the Bible Drop Box demos; each individual Bible page has its Bible Door key near the bottom.
Tested toolchain: Flutter 3.47.7 / Dart 3.13.5, Android SDK 36, NDK 28.2. Android minimum API is 24; compile/target API is 36. Java 21 is suitable for CI; this workstation also builds with Android Studio's bundled Java 25.
flutter pub get
flutter analyze
flutter test
flutter run
# Or on Linux:
flutter run -d linuxpubspec.lock is committed for reproducibility. Do not commit signing credentials.
The optional BIBLEDOOR_DATA_DIR Dart define redirects storage only in debug mode.
Build once, then install for your own user (no sudo needed):
cd /srv/FreelyGiven/BibleDoor
flutter build linux --release
python3 tool/install_linux.pyFind Bible Door in the application menu. The installer copies the complete
bundle to ~/.local/opt/bibledoor and creates a menu launcher. Run it again after
rebuilding to update. Your downloaded Bibles and preferences are stored separately.
To try the build without installing, run
/srv/FreelyGiven/BibleDoor/build/linux/x64/release/bundle/bibledoor.
The Linux bundle contains the executable and its lib and data directories;
keep them together if moving it manually. This build targets this workstation's
Ubuntu version and architecture; redistribution to older distributions needs a
compatible build environment and dependency checks.
Run python3 tool/package_linux.py to create a complete Linux archive under
build/releases/. The current workstation runs Ubuntu 26.04 x86-64.
The GitHub Actions workflow builds and tests Windows on a Windows runner. Download
its bible-door-windows-x64 artifact, extract the ZIP, and run bibledoor.exe.
Keep its DLLs and data directory together. The package includes the Visual C++
runtime and does not require an administrator installation. It is not
Authenticode-signed. See Windows instructions.
On a Windows development machine with Visual Studio C++ tools:
flutter build windows --release
./tool/package_windows.ps1flutter build appbundle --releaseOutput: build/app/outputs/bundle/release/app-release.aab.
Without android/key.properties, this is an unsigned review bundle, not an
upload-ready Play release. With the private upload key configured as described in
the release guide, the same command produces a signed bundle.
The release configuration never uses a debug key.
lib/models holds data types. lib/data handles parsing, references, downloads,
validation, local caching and packages. AppController coordinates reader state;
lib/ui contains the Flutter screens. Bible files remain unencrypted and retain
their original export structure under application support storage. Android's
sandbox prevents different apps from reading one another's private directories;
ZIP import/export is the explicit sharing route.
See format support and deliberate limits, privacy text for publication, and store listing draft.
# Real local data; pass an export directory:
dart run tool/check_exports.dart /path/to/BOS_BibleDoor_Export
# Explicit network check using public data and temporary storage:
dart run tool/smoke_download.dart webbe-123-456
# Render layout previews (Linux fonts used by this tool):
flutter test tool/render_previews.dart
# Android emulator/device smoke test:
flutter test integration_test/smoke_test.dart -d DEVICE_IDThe app uses the website's green/olive palette with an uncluttered reading surface.
Preview renders live in docs/screenshots; signed-app Android phone captures are
in docs/store-screenshots. The icon source is assets/branding/bibledoor.svg.
Bible Door began as CustomBible in 2013, with Flutter experiments in 2018 and updated application/data specifications in 2022–2023. This is a fresh Flutter implementation informed by those specifications and actual BibleOrgSys exports. The earlier checkouts and website specifications were left untouched.
New application code: MIT. Noto Serif: SIL OFL 1.1. Bible translations keep their own licences. See LICENSE, NOTICE, and CONTRIBUTORS.md.