If you haven’t seen the Bible Videos app yet, be sure to check out this new Bible Videos App Tour screencast:

The Bible Videos app was released last Christmas. In its initial release, the app had only seven videos. Recent releases include many new videos (there are now about 20), new storybooks, hotspots, and other features.

The Bible Videos app provides a rich, interactive experience. You can navigate 3D models of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Sychar to explore scenes from the life of Jesus Christ. When you select the city, the app zooms in and shows information and videos from the city. 

Overall, the app provides an exploratory experience, not too unlike a game, that allows you to move at your own pace. There's no specific sequence to follow. By clicking blinking hotspots on the map, you can view and listen to information about that scene. When you see a door, you can click the door to move through the door.

Subtle color, fonts, layered effects (called “parallax”), and simple animations make the content feel more real, and the whole app looks professional and crisp.

The videos are also available on a companion website, http://lds.org/bible-videos, as well as ROKU, YouTube, iTunes, Facebook, Android Market, and Mormon Channel.

Richard Bernard, a high school teacher in California, says, “I am very familiar with most of the more prominent apps for the iPad, and this is one of the most inviting and beautifully done. It is a visual and auditory wonder. While looking at a still photograph, the sound subtly reflects the area the picture was taken. This app invites you in with such beauty and compels you to stay as each icon is touched to reveal yet another visual and auditory treat.”

In a recent LDSTech broadcast, Justin Jones, project manager for Bible Videos app, explained that more than twenty million internet searches each month are related to the Bible. From testing with focus groups, Brother Jones said, “The app has received the most positive reaction from people of other faiths than any other similar product the Church has produced.”

You can download the Bible Videos app by searching for “bible videos” in your iPad’s app store. (Bible Videos is also available for iPhone and Android, but the app only shows videos rather than providing the rich exploratory experience shown in the screencast above.)

For more information, see this article from the LDS Newsroom: Jesus Christ’s Life Leading Up to His Resurrection Portrayed in New Bible Videos. You can also watch a recording of the LDSTech broadcast on the Bible Videos app.