LDS Tools 2.1.1 for iOS was released to the app store today.

Version 2.1.1 includes the following fixes and enhancements:

• Added support for iOS 6 and iPhone 5
• Improved performance and stability
• Improved data (including calendar) download process
• Added support for German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish languages
• Added additional reports for leaders and clerks including Members With/Without Callings, Members Moved In, Temple Recommend Status, and Unit Statistics
• Improved photo download and delete process (thumbnails are now "lazy loaded," which should create a better user experience)
• Improved maps functionality (to accommodate the changes in iOS 6)
• Added a new option to provide feedback
• Updated the email address for support
• Resolved several issues including crash on startup for some users

We will have another release in the coming weeks which will include adding support for the remaining Internet 9 languages.

The Book of Mormon app that was previously only available as a Windows app is now officially available on Android, Apple, Windows, Nokia Symbian, Nokia Series 40, and Java Phones (J2ME).

According to Church News and Events, "the purpose of the new Book of Mormon app is primarily to make the text and audio recordings of the Book of Mormon accessible to those of other faiths." As such, "the app is simply a digital version of the print Book of Mormon, but without footnotes or cross-references."

The app allows you to download the Book of Mormon in 32 languages. If you want to listen to the narration, you can choose audio in five main languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. The app can also be viewed on both mobile devices and tablets.

See "Church Members Are Invited to Share New Book of Mormon App with Friends" for more information.

The following screenshots show the Android version of the Book of Mormon app.

To download the app, search for "Book of Mormon" in your device's application store, or go directly to the Book of Mormon app page in iTunes or Google Play. Look for this app icon:

For more information, see previous articles on the topic:

• Book of Mormon App for Android and iOS Now Available for Beta Testing
• Book of Mormon App for Windows Phone 7 Released

As we continue to expand our offerings in other languages, we find that the basic "Arial, Helvetica, Sans-serif" fonts don't display well in other languages. Default sizes may be too large or too small, glyphs may display poorly (jagged edges), and so on.

When a new language becomes available (or when its offerings expand) on LDS.org, we try to find the best fonts to use for that language. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to find information about the best web fonts for each language.

We usually explore existing sites in that language to see what fonts are used. However, often what we find is inconsistent. It's not clear if the fonts they use are standard best practices (like Arial, Helvetica or Verdana), poor but commonly followed practices (like Comic Sans), or custom embedded fonts. We also don't know what the font looks like to a native speaker. For example, sometimes it's not clear whether the font is serif or sans serif (or if those even exist in the language).

We would like to have contact with web developers who are native (meaning, developers who actually work in a given language) and can recommend a list of fonts for that language.

We have a lot of Asian languages coming up right now, so that is our immediate need, but any language (that isn't a Roman language) would be helpful.

If you can be of assistance in this area, or know someone who can, please let us know by adding your comments on this LDSTech Forum thread.

We may not use your services immediately. But it would be great to have resources to go to if and when we do need them.

Oct 20, 2012 Update: LDS Tools is now back in the app store. Version 2.1.1 has been released. See this post for more details about the latest release.

LDS Tools 2.1 for iOS was released to the app store late last week, and shortly after releasing it, a major performance issue was identified which required us to remove LDS Tools from the app store. We have resolved the issue and LDS Tools 2.1.1 should be available in the app within the next 5 to 7 days.

The next LDSTech broadcast, scheduled for Friday, October 5, at 12:00pm MDT, will focus on the Record-Keeping and Technology Support site on LDS.org.

This new Record-Keeping and Technology Support site will give priesthood leaders and clerks a centralized location to access training and support for the following topics:

• Membership
• Finance (including Financial Auditing)
• Meetinghouse Technology

This LDSTech broadcast provides an opportunity for you to learn more about this new site and how it can help you get training and support.

To view the Record-Keeping and Technology Support site, go to clerksupport.lds.org.

Note that although the site is live, there's still a lot of content being added to the site. Most likely the content rollout will be complete around the beginning of November. What you see currently on the site is only part of the content.

New video tutorials are available for the LDS.org calendar. These video tutorials provide three-to-five minute movies showing various tasks and concepts with the calendar. The video tutorials cover the following topics:

• Setting Up the Calendar
• Understanding Calendar Views
• Subscribed Calendars and Locations
• Syncing the Calendar
• Creating Calendars
• Scheduling Events
• Sending E-mail Reminders
• Editing Repeating Events
• Dealing with Event Conflicts
• Reservations Versus Events
• Creating Reservations

To view the videos, first go to the calendar by going to LDS.org. Click Sign In/Tools and then select Calendar. In the calendar, click the gear icon (Settings) and then click Help. In the Help, click the Videos tab.

You can also go directly to the calendar help here.

A new opportunity to test online services based on common ancestry is now available. The services are designed to help Church members share information and media. No previous experience or specific expertise is required.

To participate, please complete a seven-question survey. You will then be qualified to test these new services and provide valuable feedback before the services are made generally available.

Upon completion of the survey, you will be added to our list of volunteers. You will periodically receive e-mail messages asking you to evaluate some aspect of an online experience designed for families. Examples may include uploading a photo, testing a registration process, starting a simple family tree, or completing a small survey. Each evaluation should take between 10 to 15 minutes. The frequency of requests should be less than once per week on average.

>> Volunteer to test online family sharing and heritage services.

Church-service missionaries and long-term volunteers are an increasingly important part of the ICS Department. These hard-working men and women serve in various roles that save the Church valuable time and resources. The following stories present two good examples.

Elder Sorensen

Elder Joshua Sorensen, a Church-service missionary from South Jordan, UT, has been serving for six months. He is now considering extending another six months as he prepares to submit his mission papers to go full-time.

“I would love to go full-time after serving a Church-service mission,” Elder Sorensen said. “The experience of living the mission rules and getting the experience will benefit me as I prepare. Any way that I can serve in building up the Lord’s Kingdom is a privilege for me.”

Working specifically with the database for Church asset management, Elder Sorensen helps track and organize the machines and software in the Church’s possession. Thanks to his contribution, this provides a comprehensive list where someone can search for a specific machine or software.

“I feel closer to the Lord through my service and am grateful for the opportunity to save the Church valuable time and resources in assisting in Church resource management,” says Elder Sorensen. “I love to serve in any capacity that will move the Kingdom forward.”

Recent posts in the LDSTech Forum have highlighted some incompatibility problems for people using Internet Explorer 8 with LDS.org tools. The LDS.org directory, calendar, and other tools have various incompatibilities with Internet Explorer 7 and 8. Sometimes the tools function correctly but don't always display as intended. Other times, as with newsletter, functionality isn't the same (image uploads for the newsletter do not work in Internet Explorer 8 or 9).

About 67 percent of clerk computers are still running Windows XP, which is not compatible with Internet Explorer 9. So if Internet Explorer 7 or 8 is the only browser on your clerk computer, you won't have the best experience with many of the LDS.org tools.

To ensure the best browsing experience using the new tools on LDS.org, update to a newer supported browser such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. This will typically resolve most issues encountered.

Both Chrome and Firefox support a number of advantages. In addition to loading faster, these browsers support current features and technologies that project teams are starting to take advantage of, such as responsive design for mobile-friendly displays.

If you're still using the Stake and Ward Websites on Classic.LDS.org (pictured below), be advised that Stake and Ward Websites will be retired at the end of 2012, possibly earlier. You will need to use the new tools on LDS.org beginning in 2013.

Stake and Ward Websites will be discontinued at the end of 2012.

For many of you, this is welcome information, because closing the door on Stake and Ward Websites means one less point of confusion for members. Members will no longer wonder whether the ward uses the Classic website or the new tools on LDS.org.

Beyond just avoiding confusion, though, the complete transition to the new LDS.org tools opens up better technology for members in your wards and stakes. The tools now available on LDS.org far outperform the previous Stake and Ward Websites solution on Classic.lds.org (which was built more than a decade ago).

The new LDS.org tools offer more personalized experiences for members, provide publishing solutions for all organization and groups in your ward or stake, and offer functionality that is more robust and scalable to meet the demands of a growing, global church.

Major Differences Between Stake and Ward Websites and the New LDS.org Tools

Several months ago, we published a post titled From Local Unit Websites to a Suite of Tools. This post explained the gradual shift from an all-in-one website to a suite of tools.

The new tools on LDS.org aren't compiled into one single website, as with Stake and Ward Websites, but instead are independent tools. They function more like Microsoft Office's suite of tools, with independent, separate applications that are more specialized and functional than any all-in-one solution.