Announcing a new side project: Tamil bible, an android app

What's the problem with the existing apps

• They are invasive. They require access to my location to show ads.
• They show me flashy ads in the likes of Your phone is infected. Scan now.
• These apps gives sub par reading experience to the user. Verses get buried under ads in the layouts and an accident tap might open an ad banner.
• They market their brand at the cost of the user. When you share a verse using them, they append "shared via xyz app" with play store link.

Purchasing ads free version seems to be the quick solution. Though, I am all for paying for the software I use. I generally don't buy their ads-free version. Ads is one of the problems I find with them. Removing ads alone won't help it.

• They don't update the app often. Their iOS and android app looks identical and dated. They use non native components and styles (in my case, android). The entire app looks like a weekend hack.
• I find "we need to add more features" mindset predominately among this category of app developers. Though, this might not be a problem. I've my own conviction against it.
• They are bloated with features that I don't require.

They are still badly designed, slow apps. These apps just don't seem worthy for the ads free purchase. I still wouldn't get the clutter free, pleasant reading experience that I am craving for.

Why a native android app?

After thinking about this for a long time. I decided to take the plunge and built an app. Then came the question. Should I build the app using iconic or similar frameworks to deploy it other OS or stick with the native one? Having worked in Angular for a good amount of time, I was tempted to choose it. But not being native app was one of the issues I'd with the existing apps. So, I went with the native app building using Java. It wasn't difficult at all since I already know Java and had work experience using it. The end result using this approach has come out really well.

The app is fast, clutter free and uses the android material design guidelines. Any android user can install and run with it. I've decided on the necessary functionalities that this app is supposed to have. This being the first version, I've built few from that list.

This App requires only couple of permissions from you

1. Network Communication (for sending email to the developer and sharing to other apps)
2. Device access to storing and sharing the favorites.

What you'll get from this app

• Clutter free, fast and smooth reading experience. No ads when reading the bible. We promise ;)
• Powerful multiverse sharing at one go. You can share random verses like 1,3,6 at one shot
• Swipe left to a share/favorite verse quickly.
• Share verses without painfully removing "shared via xyz app" in whats app, telegram etc.

I welcome early adopters, beta testers, android developers and anyone interested in general to head over to tamil bible. Feedback are welcome :)