We've mentioned Logos for Mac before, but now there is Logos Bible Software for iPhone (iTunes link), a free app providing access to several translations of the Bible and other Bible study books (most of the ones available at http://bible.logos.com). That's pretty good.

If you create a free account at Logos.com, you gain access to even more free resources. That's even better.

The app also lets you set up reading lists, which is an excellent idea. I've read through the Bible twice in the past few years, and used Mobile Safari on my iPhone to keep up with online lists. This app would have been much easier to use.

Many of the free resources are older, but the English Standard Version (ESV) is a good and fairly modern translation. There are also comparison tools available, as well as dictionaries. (UPDATE: Ryan Burns from Logos.com added a complete list in the comments.)

I'm almost hesitant to mention this next feature. Here's the good news: the new Logos version 4 will work with the iPhone app, giving you access over the Internet to books that you have purchased. That's a pretty killer feature.

Here's the bad news: the Mac version of Logos 4 is not finished. (That sound you just heard was an angry mob of Mac users grabbing their pitchforks off the wall and looking for the kerosene to light their torches.) Logos is developed both for Windows and Mac, and the Windows version beat the Mac version out the door.

The developers explain that the underlying "core" works on both Windows and Mac, and that the pre-release version "reads and indexes the exact same resources and data files as the Windows version. It synchronizes with the server and even uploads and downloads notes, settings, and other data. It can automatically update itself over the Internet. It just needs work at the user interface level, and we're doing that as fast as we can."

They go on to explain that the Windows and iPhone versions are both ready, and delaying "wouldn't speed up the Mac product, it would just delay access for the larger group of users." They describe version 4 as "a completely new product." All of which is fairly reasonable, but unlikely to soothe the nerves of some Mac users who will no doubt feel like second-class citizens.

The iPhone app still offers a lot of functionality, even without Logos 4 integration, and it is completely free.

Do you have a favorite iPhone Bible study app? If so, please let us know in the comments. I realize a lot of you are not religious and may not have any use or affinity for this particular app, but it would be appreciated if you'd let others have a chance to discuss this.

"I switched to the Mac to use this!" might be the highest praise a Mac developer could ever hope to hear. Switching platforms means not just buying a new computer, but also buying a bunch of new software. There are probably only a handful of applications that merit changing platforms all on their own, but Accordance Bible Software is one of them. Accordance isn't just widely respected within the Mac world, it's widely respected within the entire scriptural research software universe. Bible Software Review wrote: "Anyone who knows a little bit about Bible software has heard of Accordance."

The current version is compatible with Snow Leopard, and yet still runs on System 7.5! This is the first time I've seen a Mac application vendor talk about running Mac software in emulation rather than the other way around. Accordance is proudly Mac-only, suggesting to users that once they have switched to Mac they shouldn't put up with "Windows software" on their Macs, and offering crossgrades for those who have made the switch.

Being first is nice, but once other companies have come into the market, it doesn't take long to forget who was first and start to compare based on which features each product provides. Fortunately, Accordance has a lot to offer. There are a wide variety of packages available, ranging from $49 to several thousand dollars, depending on the library options. Like other Bible software programs, you are buying two parts: first, the app itself; second, items for your library, such as commentaries, different translations of the Bible, maps, and so forth. Most users should expect to make an initial investment of at least $100, perhaps $200-$300, but those purchases will almost certainly reflect savings over buying the printed versions.

I have been waiting for Logos for Mac, the Bible research application suite, for over a year. I take that back: I have been waiting for Logos for the Mac for over five years, when I first switched to Mac after a brief and unfortunate experience in the Windows world.

Before we go any further I must stop to address the fear which has already gripped many Mac users. Let me say this clearly: this is no hastily slapped together Mac "port" of a Windows application. In fact 15 seconds into the introductory video, they proudly announce: "What we've done for the Mac is rebuild it from the ground up."

You can tell.

Logos for Mac looks and feels like a native Mac application. How native? If you can copy a passage from Logos to Microsoft Word for Mac, it automatically creates a footnote in APA, BibTex, Chicago, Harvard, MLA, Refer-BiblX, RIS, SBL, or Turabian format (whichever you choose in the preferences). As someone who has no love for footnoting, this may be my favorite feature of any piece of software ever.

There are also Mac-specific support videos to help you learn to use the software and native Mac "Help" available in the application itself.

The Mac version does not support all of the Windows features, although they say they "plan to add many of these features in upcoming versions." You can see a list of some of those features on a chart of features covered at Camp Logos, a two-day training seminar for Logos users. The same page also makes it clear that they have been thinking about Mac users for these seminars, and in fact usually have someone there who is a Mac user to help if needed.