100% Free, Open-Source, Quick and Friendly Bible App.
Get the apps on Google Play: Alkitab (Indonesian version) or Quick Bible (non-Indonesian version).
- Official Website
- Developer Page for creating your own Bible versions, song books, reading plans, and integrations
- Changelog
- Development Blog
- Discussion Group
Alkitab is the Indonesian word for the Bible.
Requirements: JDK 21 (Zulu recommended) and the Android SDK, including the NDK, because the Snappy module contains native C++. The compile SDK, minimum SDK, and NDK versions are pinned in gradle/libs.versions.toml.
The main app module is :Alkitab. For local development, the supported open-source build is the plain flavor, which works out of the box: placeholder Bible data ships in Alkitab/src/plain/assets/internal, and a placeholder Alkitab/google-services.json is checked in (Firebase features will not actually function with it, but the build and the rest of the app do).
Build a debug APK:
./gradlew assemblePlainDebug
Build a debug App Bundle:
./gradlew bundlePlainDebug
Run the unit tests used in CI:
./gradlew testPlainDebugUnitTest testPlainReleaseUnitTest
The four product flavors are plain (open source), plus yuku_alkitab, yuku_quick_bible, and sabda_alkitab (the published apps). The production flavors need the proprietary Bible text and signing keys described under Release builds below.
develop is the integration branch. Base your work on develop and target your pull request at develop, never at master. The repository follows git-flow: master only receives merges from release/* branches when a version ships.
Every pull request against develop runs the unit tests and a plainDebug build. Pull requests from branches inside this repository also get signed release APKs for all production flavors, uploaded to a preview URL and linked in a comment on the pull request. Pull requests from forks skip that job, since it needs secrets that forks cannot read.
Before working on the codebase, read CLAUDE.md for the architecture overview, module structure, ARI verse addressing, and code conventions.
This app natively uses .yes files for the Bible text. You can create a .yes file easily by preparing a plain text file (a .yet file). See the developer page for instructions, and docs/binary-formats.md for the format specifications.
To add a version to the app, open it from the Versions screen. The app accepts .yes files directly, and converts PalmBible+ .pdb files to .yes with its built-in converter for your own use. Gzipped files (.yes.gz, .pdb.gz) are decompressed transparently.
For converting in bulk or from another Bible format, see docs/tools.md, which covers the desktop converters in tools/ and where to get the prebuilt jars.
Bible for Android is not only open-source, but also designed in a flexible manner. You can:
- Create and distribute your own Bible translation
- Create and make publicly available your favorite Song Book
- Create and publish a Reading Plan
- Open specific verses from your app
- Make your own app that gives further insight regarding specific verses callable by Alkitab / Quick Bible
The inter-app API lives in the AlkitabIntegration module, and extensions/example-imagesharer is a working example of an extension app. See the Developer page for more information.
Start with CLAUDE.md (architecture overview, module structure, ARI encoding, code conventions, and build instructions), then the docs/ folder:
Architecture & infrastructure
- Architecture Deep Dive — singleton patterns, data flow, module dependencies
- Build System — flavors, signing, CI/CD, release process
- Google Play Publishing — store uploads via
tools/play/publish.py - Tools — the desktop converters in
tools/for Bible versions and reading plans - Storage & Database — SQLite schema, preferences, file storage
- Backend Communication — API endpoints, download flows
- Text Rendering — verse formatting pipeline and codes
- Binary Formats — YES2, Bintex, RPB file format specs
Feature modules
- Songs — song book browsing, search, audio playback
- Reading Plans — RPB binary format, daily progress tracking
- Versions — Bible version management, download, YES2 format
- Markers — bookmarks, notes, highlights system
- Sync — cloud sync protocol and FCM push
- Devotions — daily devotional articles
- Audio Playback — ExoPlayer/MIDI controllers
- Search — full-text verse search engine
- Daily Verse Widget — home screen widget
- Data Transfer — JSON export/import of user data
Design documents for in-flight features are under docs/features/.
Tech debt
- Tech Debt & Known Issues — known problems with file/line references
- Tech Debt Remediation Plan — prioritized fixes with BRICE scores
The Releases page holds pre-release APKs built automatically from every push to develop. They are signed with the production key and installable, but they are development builds, not the stable versions on Google Play.
versionName comes from version.properties combined with a build stage: dev by default, beta with -PversionStage=beta, and release with -PversionStage=release. Never hardcode a version in Alkitab/build.gradle.kts.
Release packaging is pure Gradle. Production flavors expect the signing env vars (SIGN_KEYSTORE, SIGN_ALIAS, SIGN_PASSWORD, plus SIGN_SABDA_KEYSTORE, SIGN_SABDA_ALIAS, SIGN_SABDA_PASSWORD for the sabda_alkitab flavor, which has its own upload key) and ALKITAB_PROPRIETARY_DIR, which must contain overlay/<applicationId>/text_raw/ (Bible text) and google-services.json (real Firebase config covering every production applicationId). With those set, ./gradlew assembleYuku_alkitabRelease (or any other production flavor) builds and signs the APK directly. Set BUILD_DIST to override the dev suffix in the output filename.
Translations are integrated with integrate_translations.sh.
Copyright 2009-present The Alkitab App Authors.
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.