YouVersion Launches New Bible Lens Technology, App Gains Immediate Popularity Connecting Images and Bible

The creators of the YouVersion Bible App recently celebrated the release of their newest product called Bible Lens, a free app that matches relevant Bible verses with a person's photos to generate visually appealing, sharable artwork.

"As technologies emerge and create new possibilities, it's important to us that the Bible be at the forefront of innovation," said Bobby Gruenewald, YouVersion Founder. "We believe Bible Lens will make it easier for people to see connections between the Bible and their everyday lives, and we're encouraged by the number of people who have shown an interest in engaging with the Bible in this way."

Using a form of artificial intelligence known as machine vision, Bible Lens analyzes content in a photo like objects, backgrounds, colors, and more to identify themes. Then the app searches the YouVersion database for the most relevant Bible verse to suggest to the user. 

The app launched Saturday, Aug. 4, and within its first weekend reached more than 265,000 installs, earning it high app-store rankings.

Bible Lens is the third app from YouVersion, which was created by Life.Church to help people engage with the Bible. It follows the Bible App for Kids, which launched in 2013, and the YouVersion Bible App, which launched on the first day of Apple's App Store in 2008 and has since been downloaded on 330 million devices around the world.

The app is the first product from YouVersion's Bible Labs, a small team of software engineers and designers leveraging existing and emerging technologies for Bible engagement.

"We're humbled that we get to be a part of this movement of God, and we can't wait to see how Bible Lens will make a difference in people's lives in the years ahead."