Support
Most questions about Lectern Bible are answered below. If yours is not, write to us and a person will answer.
Contact
It helps to say which iPhone you have, its iOS version and the app’s version (in Lectern: Settings › Version).
Getting started
- Open Lectern and tap Read aloud.
- Allow the microphone when your iPhone asks.
- Read the verse on the page aloud, from its first word. The words fill in as you say them, and the page moves to the next verse when you reach the end.
- Read to the end of the chapter. It is then added to your progress and your streak. If you stop partway, your place is kept and you pick up from the next verse.
The page and your voice
The page is not following my voice
- Check that the microphone is allowed: on your iPhone open Settings › Apps › Lectern and turn on Microphone. The app shows “Microphone not allowed” with a button to Settings when it is off.
- Start each verse from its first word. If you see “Didn’t catch verse … — read it again from the start”, read that verse again from the beginning and the page moves on.
- The first time you read aloud, the app shows “Getting ready” while your iPhone downloads the speech recognition it needs. This needs an internet connection once.
- A quieter room, or holding the iPhone a little closer, helps when other voices or noise are nearby.
It says “Listening stopped”
A call, an alarm or another app took the microphone. Tap Resume: the verses you had read are kept, and listening picks up at the verse you were on.
Why can’t I skip a verse or mark a chapter as read?
That is how Lectern Bible works. A chapter counts as read only when every verse in it has been read aloud, so your progress and streak record what you actually read. You do not have to finish in one sitting — your place in the chapter is kept.
Is my voice recorded?
No. Your speech is recognized on your iPhone, and neither the audio nor the recognized words are stored or uploaded. The privacy policy has the details.
Does it work without an internet connection?
Yes, once your iPhone has the speech recognition it downloads the first time. The Bible text is inside the app and your voice is recognized on the device. Purchases need a connection.
Which iPhones does it work on?
Lectern Bible needs an iPhone with iOS 26 or later. In the app, Settings › Speech recognition shows which of Apple’s on-device recognizers your iPhone is using.
Which translation does it use?
The Berean Standard Bible (BSB), an English translation dedicated to the public domain. Settings › About these texts shows where the text comes from.
Purchases
What is free?
The first three chapters you read aloud are free, and reading the text silently is always free. After that, reading aloud — the page following your voice, your record of it, and reading plans — needs a purchase: a yearly or monthly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. The app shows the prices before you buy, and there is no trial that turns into a charge.
How do I cancel or change a subscription?
Subscriptions are managed by Apple. On your iPhone open Settings › your name › Subscriptions, or in Lectern open Settings and tap your plan. A subscription renews until you cancel it, and it stays active to the end of the period you paid for.
How do I get a refund?
Apple handles payments and refunds. Request one at reportaproblem.apple.com.
I bought it, but reading aloud is locked
In Lectern open Settings and tap Restore Purchases, signed in to the App Store with the Apple Account you bought with. If that does not help, write to us.
Your reading record
Where is my reading record kept?
On your iPhone only. There is no account and no sync. It comes with you to a new iPhone when you restore from a backup or transfer directly from the old one, and it is deleted when you delete the app.