VerseLingua is a free Bible-reading app for iPhone, iPad and Mac, published by Champaign Chinese Christian Church. It has no accounts, advertising, analytics or tracking. We do not sell or share your information.
What stays on your device
Your notes, highlights, settings, imported modules and reading position are stored in the app on your device. If you enter an ESV API key, it is kept in your device’s Keychain. We cannot see any of this.
iCloud sync
If you are signed in to iCloud, your notes and highlights sync between your devices through your own private iCloud database. Apple stores this data under its privacy policy. We cannot read it. You can turn off iCloud for VerseLingua in your device’s Settings.
Our server
The bundled editions work offline. Our server provides the optional online editions (NIV, NASB and NLT). When the app opens, it asks our server for the current list of these editions. When you read or search an online edition, it requests that chapter or search from our server. Each request is recorded in a standard web log entry:
| Recorded | Example |
|---|---|
| Your IP address | 203.0.113.7 |
| Date and time | 14 Oct 2026, 09:30 UTC |
| The request: the edition list, an edition and chapter, or your search words in an online edition | NIV, John 3; or “living water” |
| Your device type and system version (user agent) | iPhone, iOS 26 |
We use these logs only to run the server, keep it secure and fix problems. We do not combine them with other information or use them to identify you. They are deleted after 15 days.
Our server fetches the text of these editions from API.Bible. It makes those requests itself and does not pass on any information about you.
ESV (optional)
If you add your own ESV API key, the app requests ESV passages and searches directly from Crossway’s ESV API at api.esv.org, using your key. Those requests do not pass through our server. Crossway’s privacy policy applies to them.
Links
Source and copyright links open in your web browser. Those websites have their own privacy policies.
Children
VerseLingua is suitable for all ages and does not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Your choices and rights
To stop the app from contacting our server and Crossway, turn on Do not use online versions in Reader settings. The bundled editions and iCloud sync keep working. Otherwise, if you only read the bundled editions, the app contacts our server once each time it opens, to check for online editions. Deleting the app removes its data from your device. Notes stored in iCloud can be removed in your device’s iCloud storage settings. Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access or delete personal data, such as our server logs. Because those logs are not tied to a name or account, we may need your IP address and the approximate time of your use to find them.
Changes
If this policy changes, we will update this page and its effective date.
Contact
Champaign Chinese Christian Church
yihchun@champaignccc.org