Easter is typically the busiest day for the app, and with the majority of Christians celebrating the holiday online, Sunday's stats far exceeded the record set in 2019. This year, 40.6 million people completed daily reading plans on Easter, up 54 percent. During Holy Week, another 14.1 million people shared verses, up 30 percent from the year before.

Overall, around a third of Americans say they are spending more time on their smartphones due to coronavirus quarantines, according to a Morning Consult poll released Monday.

For the month leading up to the pandemic, users on the Bible App as well as the Church Online platform—both created by ministries of the tech-savvy Life.Church—surged as congregations transitioned their devotions and worship away from in-person gatherings. Read more

The 'most popular' claim is made by the creators of Bible App, YouVersion.

YouVersion's statistics show that worldwide 400 million users shared, bookmarked and highlighted Philippians 4:6 during 2019.

The Philippians verse reads: 'Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.'

Along with the most popular verse, YouVersion also announced that the Bible App experienced a 30 percent increase in users when compared to the previous 12 months.

Overall in 2019 BibleApp recorded users

• read 35.6billion Bible chapters;
• listened to 5.6billion chapters;
• made 2billion highlights, notes and bookmarks, and
• shared 478million verses.

The app was also said to have been installed by 50 million new users outside the United States this year.

"Our desire is to help people grow in their relationship with God by encouraging them to read the Bible and seek Him every day," said YouVersion Founder Bobby Gruenewald.

"We're encouraged to see so many people turning to the Bible in response to their worries, remembering what God has done in their lives, and choosing to trust in His faithfulness."

Gruenwald says YouVersion is excited to see an increasing global engagement in the Bible.

He says the company is "humbled" by the opportunity to see lives changed in every country in the world.

Gruenwald says that right now, the Bible App offers more than 2,000 Bible versions in more than 1,350 languages.

"However, over a billion people globally don't have access to a complete Bible in their native language," he counters.

He says YouVersion is working to give more people the Bible translated in their native language, and that YouVersion's goal is that by 2033, 95 percent of the world's population will have a complete Bible in their language and 99.9 percent will have a complete New Testament and 100 percent will have at least some portion of Scripture available through YouVersion.

Source

• Supplied: YouVersion