Project
Kanaiic Reader
A Bible reader with notes and highlights that never touches the internet, opened only with your code, and able to look like an ordinary dictionary. Made for believers in places where owning a Bible carries real risk.
Three ways to get it
These all install the same app, signed with the same key, so you can switch between them later without losing anything. It arrives disguised as a dictionary called “Dictionary”, with a message that explains how to set your code. A Google Play version, which arrives as “Kanaiic Reader” instead, is in testing and you can help test it; which should I use?
Download for Android
- Tap Download for Android.
- Follow the install steps below.
Simplest. To update, come back here and install the new version over the top.
Obtainium
- Install Obtainium, a free, open-source app that installs and updates apps straight from their developers.
- Tap Get it with Obtainium above. It opens Obtainium with this app filled in.
(Or in Obtainium tap Add app and paste
https://github.com/xXTheOneJeromeXx/kanaiic-reader.) - Tap Add, then Install.
Updates arrive automatically. Obtainium shows where each app came from, so if your phone may be inspected, remove the entry after installing.
GitHub
- Tap Get it on GitHub.
- Under Assets, tap dictionary.apk.
- Follow the install steps below.
The source code, release notes and checksums are all there too.
What it is
It opens with your code into the reader: the Berean Standard Bible, World English Bible and King James Version, with search, Strong's numbers (search the Hebrew and Greek lexicon, or see the words behind any King James verse), highlights, notes, a Saved list and passphrase-locked backups. Everything is stored encrypted and tied to your code and your phone. The app has no internet permission at all.
On the home screen it is “Dictionary”, and it works like one: an offline English dictionary and thesaurus with notes and PDF tabs (the PDF tab opens files saved on your phone; like the notes, it isn't locked). Hold Search, type your code, and hold Search again to open the reader. The dictionary is its only disguise; earlier versions had other disguises, removed in 1.5 because every extra disguise is one more pattern a searcher can learn to recognise. In its settings you can switch to the app's own name and icon, Kanaiic Reader, and back.
What it helps with
- Someone glancing at your home screen, app list or app settings sees a plain dictionary.
- Someone using it finds a working dictionary; wrong codes leave no trace.
- A copy of your phone's storage shows only encrypted data.
What it can't do
- Hide the code from someone watching you type it.
- Protect you if you are forced to open it.
- Stop a skilled examiner with time from finding what it is.
- Stop a keyboard app or spyware that records what you type.
In some places a hidden Bible app that is discovered can be more dangerous than none. Please weigh that for where you live. The full guide explains everything, and it is inside the app too.
Which version should I use?
The download on this page
- Arrives disguised as “Dictionary”, and the phone's app settings call it that too.
- Not on any app store, so nothing on the phone points to a store page about it.
- Use this one if being found with a Bible app could put you in danger.
Kanaiic Reader on Google Play (testing now)
- The same features, but arrives as Kanaiic Reader and offers the dictionary disguise after setup.
- Its store page describes the disguise, so the disguise only hides the app from a glance.
- For people who simply want a private reader with easy updates.
Help test it. Google publishes a new app only after at least 12 people have tested it for 14 days. With the Google account you use for the Play Store:
- Join the testers group.
- Open the testing page and tap Become a tester.
- Install Kanaiic Reader from the Play Store link there, and keep it for at least 14 days.
Install it
This app isn't on the Play Store, so Android asks a few extra questions. It takes about two minutes and you only do it once.
- Tap Download for Android above. If your phone warns the file might be harmful, tap Download anyway. It says this about every app from outside the Play Store. File might be harmful … Download anyway
- When it finishes, tap Open. Missed it? Open the Files app (on Samsung: My Files), then Downloads, then dictionary.apk.
- Your phone says it isn't allowed to install apps from this source. Tap Settings, turn on Allow from this source, then press Back. For your security, your phone is not allowed to install unknown apps from this source. Settings
- Tap Install. If Google Play Protect shows a warning, tap More details, then Install anyway.
- Done. Look for Dictionary in your apps and open it. A message explains what to do: tap Set up now (or hold the blue Search button for two seconds) and choose your code. To get in later: hold Search until the box clears, type your code, hold Search again. The reader's Settings always shows these steps.
Then tidy up
- Settings → Apps → Special app access → Install unknown apps → your browser → turn Allow from this source off.
- Delete dictionary.apk from Files → Downloads.
- In your browser, open Downloads (or History) and remove this download and this page.
If something goes wrong
“App not installed”: free some space, or remove another copy of
the app from a different source, and try again.
Still stuck? Write to hello@kanaiic.com and we'll help.
Updating: download and install the new version the same way, over the top. Your code and
notes stay, and a phone that looks like a dictionary keeps looking like one.
For the careful
The code is open source (GPLv3) on
GitHub, along with the
design and known weaknesses.
The app is registered with Google's Android developer verification, and official releases are
signed with a certificate whose SHA-256 is
23:29:49:D5:53:EB:C5:7B:9F:73:11:13:0F:B8:2F:BF:86:EE:BB:38:FE:B9:E0:B4:53:8E:77:B9:16:54:FA:77
and each release lists the file's SHA-256 checksum. The app collects no data at all; see the
privacy policy.