Here is an interesting app that takes mobile technology further than I would have ever imagined.
It’s called, Confession: A Roman Catholic App and does exactly what the title says.
From the iTunes description:
“Designed to be used in the confessional, this app is the perfect aid for every penitent. With a personalized examination of conscience for each user, password protected profiles, and a step-by-step guide to the sacrament, this app invites Catholics to prayerfully prepare for and participate in the Rite of Penance. Individuals who have been away from the sacrament for some time will find Confession: A Roman Catholic App to be a useful and inviting tool.”
This little app has had some significant success over the years, including the iPhone App Store’s top 25 most popular apps.
Features include:
- Custom examination of Conscience based upon age, sex, and vocation (single, married, priest, or religious)
- Multiple user support with password protected accounts
- Ability to add sins not listed in standard examination of conscience
- Confession walkthrough including time of last confession in days, weeks, months, and years
- Choose from 7 different acts of contrition
- Custom interface for iPad
- Full retina display support
Screenshots
Price: $1.99
An interesting application of mobile technology, don’t you think?
Download for iOS and Android, learn more on the Little i Apps website.
Jared Erickson says
It should just connect to Facebook… for auto confessions
Eric Dye says
Unless, of course, you’re fasting from Facebook.
ThatGuyKC says
I’m not Catholic, but this is intriguing.
Eric Dye says
Although not official, as you still have to go talk to a real person, I too find this interesting … but then again … I did write it – LOL! 😛
Chip says
I’m one of the developers of this app. Thanks for reviewing it. Let me know if you have any questions.
Eric Dye says
What was the inspiration behind the app?
Chip says
Well, all 3 of us are big nerds who happen to be Catholic. When we first started to discuss the possibility of building an app for fun, we were tossing around a bunch of secular ideas (card games, tourism, etc…). One of my partners downloaded an app similar to ours that would allow you to examine your conscience but found a bunch of things that he didn’t like. So we decided to tackle that as our first project. We basically just sat down and asked ourselves what features we would want to see in our app. All 3 of us use the app, so we basically just put together a wish list of things.
1. Customized list of things to examine: The original app we tested just had several hundred items to examine. We noticed that there were many things that didn’t apply to us and decided that the first feature we wanted to see was something that presented me as a married man with my own personal examination.
2. Categories: Again the original app had all of the items thrown together in one large list. It was a bit overwhelming, so we decided to split the items up. Luckily we have a priest friend who wrote his own set of examinations for children, teens, and adults based upon the 10 commandments, so it seemed like the perfect way to split the items up.
3. Confession Walkthrough: We realized that many Catholics don’t take advantage of confession and have heard from friends who are nervous because they don’t know what to do. So we decided to build in the walk through that takes a person step by step through the process.
That was it… 3 small things that we wanted to see. Things that we wanted to use. We had no idea that it would get the press that it got when it first came out. It was really a shock. It has been an adventure.
Eric Dye says
Awesome story! Thank you for sharing, Chip!