NKJV - New King James Version

Review by eFreeware

Most Bible apps treat the translation as a label on a cover. This one leads with the story behind it: the New King James Version began as a project conceived by Arthur Farstad and was inaugurated in 1975 through two meetings, in Nashville and Chicago, that brought together 130 biblical scholars, pastors and theologians. The app is published by Mobile Bible apps and sits in the Books & Reference category.

That framing tells you who it is built for. If the NKJV is the translation you read from, or you are curious about how it came to exist, this is a straightforward way to keep it on your phone. It is a free download, which makes trying it a low-stakes decision, though ads and in-app purchases are both part of the package.

The translation story the app puts first

The detail the developer chooses to highlight is the making of the NKJV itself. According to that account, the men invited to those first meetings prepared the guidelines that shaped the translation, which gives the project a documented starting point rather than a vague origin. Readers who care about translation philosophy tend to care about exactly this sort of background.

What appeals to me here is the restraint. The app does not need to argue for the NKJV's merits when it can simply describe how the work was organized and let readers judge the result for themselves. For anyone who has wondered why a new King James text was produced at all, the answer is treated as part of the reading experience.

Reading the NKJV on a phone

Strip away the history and the core offer is the text itself: the New King James Version, presented for reading on an Android device. That is the function the app exists to perform, and the install numbers suggest a good many people have decided it performs it well enough. The average rating sits at 4.8 from more than 21,000 ratings, which is a strong signal for a free title in this category.

The app has been available since April 2021 and the most recent update, in May 2026, was a round of minor bug fixes. That pattern suggests a developer keeping the app running rather than rebuilding it, which is usually what you want from a reading tool. The content rating is Everyone, so there is nothing here that needs gatekeeping for younger readers.

I would treat the app as a place to read rather than a study suite. The app's presentation centers on the translation's origins instead. If your habit is to open a passage, read it and close the app, that focus is a feature rather than a shortfall.

Ads, purchases and what the app asks of you

The download is free, and the app carries advertising. It also offers in-app purchases, so the experience includes the option to spend money inside the app. What those purchases cover is not clear, and the same goes for how the ads are placed; both are simply part of how this app is distributed.

For a text you might open daily, that trade is worth weighing before you commit to it as your main reading app. If you already own the NKJV in another form, the app is a convenience rather than a necessity.

The app explains the translation's background and stops there, so your expectations should be set by the text itself rather than by a long list of features. That is a fair way to judge a Bible app: read a passage, see whether the presentation suits you, and decide from there.

A reading app for people who already chose the NKJV

This is a sensible install if the New King James Version is your translation and you want it on your phone without paying for it. The 4.8 average across more than 21,000 ratings suggests that the people who use it are content with what they get, and the steady trickle of fixes keeps it current.

The caveats are plain: ads are present, in-app purchases are offered, and the app's own explanation of itself centers on the translation's history rather than on tools for study. Readers who want the NKJV text and nothing else will find the app does the job. Those who want a broader reference library should weigh that before installing.

What's new in version 1.64

minor bugs fixed