Buddhist Apps Review

Hope you had a wonderful Losar. During these first couple weeks I am observing the 8 Mahayana precepts daily. So I am very focused on practice right now but I thought it would be fun to put up a little blurb about apps for the iPhone.  I  give short reviews of the ones I have and if you have any you would like to share, please drop me a line. And yes, I save my favorite one for last.

iThangka. This is a nice, simple app that show’s Buddhist deity images on your iphone. Some of the Buddha’s included are  Amitabha, Medicine, Maitreya, etc for a total of 30 images. The plus side is seeing Buddha images when I want. The downside is I wish I could add my own and they have added some advertising at the bottom—I am not fond of that. Especially since i paid for the app.

Next app up for review is SUZU Meditate. Just a simple timer with some nice gong sounds for meditation. Not much to like or dislike, set the time you want, press start and it will chime away when the time has expired. Your choice of golden bells or repeating bells. The price is a little steep for my taste and my only request would be able to change the image.

Paging the Dalai Lama. I think Rev Danny Fisher mentioned this app. I like it and it is free. Nice “words of wisdom” from HH Dalai Lama but I wish they would give sources. Interface could use some tweaking but it does list his upcoming talks and that is most important in this app.

Tibetan Alphabet. Great little app to help you learn the Tibetan Alphabet with, and get this, pronunciation. Press the letter and hear how to pronounce it. Very nice app, more expensive but very useful.

The Songs of Milarepa. Awesome! I really don’t need to add more. Not all Hundred Thousand songs are included in the app, but a nice selection is included. I have the large hardcover book, but carrying it around is just not as easy as this carrying this app.

And now, in my opinion, the best Buddhist app out there, and it is free! Access to Insight, an offline edition of the website. WOW! Read suttas all day long, or at least till your battery runs out.

Ok back to practice now, if you have any favorite Dharma apps please post them below.