Bug in Universalis for iOS CORRECTED

LATEST NEWS: 05:18 GMT Saturday 23 September – The corrected version of the Universalis app, version 2.58, has been approved by Apple and is available for download in the App Store. )It can take a few hours before App Store updates are available worldwide).

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There is a bug in the current version of Universalis in the App Store – version 2.57.

Because of the bug, purchased audio (spoken word and music) doesn’t play.

A corrected version was sent to Apple 9 hours ago. They normally take between 24 and 48 hours to approve app updates. We will report here on the progress of this update – version 2.58.

Meanwhile, please accept our apologies.

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How to upgrade an Android app

Quite a few people have ancient versions of Universalis on Android and are wondering how to bring them up to date.

Google Play

If you got Universalis (or Catholic Calendar) from Google Play, here are Google’s instructions.

Amazon Appstore

If you got Universalis (or Catholic Calendar) from Amazon, then open the Amazon Appstore app and go to the “App Updates” tab. Here are some illustrated instructions.

Mass readings on the Memorials of saints

The Lectionary gives readings for most saints’ days. So do the printed missals, and so do a lot of web sites.

In most cases the readings given should not be used.

The Gospels in Week 18

Next week is the 18th week in Ordinary Time. On the Monday, the Gospel is the Feeding of the Five Thousand. However, the Gospel for Sunday of the 18th week in Ordinary Time in Year A is also the Feeding of the Five Thousand. This means that the same Gospel could be read on consecutive days, which is a bad thing. It is avoided by reading Tuesday’s Gospel on the Monday  (Jesus walking on the water) and by having a different Gospel on the Tuesday.

That beastly Android toolbar

All problems have been cured and the latest release of Universalis for Android (Version 2.03) works perfectly.

The cause of the problem was an unwanted interaction with password managers, such as LastPass, and some anti-virus software that a few people were using. We have made adjustments on our side so that the operation of the toolbar is unaffected by these things. We thank the helpful people whose reports guided us in the right direction.

 

New Mac version available

We have just released a new version of the Universalis program for the Mac. Please visit our web site and install it. There are various improvements, especially in the layout of the screens.

If you have a Universalis app from the Mac App Store, hold on: we will submit an update to Apple in the next few days.

The date of the Ascension

In some parts of the world the Ascension of the Lord is celebrated on the feast of the Ascension. In others it is celebrated on a nearby Sunday so as not to interfere with the pursuit of profit.

Universalis has a long list of local calendars, and those calendars put the Ascension on the Thursday or the Sunday, according to the local rules. So if you saw the Ascension yesterday when you expected it the day after tomorrow – or the other way round – then please adjust your calendar.

In particular, if you live in the diocese of Boston, or in one of the other American dioceses that celebrate the Ascension on its proper day, don’t use the “USA” calendar, use the “Boston” one (or Hartford or wherever). In the list of calendars in Universalis, you will find Boston within the USA.

In the Android app, the calendar is in the settings menu. In the iOS app it is at the top of the calendar listing. In the Mac program it is in the preferences. In the Windows program it is in the menu. In the web pages you will see a “Settings” link at the end of the list of hours.

New e-books available

The new season’s ready-made Universalis e-books are now available for the Amazon Kindle:

• Liturgy of the Hours 2017 (Ordinary Time), covering every day from Pentecost to Advent Sunday 2017. £6.99 (UK), €8.24 or thereabouts (Ireland), $9.99 (USA), AU$11.99 (Australia).

The Mass Readings book for 2017 is still available:

• Mass Readings 2017, covering every day from Advent 2016 to the end of 2017. £6.99 (UK), about €8.24 (Ireland), $9.99 (USA), AU$11.99 (Australia).

The ready-made e-books are available for the UK and Ireland; the USA; and Australia. All the links to the e-books are here.

If you have a Universalis registration code, don’t buy the ready-made e-books (except as presents), because you can create your own e-books for yourself, with your own choice of pages, dates, and calendar, and it won’t cost you anything. The Universalis e-book page will point you to the necessary instructions.

(If you haven’t got a registration code but are thinking of getting one, you can have a free trial of the e-book creation process: the e-book page gives instructions for this).

 

Subscriptions to Universalis

We’ve always been in favour of selling Universalis all in one go, whether as a registration code or as an app. It saves administration, for one thing. But people have asked us, now and then, about subscribing instead. A single lump of £10 ($12-ish) for an app is a lot for some people, and a monthly subscription seems much more manageable.

We introduced subscriptions for Android late last year, and the response was encouraging. So now we are offering subscriptions for iOS as well.

Subscriptions are an alternative to app purchases. Either you buy the Universalis app and don’t need a subscription, or you download the free Catholic Calendar app and subscribe.

More audio in Universalis

Adding Sung Latin Compline to Universalis has been a great success, even though it is so far only available on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. (We do plan to produce an Android version later this year).

Now we have started to add speech as well as music.