Sharing the Discover App

Sharing the App

The Android version of the discover app is designed to be easily shared. It is possible to share both the app and the downloaded Discovery Bible Studies by bluetooth, email and SD card. The app itself can be sent as an APK file. The studies are sent as a zip file. The following sections detail how to do this.

Sharing the App via Bluetooth

Bluetooth sharing is considerably slower and more complicated than downloading the app from the internet, however, it is extremely useful in situations where there is no Wi-fi, where data is expensive or where for security reasons you don't want to be connected to the internet. If at all possible, upgrade to the latest version of Discover app before sharing via Bluetooth.

1. Turn Bluetooth on both devices
2. From the Bluetooth menu on the receiving device ensure that it is discoverable
3. In the Discover App go to the Share Menu
4. Tap "Share via Bluetooth"
5. Choose the receiving device from the list (if you can't see the receiving Phone on the list see Bluetooth troubleshooting below)
6. On the receiving device accept the file sharing request
7. This will transfer the app as an APK file to the receiving device

Installing the App from the APK file

To install the APK file you will need to set your device to allow installation from "Unknown Sources". On most devices this will be as follows:

1. Open Settings
2. Choose Security (sometimes Security & Privacy)
3. Find the box "Unknown Sources" and ensure it has a tick in it (it may be under Additional Settings)
4. Once this is done you should be able to tap the downloaded APK to install it

Please be aware that having the Unknown Sources option selected allows apps to be installed from non-validated places. It could put your device at risk. I would recommend that you either uncheck the box once the app is installed, or ensure that you have an up to date anti-virus and security package installed. discoverapp.org accepts no responisbility for any negative consequences you may experience by enabling unknown sources.

Sharing an APK file

You can get hold of the app as an APK file in several ways

1. Bluetooth the App to another device (as above)
2. Back-up the app using a file manager such as Astro, find the APK file in the backups directory and share it from there by email, google drive etc
3. You can request that we send you an APK file to distribute.

Please note that when sending APK files by email, some email clients will not allow you to open the attachment as it is deemed to be unsafe. In this case you have have to change the filename (eg from org.discoverapp.apk to org.discoverapp.bin) to send and download the file. It will need to be changed back to an APK file to install it onto a device.

Sharing the studies by Bluetooth

This allows both the text and the audio of Disovery Bible Studies to be shared from one device to another. If at all possible, upgrade to the latest version of Discover app before sharing via Bluetooth. For versions of DiscoverApp before v0.9.03 you need to ensure that downloads are allowed before installing the studies (see Allowing Downloads)

1. In order for this to work, the studies must have already been downloaded on the sending device
2. Turn Bluetooth on both devices
3. From the Bluetooth menu on the receiving device ensure that it is discoverable
4. In the Discover App go to the Share Menu
5. Tap "Share downloaded text and audio via Bluetooth"
6. Choose the receiving device from the list (if you can't see the receivng device on the list see Bluetooth troubleshooting below)
7. On the receiving device accept the file sharing request
8. The transfer progress should show on both devices in the notification area
9. The audio files are large (even though they are compressed), so the process takes a long time
10. Because of the file sizes, the transfer routines only transfer the current series.
11. From version 0.9.03 onwards you can choose the series to send in the share screen. Prior to that you have to go into the Study List screen to change the series

Sharing Studies by email

It is also possible to share the Discovery Bible Studies in other ways (eg by email, Google Drive etc). To do this, follow the Share Studies by Bluetooth instructions to step 5. This will create a zip file called DTBLanguageFiles.zip in the DTB directory which is normally on the devices SD Card (or internal storage). This file can then be shared by email, uploaded to Google Drive or copied onto an SD card. If this file is saved or downloaded to the downloads directory of the target device it can be installed as shown below

Installing shared studies

If at all possible, upgrade to the latest version of Discover app before sharing via Bluetooth. For versions of DiscoverApp before v0.9.03 you need to ensure that downloads are allowed before installing the studies (see Allowing Downloads)

1. If there are studies to install, the "Install Shared Studies" item on the Share screen will be enabled¹
2. If it is not enabled, tap the refresh icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen. This will check to see if any studies are waiting to be installed
3. Tap "Install Shared Studies" to install the studies
4. If you are using version v0.9.03 or later and the app has not been given permission to write to the SD card it will ask for it before installing the studies.
5. If you can't see the installed studies checlk that downloads are enabled

If the studies have been transferred to the device, but the "Install Shared Studies" is not enabled you may still be able to install the files using a file browser application such as Astro. The app stores its files in a directory called DTB on the SD card. If you can see this directory, copy the DTBLanguageFiles.zip file into it and unzip it there. If you can't see the DTB folder, but you can see the downloads folder, copy the DTBLanguageFiles.zip into the downloads folder and try the instructions again

Allowing Downloads

1. Go to the Manage Downloads Screen
2. If the button says Download Studies or Delete All then downloads are enabled
3. If the button says Allow Downloads then tap it and accept the request to write to the SD Card

Bluetooth Troubleshooting

1. Bluetooth is only short range. Ensure that the devices are within five metres of each other
2. Most devices are only discoverable for a short while. Go into settings and choose bluetooth. If there is an option to make the device discoverable, make sure it is on"
3. In the menu at the top right is an option to 'refresh'. This reloads the list of nearby bluetooth devices.
4. If you are transferring a lot of files it may be worth pairing the two devices to ensure that they keep the bluetooth connection open

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¹Different devices store downloaded files in different places. The app checks in multiple locations including bluetooth, download, downloads, download/bluetooth. If you discover that your device is using a different location please let me know so I can add it in