There’s this thing they say about leaving the stage when the applause is the loudest—I wish that was the case with Youversion Search, but nope. In simple terms, Youversion Search is being shelved because of some drastic changes at Youversion.
Even though this is now how I expected the story to end, I am still very proud of the outcome and how this evolved to be something more than just an idea to something that multiple people around the world used and appreciated.
Youversion Search was the initial force that geared me to explore areas where my faith and secular ambitions could converge harmoniously. And since then, I’ve gone on to create other tools with this vision
The last one year with Youversion Search
There’s this thing they say about leaving the stage when the applause is the loudest—I wish that was the case with Youversion Search, but nope. In simple terms, Youversion Search is being shelved because of some drastic changes at Youversion.
Even though this is not how I expected the story to end, I am still very proud of the outcome and how this evolved from an idea to something multiple people around the world used and appreciated.
Youversion Search was the initial impulse that geared me to explore areas where my faith and secular ambitions could converge harmoniously. And since then, I’ve gone on to create other tools with this vision.
The last year with Youversion Search
I deployed Youversion Search to the public on Aug 15, 2023. Since then 563 people (peak) from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas have taken a chance on the value it provides and used it every single week! I couldn’t be more grateful.
Why is the product being shelved?
Youversion Search is being shelved because of a radical change in Youversion’s web app. Notes and bookmarks have been completely removed, and I’m not sure if they will be back anytime soon. I also can’t come up with any ethical way to continue this offering.
It makes sense to have this public announcement so anyone trying it out can understand why the extension might no longer work. Thankfully, I saved the bookmarks and notes of each Youversion Search user, so be sure to send a message if you need a copy.
My learnings
The greatest lesson from Youversion Search that I’ll be taking to every other venture is to be a leech when it comes to marketing; this doesn’t work for every product, but as much as you can, do it! Being a leech here means using another corporation as a foundation for your success (without costing them anything).
Youversion Search could reach a lot of people in the world because Youversion as a product was already successful; all that was left was for me to build a good enhancer of the product.
I’m already tinkering with other ventures; of course, I can’t help myself.