# Hymnals > Digital Roman Catholic hymnal library with search, organization, and annotation features. (iPhone/iPad app by GIA Publications, Inc..) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hymnals/id523183662 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [GIA Publications, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/523183665) - Category: Music, Reference - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 2.00/5 from 53 App Store ratings · 65 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 9.0 · 96 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2012-05-25 - Data updated: 2026-07-28 - Monetization: free with in-app purchases - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hymnals/id523183662/reviews.md ## What is Hymnals? Hymnals is a remarkable app that brings all the elements of your favorite hymnal—and more—right to your iPad. The app is free – through it you can purchase the following best-selling Roman Catholic hymnals from GIA Publications, Inc. using an in-app purchase. ● Gather - Third Edition for Pew, Choir, Guitar, Keyboard, C Instrument, and B flat Instrument ● Worship - Fourth Edition for Pew, Choir, Guitar, Keyboard, C Instrument, and B flat Instrument ● Ritual Song - Second Edition for Pew, Choir, Guitar, Keyboard, C Instrument, and B flat  ● Instrument ● Gelineau Lectionary Psalms ● Guimont Lectionary Psalms ● The Lyric Psalter ● One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism ● Cry Out with Joy ● Gather Comprehensive - Second Edition both Pew and Choir ● Lead Me, Guide Me - Second Edition Pew and Keyboard ● Oramos Cantando - We Pray In Song Pew ● More to come Hymnals offer the complete contents of your hymnal in a compact, lightweight form—no more dragging around multiple hymnals and service binders! The app is perfect for choir members or churchgoers. Swipe or tap to easily page through hymns, or create and manage your own Service Lists! The music and words are crystal clear. With Hymnals, you can: ● NEW - Backup your hymnals, imported music, service list, and annotations to the cloud with your giamusic.com account. ● NEW - Now also works on iPhone. ● Download your hymnal via in-app purchase ● Quickly search for hymns by title or hymn number ● Create your own service lists ● Share service lists with other Hymnals app users ● Arrange your service list and display it in song order ● Listen to audio samples if available (requires an Internet connection) ● Zoom in or out without blurring ● View hymns in both portrait or the wider landscape mode ● Easily toggle to full-screen mode to see the entire hymn page ● Turn pages with AirTurn and PageFlip Bluetooth pedals ● Annotate hymns easy editing tools The free app includes three sample hymns. ## Key features - Digital hymnal library - Search hymns by title/number - Create and manage service lists - Cloud backup and sync - Audio samples available - Annotate hymns - Works on iPad and iPhone ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Gather Third Edition - Pew | $21.99 | one-time | | Gather Third Edition - Choir | $33.99 | one-time | | Worship Fourth Edition - Pew | $21.99 | one-time | | Worship Fourth Edition - Choir | $33.99 | one-time | | Gather Third Edition - Guitar | $119.99 | one-time | | Gather Third Edition Keyboard | $149.99 | one-time | | Lead Me Guide Me - Pew | $21.99 | one-time | | Gather Comprehensive Second Edition Choir | $28.99 | one-time | | Guimont Lectionary Psalms | $34.99 | one-time | | Voices Together SAMPLE | Free | one-time | | Voices Together - Pew | $28.99 | one-time | | Gather Fourth Edition Choir | $33.99 | one-time | | Psalms for All Season | $39.99 | one-time | ## Recent user reviews (10 of 65) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hymnals/id523183662/reviews.md ### 1/5 — No Sound *2024-08-25* I am using this app to listen to the hymn for practice. It looks like it’s playing but there is no sound. I’m connected to the internet, my sound is all the way up. But there is no sound. I paid a lot to download the hymnal, when I already own a hard copy. I would think with GIA being such a large company that they would have a better app! It looks like a lot of the reviews are similarly bad. ### 3/5 — Newer bugs *2024-08-05, version 2.9* The app will not play the music clips. It looks like it is playing, but no sound. This has only occurred about a month ago. Don’t know what you did, but it sure is messed up now. ### 2/5 — Did this app get abandoned???? *2024-05-18* I have been using this app for a while. I just bought two more hymnals. I wanted to buy another one as I have been singing at a different church to help out. It doesn’t seem like the purchasing ability is live anymore. I don’t want to buy a physical hymnal. I would rather have them on my iPad, so I don’t have to carry around a bag with all of these heavy books. Hymnals 2 doesn’t seem to have the ability either. These apps could be great if you followed user suggestions. ### 1/5 — Absolutely Terrible *2023-12-07, version 2.9* This app is horrible. It genuinely makes me angry every Sunday when I have to use it. There are so many bugs that I can’t even begin to list them all. Please hire an app developer to fix this app!!! ### 3/5 — Does not transfer directly to iPad, but... *2023-11-27, version 2.9* I read a review complaining of this. What I do is make screen shots and format into my music score program in iPad. It just takes minutes. Hope this helps. ### 2/5 — Cannot edit old notes *2023-04-23, version 2.9* I really need the capability to erase old notes. ### 1/5 — What a waste of $$$$ *2023-04-21* I wish I would have read the reviews before purchasing this app. I downloaded Gather 3 and every song I have played has been a wreck because of the page turns. Seems like someone who has never owned a tablet developed this! Please fix the turns or give us at least a free option to download a pdf to put in an app that actually is useful for a musician. I’m sure this is fine for singers because they aren’t using their hands prior to a page turn, but ugh…the arrows are so close to the bottom of the screen something bad happens every time. ### 2/5 — Not Recommended *2023-02-04* I am the Director of Music at a very large parish. I downloaded this app (and unnecessarily spent a handsome sum of money) for a digital copy of Worship (Third Edition) to go with it. I would love to be able to play exclusively from my iPad. However, it simply isn’t possible using this app. Page turns are disastrous. Why can’t we swipe or tap left or right to turn one page to the left or right? Please make this an option. Currently, if we tap the down or up arrow with any side-to-side movement, we end up in a completely different selection, and then we have to scramble to get back to where we need to be. I’ve encountered this problem too many times - enough that I refuse to play from this app any longer. Instead, I use the printed books. Alternatively, if developing a new, more intuitive method of turning pages isn’t an option, the ability to print would be helpful so that we could import selections into forScore, which works wonderfully. Please fix this! ### 1/5 — hard to use *2022-12-13, version 2.9* it's basically a pdf reader. the table of contents is not click able, so when you want the readings that are start with page number 1000, there's no way to skip right to that section. wish there was. way to bookmark pages. also you can only search by hymns and not page number. ### 1/5 — Worst app for music *2022-12-03, version 2.9* If you need page turns, and expect an intuitive response on your iPad, this app fails! I had disastrous experiences leading Masses using this platform. GIA, please match the quality of your online music offerings for modern day musicians with the resources provided by your competitor! ## Frequently asked questions about Hymnals ### What does the Hymnals app do? The Hymnals app provides a digital library of Roman Catholic hymnals, allowing users to access and manage hymns on their iPad and iPhone. It offers features like searching, creating service lists, and annotating hymns, replacing the need for physical hymnal books. ### How do I get hymnals in the app? The app itself is free and includes three sample hymns. Additional Roman Catholic hymnals from GIA Publications, Inc. can be purchased through in-app purchases within the app. These purchases unlock the full content of specific hymnal editions. ### Can I create my own service lists? Yes, a key feature of the app is the ability to create and manage your own service lists. You can arrange hymns in your desired order and even share these service lists with other users of the Hymnals app. ### What devices is Hymnals compatible with? The app is designed to work on iPads and iPhones. It supports both portrait and landscape orientations, and offers a full-screen mode for an unobstructed view of hymn pages. ### Can I backup my data? Yes, the app now offers cloud backup functionality. You can back up your hymnals, imported music, service lists, and annotations to the cloud using your giamusic.com account, ensuring your data is safe and accessible. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 2.9 — 2021-11-03 - Faster navigation from page to page using the arrows ### 2.8 — 2020-12-14 Improvements and bug fixes ### 2.7 — 2020-11-09 Improvements and bug fixes ### 2.6 — 2020-10-20 The check for updates is now done in the background and the update will be done only once users confirm they want to update. Crashes are now reported using the newest Firebase's Crashlytics SDK. ### 2.5 — 2020-08-03 Bug fixes ## Apps similar to Hymnals | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Hymns for Worship](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hymns-for-worship/id1470789635) | 4.6 (566) | Free | Music | | [ACC Hymns](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/acc-hymns/id1634426405) | 5.0 (25) | Free | Music | | [GrowInGrace Hymnal](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/growingrace-hymnal/id1396306681) | 4.9 (17) | Free | Music | | [Project Hymnal](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/project-hymnal/id1314888995) | 4.8 (62) | Free | Music | | [Hymnal](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hymnal/id872755663) | 4.2 (25) | Free | Music | | [Christ In Song](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/christ-in-song/id417221849) | 4.5 (15) | Free | Music | ## More apps by GIA Publications, Inc. - [Hymnals 2](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hymnals-2/id1669012764) All apps by GIA Publications, Inc.: https://appshunter.io/developer/523183665 ## Related topics [hymnary](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/hymnary) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-28.*