# PocketTorah

> Learn weekly Torah and Haftarah portions with text, translation, and audio. (iPhone/iPad app by Russel Neiss.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pockettorah/id515833985 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Russel Neiss](https://appshunter.io/developer/477614094)
- Category: Education, Reference
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.00/5 from 174 App Store ratings · 90 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 11.0 · 475 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2012-04-12
- Data updated: 2026-07-27
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pockettorah/id515833985/reviews.md

## What is PocketTorah?

PocketTorah is designed to help you learn the weekly Torah and Haftarah portion anywhere, at any time for free.

This project was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Jewish New Media Innovation Fund

The app includes:
 - The entire text of the Torah and Haftarah in Hebrew and translation.
 - On Demand Audio: With a simple click or touch of any verse number the corresponding Hebrew with proper trope is chanted, while the corresponding text is highlighted.
 - Tikkun View – With a touch you can choose whether you want to see the Hebrew as vowelized text or as it appears in the Torah with crowns and without vowels.

## Key features

- Hebrew and translation of Torah and Haftarah
- On-demand audio chanting with verse highlighting
- Tikkun View for vowelized or scroll appearance
- Learn weekly portions anywhere, anytime

## What do users think of PocketTorah?

Overall sentiment: mixed

**Pros**

- 👍 Easy to use and navigate
- 🎓 Excellent learning tool for Torah reading preparation
- 🎵 Audio recordings with word-by-word highlighting
- 📱 Free and accessible to all users
- 🔤 Multiple font options and text display modes (vowels, tikkun, translation)
- 🌍 Helpful for non-Hebrew speakers and those without yeshiva background
- ⏱️ Adjustable playback speeds for learning
- 🎯 Ability to tap individual words to hear pronunciation
- 📖 Comprehensive Torah portion coverage

**Cons**

- 🐛 Frequent app crashes when opening weekly readings
- 🐛 Pause button unresponsive or too small/insensitive
- 🐛 Highlighting out of sync with audio playback
- 🐛 App freezes and requires frequent restarts
- ❌ Settings don't save between sessions
- ❌ No search functionality to find portions quickly
- ❌ Limited content (missing holiday readings, special portions)
- ❌ Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- 🔊 Audio quality could be crisper
- 📊 App takes up excessive storage space

**Commonly reported bugs**

- App crashes when selecting 'This Week's Torah Readings'
- Pause button doesn't work or is delayed
- Yellow highlighting becomes out of sync with audio after multiple plays
- App requires restart every 4-5 readings to function properly
- Blank white screen on app launch
- Incompatible with iOS 14.3 and newer versions
- Settings (speed, font size) reset on each app launch
- Highlighting skips words or highlights wrong words
- Audio continues playing after pause button is pressed
- App crashes on specific iPad models (iPad Air 4)
- Incorrect Haftarah text/audio (Vayera shows 1 Kings instead of 2 Kings)
- Typos in parashat text
- Highlighting flashes and shows partial page when returning from other apps
- Words mispronounced or completely wrong in recordings
- Laggy performance and occasional freezing

**Most requested features**

- Dark mode option
- Ability to bookmark or save favorite portions
- Search bar to quickly find Torah portions
- Practice reminder notifications
- Auto-repeat/loop functionality for verses
- Save user preferences (font size, speed) permanently
- Add holiday and special Shabbat readings (Yom Kippur, Zachor, etc.)
- Multiple cantor/voice options
- Sephardic and Mizrachi pronunciation options
- English-only option for non-Hebrew readers
- Triennial reading cycle option
- Ability to set custom start/stop points within verses
- Android/Google Play compatibility
- Chapter and verse reference numbers in portion list
- Transliteration toggle option
- Two-portion and special Haftarah combinations

## Recent user reviews (10 of 90)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pockettorah/id515833985/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Easy to use, I wish the play/pause button was bigger

*2026-06-16, version 4.0.0*

So easy to use! I’m just having trouble with accessing the play/pause. It’s so small. I hit it over and over again to pause the chanting so I can review it but it takes several times hitting it to actually pause it. Please make it 2-3 times bigger.

### 5/5 — Excellent tool

*2026-02-01, version 4.0.0*

Very good tool for checking myself on a few things when I think I may be a bit off tune. No substitute for knowing trope but otherwise extremely helpful.

### 5/5 — Leon

*2026-01-15, version 4.0.0*

This app has allowed me to read and learn the Torah while listening and appreciating the trope. For someone whose first language is not Hebrew, and was not brought up in a Yeshiva, this is a fantastic tool.

### 2/5 — Recordings are Wrong

*2025-11-07, version 4.0.0*

This app is a great concept, but the recordings get a LOT of things very wrong. In some cases things are said completely incorrectly, and sometimes a completely different word is said instead of the correct one. I strongly suggest to anyone who created this app to redo all the recordings because I actively get annoyed when it gets 1/5 of the words wrong, and sometimes even gets the trup wrong. If the point of recordings is to teach people how to lein properly, the recordings should not be completely incorrect.

### 2/5 — Weekly Reading

*2025-04-30, version 4.0.0*

I’m only giving this a low rating because every time I open the app and click on weekly reading, the app just automatically closes.

### 5/5 — This app is really good

*2024-12-30, version 4.0.0*

This app is really good. It’s really helped me practicing for my bat mitzvah. The only problem is it can be laggy at sometimes and crash but if you just exit out of the app and delete the tab that can easily be fixed.

### 4/5 — Please fix

*2024-11-13, version 4.0.0*

This week’s Haftarah, Vaeyrah, the chanting does not match the text, which should be Kings 4: 1-37.

### 2/5 — Good in theory but way too glitchy

*2024-10-12, version 4.0.0*

I got this app as a way to learn my Torah portion better, and this seemed to be the one most recommended, And yeah, for the first minute of opening the app it works great. You can click on words if you want to hear it repeated and it’s chanted slowly enough that you can easily pick it up. However, if you’re trying to play it again, it begins to glitch A LOT. Sometimes the pause button doesn’t work or is super delayed. Or the highlighting will be out of sync with the chanting. Either way, it’s immensely frustrating and it’s super hard to learn on it because you have to exit or close the window every time. Honestly, you might be better just learning on YouTube. 
It’s too bad, because this app would have been great without the bugs…

### 5/5 — Very good

*2024-08-25, version 4.0.0*

It’s a first time for me reading the Torah and this app is great for me as a beginner. I would however suggest that there is an option to play it in English and other languages perhaps also.

### 3/5 — Missing Haftorah

*2024-07-11, version 4.0.0*

My daughter has Zachor as her haftorah and it is not in the app. Please add the special portions!

## Frequently asked questions about PocketTorah

### What is PocketTorah?

PocketTorah is a free application designed to help users learn the weekly Torah and Haftarah portions. It provides access to the full text in Hebrew and translation, along with on-demand audio chanting and customizable text views.

### What are the key features of PocketTorah?

Key features include the complete Hebrew text and translation of the Torah and Haftarah, on-demand audio chanting of verses with proper trope, and a Tikkun View that allows users to see the Hebrew text either vowelized or as it appears in a Torah scroll.

### Is PocketTorah free to use?

Yes, PocketTorah is completely free to use. The project was made possible through generous support from the Jewish New Media Innovation Fund.

### What devices is PocketTorah compatible with?

The provided description does not specify compatibility with particular operating systems or devices. However, it is described as a mobile application, suggesting it is designed for smartphones and tablets.

### How can I use PocketTorah to study the Torah?

You can use PocketTorah to study by reading the Hebrew text and its translation, listening to the on-demand audio chanting of verses, and utilizing the Tikkun View to see the text in different formats. It's designed for learning the weekly portions conveniently.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 4.0.0 — 2021-09-02

Fixes a bug that caused blank screen on load for most users along with a smattering of other minor bug fixes.

### 3.0.1 — 2017-07-03

This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.

Bug fixes! -- 
1. Allows users with smaller screens to scroll to all of the aliyot and haftarot
2. Fixes an issue some users were experiencing where maftir aliyot did not play properly.
3. Fixed an issue where opening aliyah 3 of Pinchas would crash the app.

### 3.0 — 2017-06-28

- Ability to change speed of audio (faster/slower)
- Simplified UX/UI
- New codebase rewritten and optimized for newer versions of iOS

### 2.0.2 — 2014-05-29

Corrected a bug that caused out of sync audio/highlighting on newer iPads and iPhones.

### 2.0.1 — 2014-05-14

- Fixed a bug that caused the audio for many weekly portions not to load.

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## More apps by Russel Neiss

- [PocketTorah Trope](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pockettorah-trope/id497873394)

All apps by Russel Neiss: https://appshunter.io/developer/477614094

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*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 2026-07-27.*