Comparison

Douay vs Open Polytechnic Library

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Douay

Access the historic Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible translation, the first officially authorized Catholic Bible in English. This version includes the Deuterocanonical books and features historical context and scholarly notes.

Highlights
  • Douay-Rheims translation
  • Latin Vulgate basis
  • Deuterocanonical books included
  • Historical context
  • Explanatory notes
  • Challoner revision
Features
Read full description

The Douay-Rheims Bible is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English. It was the first officially authorized Catholic Bible translation in English, and has formed the basis of some later Roman Catholic Bibles in English. It includes the seven Deutero-Canonical books (also known as the Apocrypha). In 1568, English exiles who were members of the college at Douai, in Flanders, founded by William (later Cardinal) Allen, began the work of preparing a Bible translation, which has become the foundation of nearly all English Catholic versions. In October, 1578, Gregory Martin began the work of preparing an English translation of the Bible for Catholic readers, the first such translation into Modern English. Assisting were William Allen, Richard Bristow, Thomas Worthington, and William Reynolds who revised, criticized, and corrected Dr. Martin's work. The college published the New Testament at (Reims/Rhemes) , in 1582 through John Fogny with a preface and explanatory notes. Later, the Old Testament was published at in two parts (1609 and 1610) by Laurence Kellam through the efforts of Dr. Worthington, then superior of the seminary. The Douay-Rheims translation had been prepared before the appearance of the New Testament, but the publication was delayed due to financial difficulties. The religious and scholarly adherence to the Latin Vulgate text led to the less elegant and idiomatic words and phrases often found in the translation. In some instances where no English word conveyed the full meaning of the Latin, a Latin word was Anglicized and its meaning defined in a glossary. Although ridiculed by critics, many of these words later found common usage in the English language. Spellings of proper names and the numbering of the Psalms are adopted from the Latin Vulgate. In 1749 Dr. Richard Challoner began a major revision of the Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible and texts, the spellings and phrasing of which had become increasingly archaic in the almost two centuries since the translations were first produced. He modernized the diction and introduced a more fluid style, while faithfully maintaining the accuracy of Dr. Martin's texts. This revision became the 'de facto' standard text for English speaking Catholics until the twentieth century. It is still highly regarded by many for its style, although it is now rarely used for liturgical purposes. The notes included in this version are generally attributed to Bishop Challoner. The 1610 printing of the second time of the Old Testament includes an appendix containing the non-canonical books 'Prayer of Manasses,' 'Third Booke of Esdras,' and 'Fourth Booke of Esdras' as part of this Catholic Bible. While not part of Challoner's revision, the 1610 texts are placed in the appendices. Also included are the original texts of two short books, 'The Prophecie of Abdias' and 'The Catholike Epistle of Iude the Apostle,' to give the reader a sense of the language of the first editions in comparison to the Challoner revision. Further background on the Douay-Rheims version may be found in a selection from the preface to the 1582 edition and the original glossary included in the appendices. Ease of Bible study with our application is achieved if the following: - The application works without an internet connection (offline); - Ability to search; - Ability to increase / decrease the font; - Ability to create an unlimited number of tabs to a particular verse, one of the books; - If you are interested in the allocation of poems you can copy or send a message; - Ability to scroll through the volume buttons. User guide: Each menu item is a separate book, and each separate page in one of the books is the chapter. Place the cursor instead of the chapter number and enter the chapter number. Thus, you will not have to scroll all the chapters, selecting interesting. Terms of Use - http://apple.nsource.by/terms-of-use.html Privacy Policy - http://apple.nsource.by/privacy-policy.html

About

Open Polytechnic Library

Features
Read full description

Access the information and resources you need from anywhere, anytime. Configurable features for information providers include integrated search, my account, event registrations, room bookings, form submissions and more all backed by a highly customizable web-based CMS for near real time content updates and submissions management. Access the information and resources you need from anywhere, anytime. Configurable features for information providers include integrated search, including the ability to scan volume barcodes, and learn of upcoming events at your local library.

Screenshots

Douay4 screens
Open Polytechnic Library4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Open Polytechnic Library at none against Douay's 1. Open Polytechnic Library also leads on ads (none vs shown). Douay's advantage is update cadence (every 10 months vs every 43 months) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Douay sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Open Polytechnic Library asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Douay ships an update every 10 months, Open Polytechnic Library every 43 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Douay versus Open Polytechnic Library: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDouayOpen Polytechnic Library
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (657 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews46.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings657 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 months — betterEvery 43 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size95 MB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDzianis KaniushykStacks Inc.

Bugs and requests

Douay

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Nasty pornographic ads popped up immediately
  • Books with multiple chapters only shows 1 book
  • Searches for 2nd-4th book doesn’t work
  • No chapter numbers or tools on iPhone
  • Can’t see the text due to low contrast
Show 3 more
  • Judith, Tobit, Sirach, Wisdom, Baruch, and Maccabees in the ‘apocryphal’ section
  • Sections of Esther and Daniel separated from respective books
  • Psalms are misnumbered

Requested features

3 requests
  • See the chapter at the top
  • Make it easier to locate chapters
  • Option to remove ads with a one-time fee

Open Polytechnic Library

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Douay

Subscriptions1
  • UPGRADE: NO ADS$2.991 Month
None

Open Polytechnic Library

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Douay free?
Douay is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Open Polytechnic Library free?
Open Polytechnic Library is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Douay or Open Polytechnic Library have ads?
Douay shows ads; Open Polytechnic Library does not.
Which is updated more often, Douay or Open Polytechnic Library?
Douay ships an update every 10 months, and Open Polytechnic Library every 43 months. Most recently, Douay was updated on October 26, 2026 and Open Polytechnic Library on October 16, 2026.

Other comparisons