Comparison

iPieta vs Catholic Encyclopedia Offline

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

Head to head
About

iPieta

Access a comprehensive collection of Catholic resources, including Bibles, catechisms, prayers, and spiritual works. Explore liturgical calendars, papal documents, and writings from Church Fathers. Features include search, history, bookmarks, and downloadable audio for select content.

Highlights
  • Catholic Bibles (Douay-Rheims, Clementine Vulgate)
  • Multiple Catechisms (Baltimore, Roman, St. Thomas Aquinas)
  • Ordinary & Extraordinary Liturgical Calendars
  • Extensive Devotions and Prayers
  • Spiritual Works from Church Fathers
  • Papal Encyclicals and Conciliar Documents
  • Search, History, Bookmarks, Highlights
Read full description

iPieta contains Catholic documents, teachings, writings, prayers, and liturgical calendars, including: • Bibles: Douay-Rheims, Clementine Vulgate (Catholic and public domain; note that Psalms are COMPLETE but numbered as in the Vulgate). • Baltimore Catechisms #1-3 (original); the Cat. of Christian Doctrine, the Roman Catechism, and the Cat. of St. Thomas Aquinas. • Both the Ordinary (Novus Ordo) and Extraordinary (Tridentine) Calendars with access to the day's Gospel and Reading(s) from the Douay-Rheims & Vulgate. • Numerous devotions and prayers, including 33-Day Total Consecration Preparation, Novena to the Holy Spirit, St. Alphonsus Stations of the Cross, and the St. Bridget 1-Year and 12-Year Prayers. • Spiritual works from authors including St. Louis Marie de Montfort, St. Teresa of Jesus, St. John of the Cross, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa and Catena), St. Francis deSales, and St. Jean-Marie Vianney. • Papal Encyclicals and Conciliar Documents • Fathers of the Church (Erdman's collection) • Search, History, Bookmarks, Highlights. • Multi-version display of some data like versions of the Bible and prayers in different languages. • Free downloadable audio for many prayers, New Testament, and some works.

About

Catholic Encyclopedia Offline

Access the complete 1914 Catholic Encyclopedia offline on your iPhone or iPad. Explore over 11,500 articles and images with an intuitive interface, powerful search, and easy sharing options. A comprehensive resource for Catholic history, teaching, and information.

Highlights
  • Offline access
  • Enhanced search
  • Share articles
  • Bookmark favorites
  • Adjust font size and color
  • Cross-referenced articles
Features
Read full description

The 1914 Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. Now you can study all documents with unique optimization for iPhone and iPad devices. Enjoy more than 11 500 articles and images through a very simple and intuitive user interface. After initial data download, there is no need for any Internet connection, so you can read all texts anywhere and anytime! Share or print your favorite articles. The work with the app is very easy. You can list all articles alphabetically or you can use our enhanced search system to find only articles what you are interested in. The original Catholic Encyclopedia contains various important information about the history, geography and religion topics. The encyclopedia is highly appreciated and recommended by the experts and ordinary people. What our customers are saying: "This app helps me so much when I'm reading the Bible. Its such a great reference tool. Every Catholic should own this app." - Tansey214, USA "So much great info in this app. Well worth the very humble price" - Fusionarts, USA "Interface is easy to use, tons of information inside. Searching for specific information is really easy a very solid app." - Jopesta, USA The application features: - Offline access - no Internet connection is needed - Search ability - simply find the topic what you are interested in - Social - share the articles with your friends - Bookmarks - mark your favorite articles - Accessibility - change font size and text color - Interlinks - easy and smart cross reference among the articles All texts and images are in English language.

Screenshots

iPieta4 screens
Catholic Encyclopedia Offline4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: iPieta at Free against Catholic Encyclopedia Offline's $1.99. iPieta also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months) and review sentiment (88% vs 77%). Catholic Encyclopedia Offline's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.6). On rating, ads, in-app purchases 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

iPieta is free to download; Catholic Encyclopedia Offline costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for iPieta against 4.6 for Catholic Encyclopedia Offline. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 510 and 140 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 88% of iPieta's written reviews are positive against 77% of Catholic Encyclopedia Offline's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iPieta ships an update fortnightly, Catholic Encyclopedia Offline every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
iPieta versus Catholic Encyclopedia Offline: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriPietaCatholic Encyclopedia Offline
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.7 (510 ratings) — better4.6 (140 ratings)
Positive reviews88.2% of reviews — better76.9% of reviews
Number of ratings510 — better140
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.611.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB32 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperiVerbumMartin Vcelak

Customer experience

iPieta

All ratings510 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.2%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews389 reviews
Positive88.2%
Neutral4.9%
Negative6.9%

Catholic Encyclopedia Offline

All ratings140 ratings
Positive92.1%
Neutral2.1%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews39 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral5.1%
Negative17.9%

User reviews

iPieta

From 510 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🙏 Best Catholic Prayer and Devotion App
  • 📚 Wonderful resource for prayers, readings, and spiritual content
  • 🕰️ Comprehensive coverage of traditional and modern Catholic practices
  • 🔍 Extensive library of prayers, Bible translations, and Church documents
  • 🌟 Invaluable tool for prayer life and spiritual growth

Room to improve

  • 🤔 Difficult to navigate and find desired content
  • 🆕 Recent updates have made the app less user-friendly
  • 🔇 Audio playback issues and missing features
  • 🔄 Inconsistent user experience across updates
  • 📱 Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Catholic Encyclopedia Offline

From 140 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to read print
  • 👍 Reliable and thorough
  • 👍 Great resource of info
  • 👍 Scholarly approach to Catholic belief
  • 👍 Necessary reference

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App not working
  • 🐛 No longer works
  • 🐛 Cannot pull up any information
  • 🐛 Crashes frequently
  • 🐛 No support

Bugs and requests

iPieta

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Blank screen issues after recent updates
  • Disappearing bookmarks and notes
  • Stability problems and frequent crashes
  • Incorrect calendar and liturgical information

Requested features

5 requests
  • More Bible translations and liturgical versions
  • Improved search and browsing functionality
  • Better organization and categorization of content
  • Customizable audio playback controls
  • Offline access and download options

Catholic Encyclopedia Offline

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • App is not working
  • App no longer works
  • Cannot pull up any information
  • Crashes frequently
  • Web help form not Safari friendly
Show 10 more
  • Cannot submit help ticket
  • Adds still present after purchase
  • Search engine needs improvement
  • Buggy version
  • Cannot contact developer
  • Some Bible chapters and verses quoted are incorrect
  • Upgrade made app rubbish
  • Crashes when clicking on entry
  • Some articles non-existent or won't open
  • Technological glitch

Requested features

4 requests
  • Audio feature
  • Option to omit hyperlinks
  • Advanced features inquiry
  • Catholic dictionary app

In-app purchases

None

iPieta

No in-app purchases

None

Catholic Encyclopedia Offline

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iPieta free?
iPieta is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Catholic Encyclopedia Offline free?
Catholic Encyclopedia Offline costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iPieta or Catholic Encyclopedia Offline?
iPieta is rated higher. iPieta averages 4.7 out of 5 from 510 ratings, while Catholic Encyclopedia Offline averages 4.6 from 140 ratings.
Do iPieta or Catholic Encyclopedia Offline have ads?
Neither iPieta nor Catholic Encyclopedia Offline shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iPieta or Catholic Encyclopedia Offline?
iPieta ships an update fortnightly, and Catholic Encyclopedia Offline every 6 months. Most recently, iPieta was updated on October 12, 2026 and Catholic Encyclopedia Offline on October 15, 2026.

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