Catechism.app

What Catechism.app is

Catechism.app is an iOS application that bundles five well-known catechisms into a single library with shared search, bookmarks, and a memorization mode built specifically for question-and-answer content. The included catechisms are the New City Catechism (a modern 52-question catechism developed by a coalition of Reformed and evangelical pastors), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563, 129 questions, Reformed), the Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647, 107 questions, Presbyterian and Reformed), the Geneva Catechism (1545, John Calvin’s catechism), and a children’s catechism written for younger readers.

The app is the work of an independent developer rather than a publishing house or denominational body, which shapes its character: it is opinionated, focused, and unburdened by committee. It does not include the Catholic Catechism, any Orthodox catechism, or the LDS Gospel Principles manual — those are all served by their own dedicated apps. What Catechism.app does cover, it covers very well, and the price tag — a single purchase under five dollars — makes it an easy add to any catechizing household’s toolkit.

Why catechizing families prefer Catechism.app

The single biggest practical difference between Catechism.app and the official standalone apps (the New City Catechism app, the Heidelberg Catechism app, and various Westminster apps) is that you stop choosing. A family that wants to do New City with the kids on Sundays, work through Heidelberg in a couples’ group on Wednesdays, and memorize a few Westminster Shorter questions personally during the week no longer needs three apps with three different interfaces and three different progress trackers. It is all in one place, with one consistent layout, one search box, and one memorization system.

That sounds like a small thing. In practice it is transformative. The friction of opening a different app for each catechism is exactly the kind of thing that quietly kills a habit. Catechism.app removes that friction at a price low enough that nobody has to defend the purchase. For families and groups that move between catechisms — which is most of them, eventually — this is the model that respects your work.

Five catechisms in one library: the actual differentiator

The headline feature is also the most useful one. The library screen lists all five catechisms — New City, Heidelberg, Westminster Shorter, Geneva, and the children’s catechism — and tapping any of them drops you into a clean question-by-question reader. Each question is numbered, each answer is formatted for reading aloud, and the navigation between questions is a single swipe. Search runs across the entire library at once, so a topical query (say, "prayer" or "Lord’s Supper") returns matching Q&As from every included catechism, which is genuinely useful if you are comparing how the Heidelberg and the Westminster handle the same topic.

For families that have ever owned a paper Heidelberg, a paper New City, and a printed-out Westminster Shorter all sitting in the same basket by the dining table, the consolidation is the whole pitch. You no longer pick up the wrong book. You no longer lose the bookmark. You no longer have to explain to a guest why there are three different versions of "What is your only comfort in life and in death" floating around the house. It is one app, five catechisms, and the price of a coffee — which is exactly why it has spread the way it has in catechizing circles.

Memorization mode and flashcards: built for the work, not the demo

Catechism.app’s memorization mode is the feature that turns it from a "nice catechism viewer" into a tool people actually use every week. Each question can be flipped into flashcard mode — the question shows, the answer hides, you try to recite it, and you tap to reveal. You mark each question as still-learning or memorized, and the app tracks that progress per catechism. The flashcard deck can be scoped to a single catechism, a single section, or just the questions you have flagged as still needing work, which is exactly the granularity a parent wants when their kid has 80 of the 107 Westminster Shorter Catechism questions nailed and three stubborn ones still tripping them up.

This sounds like a small thing. In practice it is the difference between "we bought a catechism" and "we know a catechism." The hide-and-reveal pattern is the single most important mechanic for memorizing Q&A content, and the app implements it cleanly — no clutter, no gamification noise, no streak shaming, just the work. For anyone whose job involves teaching catechism to kids or going through one with a group, the memorization layer is what justifies the purchase ten times over.

Family worship and small-group use cases

The third place Catechism.app earns its keep is the dinner table and the living-room couch. The reading layout was clearly designed by someone who reads catechism questions out loud to children — the question is large and short, the answer sits below in a readable serif, and you can swipe forward to the next one without losing your place. For a family doing one or two questions per night, the workflow is: open the app, pick up where you left off (the app remembers), read the question, read the answer, talk about it for two minutes, close the app. No setup. No fumbling for a bookmark.

Small groups use it the same way, just with one more chair. A leader running a group through the Heidelberg can read each Lord’s Day section straight from an iPad on the coffee table, and group members can follow on their own phones if they have bought the app (or via Family Sharing in the same household). It is not a teaching platform — there is no shared progress, no group analytics, no chat — but for a group that just needs the text in front of everyone with minimal friction, it does the job better than any printed handout. The thoughtful person’s catechism app.

Pricing

Where Catechism.app falls behind

No Android version. This is the single most-cited limitation, and a real one. If anyone in your household is on Android, they cannot use the app at all — they would need a separate solution, which immediately undercuts the "one app for the whole family" pitch. The developer is iOS-only, and there is no public roadmap for Android (yet).

No audio narration. The app is reading-only. There is no way to put on AirPods and listen to the Westminster Shorter while doing dishes. For users who want a hands-free catechism experience, the standalone New City Catechism app (which includes recorded answers from various pastors and children) is the better fit, at least for that one catechism.

Limited cross-device sync. Memorization progress and bookmarks live on the device. If you replace your phone or move from iPhone to iPad, you will likely start the progress tracker over. For most users this is a small annoyance rather than a dealbreaker, but it is worth knowing going in.

Reformed and evangelical only. The included catechisms are all from the Reformed and broader evangelical tradition. Users looking for the Catholic Catechism, an Orthodox catechism, or LDS catechetical material will need a different app — Catechism.app is honest about this scope rather than trying to be everything to everyone, which is itself a virtue, but it is a real boundary on who the app serves.

Indie-developer cadence. Updates ship when they ship, and the feature backlog sits with one person. The app is stable and complete, but if you are hoping for, say, audio narration or an Android version by next quarter, that is a long-shot bet.

Catechism.app vs. New City Catechism (standalone) vs. Heidelberg Catechism (standalone)

These three apps occupy slightly different shelves. Catechism.app is the library: five catechisms, memorization tools, one-time five-dollar price, iOS only. The free New City Catechism app from The Gospel Coalition and Redeemer is a single-catechism app with very polished extras — short commentary, recorded answers from pastors and children, a built-in 52-week schedule — but it only covers New City, and it is the only one of the three with that level of polish on a single catechism. Various standalone Heidelberg Catechism apps exist on both iOS and Android, ranging from free public-domain readers to a few paid options; they vary widely in quality, but at their best they offer Heidelberg with a clean interface and not much else.

Different strengths. Catechism.app is broader (five catechisms, memorization tools, family use). New City Catechism is deeper on its one catechism (commentary, audio, scheduling, free). Standalone Heidelberg apps are the right answer if Heidelberg is the only catechism you care about and you are on Android. For most catechizing families on iPhone, Catechism.app is the broadest answer at the lowest price, and for that audience it tends to be the one that actually sticks.

The honest recommendation is that these are not exclusive. Many families pair Catechism.app (for the library and the memorization work) with the free New City Catechism app (for the audio and the curated 52-week schedule). For under five dollars total, you can have all of it.

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