Turn Aside
Join the testers
Now in testing on Google Play
Put down the scroll.
Pick up Scripture.
Meant to open your Bible, but opened Instagram instead?
Turn Aside is a free Android app that helps you turn from the scroll to Scripture. You choose the apps that pull you in, like Instagram, TikTok or Facebook, and how many minutes you get in them. When your minutes are up, those apps pause until you've spent a few minutes reading your Bible. Then your minutes start again.
“I will turn aside to see this great sight.”Exodus 3:3 (ESV)
Sometimes we need to turn aside
You long to be in the Word more, but your self-control keeps slipping, and a reminder to read is too easy to swipe away. Turn Aside puts the pause where the scrolling happens.
The video plays from YouTube when you press play. Watch it on YouTube.
How it works
1
Choose the apps that pull you in
Pick your social media apps, like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, and how many minutes you get each time. All of them share one count, shown as a row of flames that burn down as you scroll.
Calls, messages, Settings and your Bible app are never limited.
2
When they run out, it's time to pause
A calm, full screen with a verse covers the app. Tap Read now and your Bible app opens. You can always go home, and in the gentlest mode you can skip, at a cost to your streak that you're told up front.
Two minutes before, a quiet heads-up, so it doesn't land mid-post.
3
Read for a few minutes, and your apps open again
Only real reading counts: time adds up while you scroll, tap or touch the screen in your Bible app, or while its audio Bible is playing, even with the screen off. A small chip counts down in the corner. When it's done, your minutes start again.
Choose a level, from milk to solid food (Hebrews 5:12–14), or set your own times.
4
Choose how firm it is
Three modes, for what happens when the pause comes and you don't want to read. A harder mode starts straight away; an easier one the next day.
5
Keep a streak in the Word
Each day with one reading at your level keeps your streak, and your minutes in Scripture add up through the week. Reading at any time counts, not just at a pause.
If you choose, rest from your limited apps all day on a weekly Sabbath, or longer with a Wilderness Fast.
Three modes
Named from the words of Jesus. None is the godlier choice: a firmer mode is simply a tool for days we know we're weak.
Come and See
John 1:39
Skip any time. Once your grace is used, a skip ends your streak.
Watch and Pray
Matthew 26:41
Skip only with a free skip or your grace day. Then it's read or go home.
Hand to the Plough
Luke 9:62
No skips. Scripture first each day, and a fast or Sabbath runs to its end.
From milk to solid food
Choose where to start. Each step gives less time in your apps and more time reading, and each reading earns more points.
| Level | In your apps | Then read | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk | 30 min | 2 min | 1 |
| Bread | 20 min | 5 min | 2 |
| Fish | 15 min | 10 min | 3 |
| Roast Lamb | 10 min | 15 min | 4 |
| Fattened Calf | 5 min | 20 min | 5 |
Or Custom, with your own times. Vegetarian names too, if you'd rather.
Grace for the hard moments
A grace day each week
Your first day each week with a skip, or without its reading, is forgiven. God's grace has no limit. Ours does.
Free skips, earned
Every 7 kept days earns a free skip, for when stopping really isn't practical. Save up to 3.
Sabbath
If you choose, rest from your limited apps all day, midnight to midnight, on Sundays or any days you like. Opening one takes you to your reading instead.
Wilderness Fast
Rest from your limited apps completely for 24 hours, 3 days, a week, 40 days or until Sunday.
Read in the app you already use
Choose from recommended Bible and devotional apps, including these. Use another? Ask us to add it, from inside the app.
- ESV Bible
- Bible.is
- ESV Audio Bible
- Logos
- Olive Tree
- Blue Letter Bible
- Bible Gateway
- YouVersion
- Truth For Life
- Ligonier
- RefNet
- Desiring God
- Explore
- Gospel in Life
- New City Catechism
- BibleProject
- Our Daily Bread
- Daily Light
Private by design
- No account, no ads, no tracking.
- Everything stays on your phone: the app can't even use the internet.
- It uses Android's Accessibility service only to see which app is open and whether you're actively reading. It never reads what's on your screen or what you type.
Closed testing
Be one of the first to use it
Turn Aside is in closed testing on Google Play, before it's released to everyone. Join the testers to get it now, free, and help us make it ready: tell us what works, what doesn't, and how it fits your days.
- Join the testers' group with the Google account you use on your Android phone. It's open to anyone; you'll get only the occasional update. Join the group
- Accept the invitation to test on Google Play, signed in with the same account. Become a tester
- Install Turn Aside from Google Play on your phone. It can take a few minutes after you join before it appears. Open in Google Play
For Android 8 or later. Not on iPhone: Apple doesn't let apps pause other apps this way. Questions or feedback: support@turnaside.app.
Questions
Is it really free?
Yes. No ads, no subscription, nothing to buy. It's made by Redeemer Church New Plymouth as a gift.
Why does it need Accessibility?
That's the only way Android lets an app see which app is open, so the pause can appear over your limited apps, and know that you're scrolling or touching the screen in your Bible app, so only real reading counts. It never reads what's on your screen, and nothing leaves your phone. Setup explains this before you turn it on.
Can I still turn it off?
Always. Android lets you turn Turn Aside off or uninstall it at any time. Calls, texts, Settings and your Bible app are never limited, so you can't be shut out of anything that matters.
Does listening count?
Yes. If your Bible app plays an audio Bible, listening counts too, even with the screen off. That needs one more optional permission, which only checks whether your reading app's audio is playing.
What if I'm in the middle of something that can't wait?
Go home, or use your weekly grace day or a free skip. A day without its reading is forgiven once a week too. A hard day, though, is when a few minutes in the Word helps most.
Will my streak break if my phone stops the app?
No. Some phones' battery savers can stop Turn Aside. A whole day when it wasn't running doesn't count either way: it's not kept, and it doesn't break your streak.
Is there an iPhone version?
Not yet. Apple doesn't allow apps to pause other apps the way Turn Aside does on Android.