The Universalis downloads and apps have blue arrow buttons inside them which let you choose different options each day. See, for example, How the Selection Switches Work for Mass. (The web site does the same kind of selection in some cases, but it does it using ordinary links).

If you print out a page from Universalis and you end up with blue arrows on the paper, tapping or clicking those buttons does nothing. The paper does not change.

An e-book is just paper inside an electronic box. Tapping or clicking arrows in it would do nothing. Consequently e-books created using Universalis do not show the arrows at all. This applies both to Kindle e-books and to e-books in the ePub format.

The selection switches for Mass let you choose which readings you want to use for Mass that day. For instance, on a memorial, you may want to ignore the General Instruction of the Roman Missal’s instructions (at §357) and use the readings for the memorial rather than the readings for the ferial day.

When you use the Universalis program on your computer to create an e-book, the program uses whatever selections you have chosen within the program. If you chose the readings for the memorial on a particular day, those are the readings which will appear in the e-book. So if you have particular preferences for readings on memorials (and also for optional memorials), go through the calendar in the program and set the selections accordingly. Then all future e-books that you make will respect your selections.

Kindle Fire

In order to confuse their customers, Amazon use the same name for their e-book readers (the Kindle) and their tablets (the Kindle Fire). In fact the Kindle Fire (modern versions) and the Kindle Fire HD are not Kindles but programmable devices, and you can buy the Universalis app for them, blue buttons and all.

There isn’t a Universalis application on the Blackberry and there won’t be one. However, you can still read Universalis on the Blackberry if you want, by creating a Universalis e-book on your computer and then reading it on your Blackberry. Here is how to do it.

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Whatever your toy, you can probably get Universalis on it.

iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone: you can buy the app.

Android tablets and phones: you can buy the app.

E-book readers: you can create e-books for yourself. Eventually you’ll need to buy a registration code but you can try it out for a month or so first.

Amazon Kindle – it depends what kind of Kindle:

• “Plain” e-book reader Kindles (Kindle Classic, Kindle Paperwhite): you can create e-books for yourself or you can get e-books straight onto your Kindle from our web site. Read all about it here.
• “Tablet” Kindles (Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD): you can buy the Universalis app.

All the things I’ve mentioned here are single purchases that last for ever. They don’t need any kind of subscription.

People quite often ask us how to give Universalis as a present. So here is a brief explanation.

Apps and programs

The Universalis apps for iOS (iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch) and Android cost £9.99. To give an app as a gift, visit the App Store or Google Play or Amazon and check the relevant store for details of how to give an app as a gift. Your gift will, of course, only work on iOS or Android, whichever you purchase it for.

The Universalis programs for the Mac and Windows use a Universalis registration code, which costs £19.99 (and also gives free access to the iOS and Android versions so that they don’t have to be bought separately). You can buy a registration code here. After you’ve made the purchase, please send us an email to tell us who the recipient is, so that we can update our database accordingly. Then send the registration code to your friend, who can download and install the Universalis program and then use the registration code to activate it.

E-books

A lot of people are getting (or giving) e-book readers this Christmas.

An e-book is just like a paper book, only with bytes. It begins at the beginning, it is divided into chapters, it goes on to the end, and it stops. Universalis is more than this, because it goes on for ever, with every day different from the one before. There is no way to squeeze infinitely many chapters into an e-book.

So here is how we do it (after a trial period): you buy a registration code for £19.99 and you create your own e-books, free. Each e-book covers a certain period (a month and a year are the most popular), and when that period is over you throw the e-book away and make yourself a new one. It doesn’t cost anything. You can read all about Universalis e-books here.

How does this work with gifts? There are two main ways.

1. Give your friend a registration code. He can then install the Universalis program and make the e-books for himself.
2. Create the e-books for your friend and send them to him by email. For some people this is part of their Christmas routine: along with your Christmas card for 2012 I send you your Universalis e-book for 2013.

Just remember that Universalis e-books are for private use by the owner. They aren’t meant to be copied and shared out, any more than ordinary books or e-books are. So if you are using Universalis yourself and you are also creating e-books for two retired priest friends of yours, please make sure you have bought three registration codes, not one. We don’t insist that you keep on switching codes depending on whose e-book you are creating, but it’s important to keep the overall numbers right all the same.

The Mass Today page in Universalis combines the Order of Mass with the readings and prayers for the day. So far, it has only been available in the Universalis downloads. Now we are happy to announce that it is available in e-books as well.

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A reader has pointed out to us this article in CathNews New Zealand.