Every release of Kavanah, newest first. To follow along, add the feed to a feed reader.
Version 0.14.0
Passages that are not said every day sit in their own boxes
Additions for special days, Kedushah and other parts said only in some places now sit in their own boxes that open and close, so the daily prayer reads straight through.
New
Passages said only on certain days, such as the Rosh Chodesh and Chol HaMoed addition or the Chanukah and Purim addition, now sit in a box with a short label. Long ones start closed, short ones start open, and each ends with the words where the daily prayer picks up again.
Kedushah, Barchu and the other parts said only with a congregation are always on the page in their own box. The line each person says is marked with a tiny label such as the leader or the congregation. You can close or open any box.
Where the prayer gives a choice of wordings and you say only one, such as the candle-lighting blessings, the names of the day (Rosh Chodesh, Pesach, Sukkot) and the Chanukah or Purim addition, they now sit together in one box headed Say one of these. Short ones stand side by side, longer ones show one at a time with tabs on a phone, and with no script they are stacked with the word or between them.
Summer and winter wording sit together. Tap the one you say to mark it, and tap it again to clear the mark; the other stays on the page, dimmed.
Under Text there is a new setting, Panel style: Outlined, Lines or Shaded. It changes how these boxes look and nothing else.
Improved
The psalm of the day, the Omer count and the weekly Torah portion keep their title and closing instruction in view. A day opens only when you press it, and Clear choice puts the group back to nothing chosen.
Words that change during the Ten Days of Repentance are marked where they stand.
A box you close before the page has finished loading stays closed, and the place you were reading is kept when you change the text size, the spacing or the panel style.
Version 0.13.0
Quieter instructions on every prayer page
Instructions and notes in the prayers are now small, light text that opens to the Hebrew original when you tap it, so the prayer stays in front.
Improved
An instruction such as Quietly or Repeat three times is now small, light text in the flow of the page. The gray strip and the Source link beside each one are gone. Tap an instruction to see the Hebrew it comes from and the edition it was read from. A rule about when to say or skip something is always shown in full; only the long explanatory notes show their first three lines, and a tap shows the rest.
A note inside a line of prayer, such as the date above the count of the Omer, now stays where the book prints it, as small text. The numbers and the list of notes under the paragraph are gone.
The additions for the Ten Days of Repentance used to sit behind a Details button. They are now in the text with their instruction above them.
Each prayer page ends with one line naming the editions the Hebrew text comes from and their licenses, with a link to Text and sources.
Instructions and the smaller lines of prayer now follow the text size you choose, and never get smaller than a readable minimum.
Under Text, Show sources opens every instruction to its Hebrew original and edition at once, for reading with a keyboard or a screen reader. Instructions are no longer stops when you press Tab, so Tab moves between the controls that matter.
Fixed
On a page with a single prayer, a screen reader no longer reads the title twice.
Version 0.12.0
Asher Yatzar and other short prayers now have their own pages
Eight short prayers can now be found by name and opened on a page of their own, instead of only inside a long service.
Improved
Each of these pages is the same text as in the service, not a copy, and has a link back to its place in the service.
Prayers added
Asher Yatzar, the blessing after the washroom, was only inside the morning blessings. It now has its own page, and you can search for it as asher yatzar, asher yotzar or bathroom blessing.
Also on their own pages: Modeh Ani, the Shema, Aleinu, the Mourner’s Kaddish, Ana BeKoach, Counting the Omer, and the Tikkun HaKlali (the ten psalms Rebbe Nachman of Breslov arranged).
Version 0.11.0
A plain line about the app at the bottom
The line at the bottom now tells you plainly whether Kavanah is installed, saved for offline reading, up to date or updating, and which version you have.
Improved
One short line replaces the old offline note and the separate install card. It says Saved for offline reading, Installed, Saving for offline, You are offline, Updating, or Update ready, with at most one button: Install app, How to install, Retry or Update now.
The version you are running is shown beside it. After an update the line says Updated to that version and links to what changed.
Nothing changes about when an update is applied: it still waits for a moment when you are not reading. On a phone the line closes Home and Contents and never sits under a prayer; on a computer it is at the bottom of every page.
Version 0.10.0
A Home page, a bottom bar on phones and a header on computers
Kavanah now opens to a Home page and moves around like an app on a phone and like a website on a computer.
New
Home replaces the cover as the first page. It shows today’s date in both calendars and any special day, a way to continue where you stopped, and a shelf of your books. Your own cover sits first on the shelf.
On a phone, a bar at the bottom takes you to Home, Contents or Tehillim, and to your saved place once you have one. It moves out of the way while you read down and comes back when you scroll up or tap the text.
On a computer, a header with Contents, Tehillim, Search and Text stays at the top, with About, Sources and What’s new at the bottom of the page. Prayer pages show where you are: Home, the group, the prayer and the section you are reading.
At the end of every section you can go straight to the next one, and at the end of a prayer to the next prayer in the contents order, or back to Contents.
Keyboard on a computer: press / to search, ] or j for the next section, [ or k for the previous one, and Esc to close a panel.
Improved
While you read on a phone the top bar is slim: back, the name of the section (tap it to jump to another, in a sheet that rises from the bottom) and Text. The back arrow returns to the page you came from, at the same place.
Around nightfall the Hebrew date is shown both ways, for example 21 Tishrei, 22 Tishrei from nightfall, because the day starts at nightfall and no location is set to say when that is.
Version 0.9.0
A clearer contents page, in the order of the siddur
The contents page now lists every prayer collection in the order of a siddur and of the day, in one calm column.
Improved
The contents page is grouped as a prayer book is: daily prayers, blessings and meals, Shabbat, the month, festivals, fast days, Torah readings, occasions and life, more prayers and songs, and Psalms.
Each entry shows the Hebrew name with its English line beside it, joined by a thin line, and the names are the largest text on the page.
A list of groups stays with you while you scroll: a row under the top of the page on a phone, a column beside the list on a computer. It works without scripts, too.
Search still finds a prayer by its Hebrew name, its English name or other common spellings, and now also hides the group list while you search.
Version 0.8.0
Shabbat: candle lighting through the third meal
Eleven new collections of Shabbat prayers are now in the book, bringing it to 171 of the 214 sections of the source edition.
Improved
Each Shabbat page, except the Motzaei Shabbat prayers, opens with one plain sentence: Included for study and preparation.
The contents page lists the Shabbat pages in a Shabbat group, and you can find them by search, for example by typing lecha dodi, nishmat, shalom aleichem or pirkei avot.
Prayers added
Candle lighting: the blessings for Shabbat, Yom Tov and Yom Kippur, and a woman’s prayer after lighting.
Shabbat eve Mincha: the Song of Songs, the service and the Amidah.
Kabbalat Shabbat: the psalms, Lecha Dodi and the psalms that follow.
Shabbat eve Maariv: Shema and its blessings, the Amidah and Vayechulu.
The Shabbat evening meal: blessing the children, Shalom Aleichem, Eishet Chayil, Kiddush and the songs.
Shabbat morning: from Pesukei DeZimrah through Shema, the Amidah, the Torah service and its prayers, to Av HaRachamim.
Musaf for Shabbat, with the source’s instructions for Rosh Chodesh, the Ten Days of Repentance and the festivals.
The Shabbat day meal: Tikunei Shabbat, Kiddush and the songs.
Shabbat Mincha: Korbanot, the Amidah and Pirkei Avot.
The third meal: the songs for the third Shabbat meal.
Motzaei Shabbat prayers: the prayers the source places after the third meal, including Gott fun Avraham.
Version 0.7.0
Torah readings, Priestly Blessing, Hoshana Rabba, additional prayers and songs
Eight new collections of prayers are now in the book, bringing it to 130 of the 214 sections of the source edition.
Improved
The contents page groups these under Torah readings, Sukkot, More prayers and Songs, and you can find them by search, for example by typing lulav, perek shirah or hoshanot.
A note inside a prayer that was written in brackets, such as a three-times instruction, now shows its brackets around the note number in the prayer, instead of leaving a stray bracket in the note.
Prayers added
Torah readings: the first reading of every weekly portion for Shabbat Mincha, Monday and Thursday, the reading and Haftarah for a public fast, and the readings for Chol HaMoed Pesach and Sukkot. The Rosh Chodesh reading is on the Rosh Chodesh page, after its Torah service.
Priestly Blessing: the prayers before and during the blessing, with the verses said with each of its words.
Lulav: the prayer before taking the lulav and its blessings.
Hoshana Rabba: the Hoshanot of Hoshana Rabba, with the instructions for the lulav and the willow branch.
Additional prayers: the six remembrances, the thirteen principles, the chapters of fear of God, repentance and manna, the supplications after prayers, and Perek Shirah.
Various prayers: a formula against the evil eye, the Ramban’s letter, the prayer of the Shelah, the portion of the manna, a prayer for livelihood and a prayer of Rabbeinu Tam.
Lag BaOmer songs: eleven songs in honor of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.
Eruv Tavshilin: the order of the eruv made before a festival, with the eruv of boundaries and of courtyards.
Version 0.6.0
Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah, Purim, Havdalah and fast days
Five new collections of prayers for special days are now in the book, bringing it to 96 of the 214 sections of the source edition.
Improved
The contents page now groups these collections under The month and special days, After Shabbat and Fast days, and you can find them by search, for example by typing havdalah, hanukkah or selichot.
Prayers added
Rosh Chodesh: Hallel, with the two passages skipped in the shorter Hallel set apart so you can follow either, the song of the day, Barchi Nafshi, the Torah service, Ashrei and Uva LeTziyon, the return of the Torah scroll, and Musaf.
Chanukah: the order of lighting the lights with the blessings, Haneirot Halalu and Maoz Tzur, the Torah reading for each of the eight days, and the song for Shabbat Chanukah.
Purim: the blessings and text of the Megillah, Parashat Zachor, the order of Purim day, the Krovetz and the Torah reading.
Motzaei Shabbat: the order of Havdalah, Hamavdil, and the songs for Melaveh Malkah.
Fast days: the order of Yom Kippur Katan, the selichot for the Monday, Thursday and Monday fasts, Asara B’Tevet, Taanit Esther, 20 Sivan and 17 Tamuz, El Maleh for 20 Sivan, and the selichot for a child’s illness.
Version 0.5.1
New pages open right away
A link to a prayer that was added since your last visit now opens that prayer, instead of showing page not found.
Fixed
If you had visited Kavanah before, a link to a newly added prayer, such as Birkat HaMazon, could show page not found until you went back to the home page. These links now open the page right away, and the app updates itself in the background when it needs to. Nothing reloads while you are reading.
Version 0.5.0
Birkat HaMazon and the everyday prayers
Six new collections of everyday prayers are now in the book, bringing it to 67 of the 214 sections of the source edition.
Improved
The contents page now groups these collections under Meals, Everyday prayers and Occasions, and you can find them by search, for example by typing bentching or grace after meals.
Prayers added
Birkat HaMazon, the blessings after a meal, with the instructions the book prints for when to add Retzeh, Ya’aleh Veyavo and Al HaNissim, the Harachaman for a brit milah, and the blessings over wine and baked foods.
Mealtime blessings: the blessing for washing the hands and the blessing over bread.
Blessings: eighteen sections for after eating, for fragrances, sights and sounds, for the mezuzah, separating challah and terumot, and the prayer for a flight.
Bedtime Shema: the three paragraphs of the Shema, the verses and psalms said before sleep, and Psalms 1 to 4.
Various blessings: a wedding, the Sheva Berachot, a brit milah, the redemption of a firstborn son and the song for the brit meal.
Kiddush Levanah: the psalms and blessing for the new moon.
Version 0.4.0
Keeping up with what is new
Kavanah now has version numbers and release notes, a page where you can read them, and a new way to choose the color of your page.
New
A What’s new page lists every release with its date and what changed, newest first. It also has a feed you can follow in a feed reader.
Text & sources now shows the version of Kavanah you are reading.
After the app updates itself, a small dot appears on the Options button, and Options offers a What’s new link at the top. The dot never interrupts a prayer and goes away once you open What’s new.
A new page background panel with fifteen ready-made backgrounds, a Match my device choice, and a color of your own with sliders for lighter, darker, cooler and warmer. You can save up to six of your own colors.
Improved
Text size, line spacing and background are now in one compact panel. On a phone it opens from the bottom, on a computer it opens at the side, and the page behind it shows each change as you make it.
Text always stays easy to read on the background you pick. If a color cannot work, Kavanah uses the nearest one that can and tells you.
Your chosen background is in place from the first moment a page opens.
The earlier separate light and dark choice and the three palettes are now part of the backgrounds, and your previous choice carries over to the matching background.
Version 0.3.1
Bold text no longer runs on
A small fix to how line breaks look in a few passages.
Fixed
In the 49 Omer counts (Maariv) and in the mourner’s Kaddish after L’David Hashem (Shacharis), a line break no longer turned the rest of the paragraph bold. The Hebrew words are the same; only the weight of the text changed.
Version 0.3.0
The prayer text is part of every page
Every page now arrives with its prayer text already on it, so you can start reading without waiting for the app to finish loading.
New
All 158 pages carry their Hebrew text from the first moment, and they read even if the app does not finish starting.
Each page has its own title and description, which prepares the site to be found by search engines later. The site is not listed by search engines yet.
Fixed
Anything you typed while a page was still loading is now kept: text in the contents search and the chapter box, text you had selected, and any section you had opened.
The Tehillim chapter box takes you to the chapter even before the page has finished loading.
Version 0.2.0
Real addresses for every page
Every service and every chapter of Tehillim now has its own web address, so you can bookmark a page, share it, and come back to exactly where you were.
New
Each service and each chapter has its own address, such as /siddur/mincha/ and /tehillim/23/.
A section of a service can be linked directly, and the link opens at that section.
Improved
The Back button returns you to the page you left, at the place where you were reading.
The installed app opens any page of the book while you are offline.
An address typed without its final slash still reaches the right page.
An address that is not a page shows a clear page-not-found message.
Version 0.1.0
The first release
The starting point: a Nusach Sefard prayer book for weekday services and the Book of Psalms, made to be read on a phone and kept for offline use.
New
A Nusach Sefard prayer book with pointed Hebrew prayer and service names and English controls.
A reading page that fits each paragraph of Hebrew to the width of your screen.
Text sizes from small to large, standard and relaxed line spacing, light and dark themes, a focus mode, and the Parchment, Stone and Sage palettes.
Four original covers in your choice of color, with a cover editor, and optional name fields in Hebrew and English. Your choices stay on your device; there is no account.
An optional Hebrew keyboard.
English translations of the instructions printed in the prayer text, with the original Hebrew and its edition one tap away.
Install Kavanah on your home screen and read offline. The book updates itself only from the cover or the contents page, so an update never interrupts a prayer, and your place is kept.
Prayers added
Shacharis including the morning preparations, Mincha, and Maariv with its supplements, from the Metsudah siddur.
The weekday Amidah with all 19 blessings. Every service continues through Aleinu.
The Book of Tehillim, all 150 chapters, with previous and next links and a box to go straight to a chapter.
Introductory prayers and the reading instructions for Mincha on a fast day.
Everyday blessings: the Traveler’s Prayer, a blessing for tree fruit, Ha’adamah and Shehakol.
Choices where the text offers alternatives: the Omer count for each of the 49 days, the weekday psalm, the dew or rain wording, and the Maariv ending for a weekday or for Saturday night.