Backscribe

An orthographic time machine

$3.99 · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.

Twelve hundred years of English on one slider: read Genesis in futhorc runes, West Saxon script, 1611 blackletter, and tomorrow's screen vernacular. A modern Bible translation, unwritten backwards through twelve hundred years of English. Backscribe takes the World English Bible and re-renders it through the orthography of ten historical eras — from today's screen vernacular back through modern print, the 1611 King James folio in blackletter with the long ſ, Wycliffite Middle English with thorn and yogh, West Saxon script with wynn, and finally the futhorc runes of c. 700 — plus one clearly labeled speculation about where the screen takes English next. Historical stages are spelling and script simulations of the KJV wording, not retranslations. Where genuinely attested historical renderings survive (Tyndale, Wycliffe, the Wessex Gospels, and more), they appear beneath the panel with links to the full texts. • All 66 books, two translations (World English Bible and King James Version), fully offline • An era timeline from the futhorc to the speculative 2050s — drag the slider or tap an era • Side-by-side source and transformed text on iPad • Period-accurate typography: blackletter, insular script, runes, long ſ • Era ledgers explaining each period's letterforms, punctuation, and spelling conventions • English Bible milestones with links to read the originals online • Scriptio continua mode for the full ancient-manuscript experience • No accounts, no ads, no tracking, no data collected

Ratings & Reviews

  • 5.0
    out of 5
    1 Ratings

The developer, dennis Jackson, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

  • Data Not Collected

    The developer does not collect any data from this app.

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    Information

    Seller
    • dennis Jackson
    Size
    • 18.2 MB
    Category
    • Reference
    Compatibility
    Requires iOS 16.0 or later.
    • iPhone
      Requires iOS 16.0 or later.
    • iPad
      Requires iPadOS 16.0 or later.
    • Mac
      Requires macOS 13.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
    • Apple Vision
      Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
    Languages
    • English
    Age Rating
    13+
    Copyright
    • © 2026 Dennis Jackson
  • Privacy Policy

    • Supports

    • Family Sharing

      Up to six family members can use this app with Family Sharing enabled.