The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has added several new features to the Gospel Library app in regards to music.
The new updates are designed to help Latter-day Saints everywhere increase worship of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, in conjunction with the ongoing release of new hymns in “Hymns — For Home and Church,” explained a May 29 news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The features come as the Church prepares to retire the Sacred Music app by the end of 2025.
Ed Krenicky, a music product manager for the Church, said: “The Lord has promised blessings as we participate in the song of the heart. We’re releasing new features in the Gospel Library app that aim to make it easier to listen to, sing and accompany sacred music.”
The new music features include:
- Play and shuffle options for nonstop listening of an entire song list, including curated music albums and collections.
- Additional hymn verses below the music staff in sheet music views.
- A second sheet music view — “Fixed” PDF layout — in addition to the existing “Responsive” view that adjusts to the user’s font size and screen width.
- Accompanist mode for pianists and organists to “turn” pages on multipage sheet music rather than scroll between pages by hand. This new view is also compatible with Bluetooth pedal page-turning devices, familiar to many accompanists.
Playlist functions will arrive in the Gospel Library app later this year, for those who currently use that function in the Sacred Music app.
The news release explained that merging the two apps will make it easier to find music resources that can support daily faith-building and worship.
Those who have music features they would like to see in the Gospel Library app can use the feedback feature in the Help section of the app to share their thoughts.
More about the Church’s sacred music
The Church has found that Latter-day Saints around the world are connecting with the music. And many who are not members of the Church are listening to the music as well.
A 2023 Church News article explained that everyone is welcome to use the Church’s sacred music resources to:
- Increase faith in and worship of Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
- Teach and learn core doctrine.
- Joyfully sing praises to the Lord.
- Find comfort and peace.
- Feel unified with God’s children.
In the Gospel Library section of the Church’s website and in the Gospel Library app, click on “Music,” and there find “Hymns — For Home and Church,“ a section for youth music including each year’s youth albums, a section for “Songs of Devotion” as well as conference music and sing-along videos.
Learn more about current Church music efforts here:
