As The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints looks to simplify how its members access resources to help teach the gospel at home, in Sunday meetings and in seminary or other non-Sunday activities, a new app consolidates Church video content from the Latter-day Saints Channel and Gospel Media apps.

One of the biggest benefits of having a Church-created app for this kind of content is that the content is packaged in an “ad-free, safe environment,” said Matt Anderson, a program manager for the Church.

While the Church publishes many of its videos on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, Anderson said some members and leaders have expressed concerns about the ads that may appear in those channels, he said.

“The idea is that this will supplement the family learning experience,” Anderson said.

The Gospel Stream app will stream live events like general conference and “Music & the Spoken Word.”

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In addition to supporting gospel learning at home, Anderson said the app can be used for Seminary classes, in Sunday School and for other Church classes and settings.

Gospel Stream is now available for download and will be the official app for many worldwide broadcasts from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The upcoming Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 sessions of general conference will be the first global broadcast streamed on the app, Anderson said. After that, app users can expect to find live broadcasts of devotionals and other events sponsored by the Church.

The Gospel Stream app allows users to be notified when a live event from the Church is about to begin.

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Outside of live broadcasts, app users can watch or download from a selection of videos created by the Church to “uplift your day, support your Come, Follow Me lessons, and make viewing gospel messages easier,” according to the Church’s website.

Anderson also said that the app’s download function will allow users to choose from different sizes of videos. He said that will help in cases where bandwidth may be low or where a user’s storage space may be limited.

The Gospel Stream app will allow users to download content in different sizes depending on their needs.

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Most content will be available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. Users can choose to receive notifications from the app as well.

Effective immediately, the Saints Channel and Gospel Media apps are no longer available for download and won’t be supported on devices where they have been downloaded previously.

Mormon Channel to Latter-day Saints Channel

The Church originally launched a radio broadcast channel in 2009 that was available both through the Church’s website and through 29 radio affiliates in the United States. The station was used to broadcast music recorded by the Church or that the Church obtained the rights to (including some music from Deseret Book and independent artists). This included music from the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, which eventually had its own dedicated stream on the channel. Short talk radio-style programs were also a part of the original launch, with some becoming podcasts over the past 14 years.

The channel changed names to become the Mormon Channel in 2012. The channel grew from a website to an app for iOS and Android devices and a YouTube channel, as well.

Following President Russell M. Nelson’s encouragement to use the full name of the Church and not refer to its members as Mormons, the channel changed names again to become the Latter-day Saint Channel 10 years after its original launch.

The programming and content evolved, but the purpose of providing uplifting content never changed. While the Latter-day Saint Channel app will no longer be available, some of the audio content will still have a home on the Church’s Media Library website. That site allows users to search for video, audio (including podcasts) and images for use at home, in classes and in sharing the gospel online, Anderson said.

The Gospel Stream app has different categories of video content for users to browse and choose from.

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Where to download Gospel Stream and device specifications

Gospel Stream is available in the following places:

• Apple Mobile (iPhones and iPads)
• Apple TV
• Google Play
• Google TV
• Roku
• Amazon Fire Devices (tablets and televisions)

Devices used must meet the following minimum specifications:

• Roku: 5.2.1 or later
• iOS (iPhone/iPad): 16.0 or later
• Apple TV: 16.4 or later
• Amazon: 6.0 or later
• Android: 6.0 or later

As users explore the content and other options available within the new app, Andersen said he encourages those with questions or suggestions to provide it through the feedback option inside the app.