Seraph vs Reimagining the Examen
A short guided Ignatian Examen chooser from Loyola Press, and a quieter flame that never asks for an account. This page is written by the maker of Seraph — read it knowing that — and it will be generous to Reimagining the Examen, because Reimagining the Examen has earned a real product of its own.
Our bias, declared: we make Seraph. The linked Reimagining the Examen sources support the specific free-download price, missing In-App Purchases list, store listing, developer site, privacy, and book identified below; this is not an independent review of either app. Our product details describe Seraph’s current published offering. If we've got something wrong, tell us and we'll fix it.
The main difference
Consider Reimagining the Examen if you want a short guided Ignatian Examen you can match to the day. The US listing lockup on this check is “Free.” There is no “In‑App Purchases” in that Free line. Seller Loyola Press, category Books. JSON-LD Offer on that page is price 0, currency USD. This check found no In-App Purchases list in the Information section. This app’s offer data sets hasInAppPurchases to false. The same listing: an Examen tailored to your needs and mood; choose one that matches your current state of being, or pray that day’s scheduled reflection; based on St. Ignatius’s 500-year-old prayer; created by Loyola Press from Mark Thibodeaux, SJ’s book “Reimagining the Ignatian Examen”; five steps the app leads you through — Relish, Request, Review, Repent, Resolve. Their developer site adds more than thirty guided reflections about relationships, pending decisions, and gratitude, with soothing music and step-by-step guidance. This is not Lectio 365’s morning/midday/night office, not Pray As You Go’s daily Ignatian audio, not Amen, not Ascension, not Divine Office, not Universalis, not Laudate, not iBreviary, not Magnificat, not Hallow, not Abide, and not Soultime. It is a short guided daily Examen chooser — not a full daily office plus Bible.
Choose Seraph if you want something quieter: one flame kept daily, the whole King James Bible readable free, guided prayer paced by breath — and a hard privacy line: no account to create, no ads, and a public vow of no prayer analytics. Your prayer life stays on your device. Seraph+ is $6.99/mo or $59.99/yr on our US App Store listing and on our pricing page. The daily office is free. Sacred Seasons, including Advent, are not. There is no Seraph+ trial.
Side by side
| Feature | Seraph | Reimagining the Examen |
|---|---|---|
| Annual price | $59.99/yr | No paid plan on the store cited here. The US App Store listing (id1065042173) is priced free and has no In-App Purchases list — we re-read the listing on September 10, 2026. Lockup: “Free.” JSON-LD Offer is price 0, currency USD. This app’s offer data sets hasInAppPurchases to false. Information on that page lists Seller, Size, Category, Compatibility, Languages, Age Rating, and Copyright — no In-App Purchases row. We do not invent a subscription. |
| Monthly price | $6.99/mo | None published as an IAP. We do not invent a subscription. The Loyola Press book page is $13.99 for the paperback. That is a book SKU, not a monthly app amount. |
| Family plan | — | No paid family SKU on the store cited here. We do not invent a family plan price. |
| Free trial | None — the free tier is the trial. There is no Seraph+ trial. | Not applicable. There is no paid library to trial on the pages cited here. |
| Free, forever | Daily verse · 2 guided sessions · the whole KJV Bible (1,189 chapters) · every reading plan · streak flame · reminders | The download they price at 0, plus the examens the US listing and developer site name. We print that listing. We do not invent a Seraph-style forever-free office and Bible inside Reimagining the Examen. The paperback is a separate book, not this app’s IAP table. |
| Subscription opens | Full guided-prayer library (12 sessions) · Sacred Seasons (Advent & Lent) | Nothing as an IAP. No paid tier exists on the store listing cited here. We do not invent a Seraph-style paywall inside Reimagining the Examen. Their privacy policy for app users still uses a “PRIVACY POLICY MODEL FOR MOBILE APPLICATIONS” that mentions purchases and credit-card language; that is template copy on that page, not an IAP list on the US listing. |
| Account required | No — no sign-up exists | Not named as required to download or to pray an Examen on the US listing or the developer site. Their privacy policy for app users: “Registration with us is optional.” The same page says you may not be able to use some features unless you register, and that when you register you generally provide name, email, age, user name, and password. We print that. We do not invent which features are gated, and we do not invent a skippable no-account path for features they gated. |
| Community | None as a listed product. A quiet office, not a group study. | Not named as a group-study product on the US listing or the developer site. A chooser of examens, not a feed. |
| Prayer analytics | None — a public vow. Prayer data never leaves your device | Apple’s App Privacy label on the US listing (self-reported, not verified by Apple): Data Not Collected — “The developer does not collect any data from this app.” This check found no Data Used to Track You bucket, no Data Linked to You bucket, and no Data Not Linked to You bucket. Their listing’s Privacy Policy is headed “PRIVACY POLICY MODEL FOR MOBILE APPLICATIONS” and still describes automatically collected device type, unique device ID, IP address, operating system, browser, and “information about the way you use the Application,” plus “aggregated, anonymized data” transmitted to external services. We print the label and the policy. We do not treat Data Not Collected as a rewrite of that policy, and we do not invent a Track or Linked bucket Apple did not show. |
| Bible | Full KJV bundled; offline on iPhone | An Examen app, not a Bible. The US listing is the five-step Examen. We do not invent a full-Bible reading office as the product. |
| Platforms | iPhone and web | The US listing Information section names iPhone (iOS 13.0 or later), iPad (iPadOS 13.0 or later), iPod touch (iOS 13.0 or later), and Apple Vision (visionOS 1.0 or later). JSON-LD operatingSystem on that page is “Requires iOS 13.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.” JSON-LD availableOnDevice is “iPhone, iPad, iPod.” This check found no Mac row in Information. Their developer site has Android Help and names Google Play. We do not invent a matching English Play listing or an IAP table for that store. |
| Tradition | Broadly Christian, KJV | Loyola Press’s Ignatian Examen app. The US listing developer and seller is Loyola Press, copyright © 2018 Loyola Press, category Books, based on Mark Thibodeaux, SJ’s “Reimagining the Ignatian Examen.” Their book page is that paperback: Fresh Ways to Pray from Your Day, ISBN 978-0-8294-4244-1, $13.99. We print that. We do not restate ranking or rating marketing as product fact. |
| If you cannot pay | No scholarship or sponsorship path published. Advent and most guided sessions require Seraph+. | Download the app they already price at 0. Buy the paperback only if you want the book. That is a book, not a hardship grant and not an IAP. No scholarship path for the app is named on the pages cited here. |
Reimagining the Examen’s US listing is a free download with no In-App Purchases list on this check. Their book page is a paperback SKU, not a plan price. No worldwide cheapest-price claim is made here — they do not sell a plan on the store cited here.
What Reimagining the Examen does better
A short Examen you can match to the day, with more than thirty guided reflections we do not ship. If “today’s allotted Examen, or one chosen for mood and need, Relish / Request / Review / Repent / Resolve, Loyola Press, and no IAP table” is the requirement, they meet it. Their listing Offer is price 0 for the download; this check found no IAP list to sit behind. They ship Apple Vision on that listing. We do not. If you want Loyola Press’s guided Ignatian Examen chooser — not Lectio 365, not Pray As You Go, not Amen, not a Liturgy of the Hours app, not a silent office plus a full King James — Reimagining the Examen is the honest recommendation, and we are not in that contest.
They also publish the companion book at store.loyolapress.com. That is still a paperback, not a no-account office.
What Seraph does differently
Restraint as a feature, and a Bible you can finish. No account between you and prayer — Reimagining the Examen’s privacy policy for app users still describes optional registration and some features that may require it. Prayer data never leaves the device; their US listing reports Data Not Collected, and the same listing’s privacy URL still describes automatic collection. Two prices, written in plain numbers: $59.99 a year or $6.99 a month, auto-renew, cancel anytime. The entire KJV free — not a day’s Examen — bundled offline on iPhone, every chapter. A public web office you can open without installing an app. A streak that forgives a missed day instead of shaming it. No ads on free or paid. Guided prayer paced by breath. Compare the plan and features that fit your use, rather than assuming one worldwide price difference.
Three disclosures that belong here. The web subscription and the iPhone subscription are separate purchases and do not unlock each other. The complete offline Bible is the iPhone app; on the web, chapters you have already opened stay readable. And restoring a web subscription in a new browser emails a magic link, so we will not claim “no email ever.” There is no Seraph+ trial: you never try a paid session before buying it. The daily office is the trial of Seraph, not of the paid library.
When each app wins
Reimagining the Examen — if you want a short guided Ignatian Examen, matched to the day
Start from the US listing or the developer site. Choose an Examen for mood and need, or pray the day’s allotted reflection. Use Relish, Request, Review, Repent, Resolve if that is the shape of the prayer. Buy the paperback if the book is what you came for. Do not come here first for a silent one-flame office with no account, a full King James you can finish as a plan, or a public vow that prayer never leaves the device. They are Loyola Press’s guided Examen chooser, and the listings say so.
Seraph — if you want a quiet office with no account, a full KJV, and a price you can read before you install
Ours, last on purpose. A flame, the KJV, two free guided sessions, reading plans, no sign-up. Paid for the remaining sessions and Sacred Seasons, free for the office. Small, new, iPhone-and-web only. If none of those sentences is what you came for, Reimagining the Examen is the better fit, and we would rather you found it here than felt sold to.
Sources and scope
Checked against the following official Reimagining the Examen pages on . These references do not establish an independent review or endorsement of Seraph. Subjective product fit remains our assessment.
- Reimagining the Examen US App Store listing (id1065042173)
Supports lockup “Free” with no “In‑App Purchases” in that Free line, JSON-LD Offer price 0 / USD, seller Loyola Press, category Books, copyright © 2018 Loyola Press, the Examen / mood / scheduled reflection / St. Ignatius / Mark Thibodeaux, SJ / “Reimagining the Ignatian Examen” / Relish Request Review Repent Resolve copy quoted above, no In-App Purchases list in Information (Seller, Size, Category, Compatibility, Languages, Age Rating, Copyright), hasInAppPurchases false on this app’s offer data, Information devices (iPhone iOS 13.0+, iPad iPadOS 13.0+, iPod touch iOS 13.0+, Apple Vision visionOS 1.0+), JSON-LD iPhone / iPad / iPod compatibility, Developer Website and Privacy Policy links to reimaginingexamen.ignatianspirituality.com, and App Privacy as parsed from the live HTML (Data Not Collected; “The developer does not collect any data from this app”; no Track, Linked, or Not Linked bucket on this check). We do not restate their rating, review count, or ranking marketing as product fact.
- Reimagining the Examen developer site
Supports the listing’s Developer Website, Loyola Press as publisher of the app, more than thirty guided reflections about relationships, pending decisions, and gratitude, the day’s allotted Examen, soothing music and step-by-step guidance, and the companion book. The site also has Android Help and names Google Play. We do not invent a matching English Play listing from that naming, and we do not reuse testimonials from that page as product fact.
- Reimagining the Examen privacy policy for app users
Supports the listing’s Privacy Policy URL, the heading “PRIVACY POLICY MODEL FOR MOBILE APPLICATIONS,” Loyola Press as creator, optional registration, some features that may require registration, name / email / age / user name / password as what you generally provide when you register, automatically collected device type, unique device ID, IP address, operating system, browser, and usage, no precise real-time location, aggregated anonymized data transmitted to external services, opt-out by uninstalling or emailing privacy@loyolapress.com, and Automatically Collected information retained for up to 24 months. This page does not publish a US dollar IAP price list. We do not treat its purchase / credit-card template sentences as a store SKU.
- Reimagining the Ignatian Examen — Loyola Press book
Supports the first-party paperback of Mark Thibodeaux, SJ, subtitle Fresh Ways to Pray from Your Day, ISBN 978-0-8294-4244-1, and $13.99. That is a book price, not an app IAP.
Daily office free, with no account · Seraph+ $6.99/mo or $59.99/yr · auto-renews · cancel anytime
Web and iPhone subscriptions are separate purchases and do not unlock each other