QAVA: Quiet Time Companion

You open the app and are greeted with a clean, modern interface. The home screen shows a grid of featured series: "The Desert," "Who Is God?," "Nobody Liked Paul," and "The Book of Ephesians." A large banner at the top invites you to start a 7-day free trial. The navigation bar at the bottom has four tabs: Home, Discover, Journal, and More. The app does not offer a tutorial. It expects you to explore and find your way. The first time you tap on a series, it asks you to sign up for the trial. This is the onboarding reality: you must commit to a subscription before you can see any content.

The Journal tab is where the app's formation focus becomes clear. This is not just a video player. It is a space for notes, highlights, saved Scriptures, prayers, and personal reflections. The app encourages you to engage with the content, not just watch it. But the connection between watching and journaling is not explicit. You have to switch between tabs manually. There is no guided flow that takes you from a video to a reflection question to a journal entry. The features are there, but they feel disconnected.

The June 2026 Rebuild – What Changed and What Was Lost

QAVA underwent a major rebuild in June 2026. The app moved away from its former hosted-video platform and released a completely new web and mobile experience. Existing subscriptions and billing carried forward, but users had to activate the new account through an emailed link. The previous provider would not transfer viewing history, so watch progress and My List were lost. Fire TV users had to remove and reinstall the app rather than receive an automatic upgrade. This migration explains why the current product, old store labels, legacy URLs, and user reviews sometimes appear to describe different services.

The new application is more than a player. It supports private journal entries, notes, highlights, saved Scriptures, prayers, personalized recommendations, reminders, series progress, and downloadable study guides. Videos use adaptive streaming; playback speed ranges from 0.5× to 2×; several television platforms are supported. However, captions are not promised for every title, and Apple says the developer has not declared accessibility features. This is promising for structured study, but not yet a service whose accessibility can be assumed from marketing.

Journaling, Notes, and the Content Workflow

The Journal tab is the heart of the app's formation philosophy. It is where you move from watching to understanding to actually living your faith. You can create entries for each episode, write down what you learned, highlight key Scriptures, and save prayers. The app also allows you to bookmark content and set reminders for daily quiet time. This is a powerful set of tools, but they are not integrated into the viewing experience. You have to remember to open the Journal tab after watching a video. There is no prompt or suggestion to reflect on what you just watched. The app assumes you will figure out the workflow on your own.

The content library is substantial. The catalog advertises more than two hundred hours of content, with new series and material added each month. Contributors include Louie Giglio, Lisa Harper, Charles Stanley, Kristi McLelland, John Bevere, Derwin Gray, David Nasser, Joel Muddamalle, and others. The production quality is high, and the teaching is theologically sound. But the app's strength—its content—is also its weakness. With so much available, users can feel overwhelmed. The app does not offer a clear path or recommendation engine to help users decide what to watch next. The personalized content feature is mentioned, but it is not prominent in the interface.

Pricing and the Free Trial

QAVA offers a 7-day free trial for eligible new subscribers. After the trial, the subscription costs $9.99 per month or $89.99 per year. The pricing is competitive with other Christian streaming services. The app is free to download, but you cannot access any content without starting the trial. This is a common model, but it can be frustrating for users who want to explore the app before committing. The trial requires you to enter payment information, and it will automatically convert to a paid subscription unless you cancel before the trial ends. The app does not offer a free tier with limited content.

The pricing has changed during the rebuild. The live checkout—not an old series page—is the final authority for what a buyer will actually be charged. Users have reported confusion about pricing, with some expecting the app to be free based on old listings. The app's store labels still describe the legacy vendor's broader tracking, which adds to the confusion. The privacy policy expressly keeps journal content out of advertising, profiling, and AI training, which is a positive for users concerned about data privacy.

Data Privacy and Third-Party Sharing

The app's data safety section on Google Play states that it may share personal information, financial information, and device ID or other ID with third parties. It also collects location information, personal information, and five other data types. Data is encrypted in transit, and users can request data deletion. The app's privacy policy is available on the QAVA website and on the Apple App Store. The developer, City on a Hill Productions, is a nonprofit organization based in Kentucky.

The app's privacy practices are transparent, but the data sharing is still a concern for privacy-conscious users. The app does not specify which third parties receive the data or why it is shared. The data sharing is likely related to analytics and advertising, but the app does not confirm this. The app's privacy policy expressly keeps journal content out of advertising, profiling, and AI training, which is a significant positive. However, the lack of clarity about other data sharing is a potential drawback.

Platform Availability and Device Support

QAVA is available on multiple platforms: Web, iPhone, iPad, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Google TV, and Fire TV. This wide availability is a major strength. Users can start watching on their phone and continue on their TV or computer. The app supports offline viewing on mobile devices, which is useful for users with limited data or who want to watch during travel. The app's adaptive streaming ensures a smooth viewing experience across different network conditions.

The Android app requires Android 8.0 or higher. The APK size is approximately 53.92 MB. The app is free to download, but requires a subscription for content access. The app's content rating is Everyone, making it suitable for all ages. The app supports English only, which may be a limitation for non-English speakers. The app is available in more than 30 countries, including the US, China, India, the UK, Pakistan, Japan, and others.