How to use Ner Tamid

The first time you open Ner Tamid, a welcome screen introduces the app.

1. Choose your language and, if you like, type the name Ner Tamid should call you.
2. Tap Start my 7‑day free trial to try Ner Tamid Premium, or tap Not now, use the free features.
3. When your phone asks, allow notifications so your prayer reminders can ring.

You can see this welcome again later: More → Privacy & safety → Show the welcome again.

The bar at the bottom of the screen has six tabs. Tap one to switch:

At the top of every screen:

• SOS opens the Safety screen.
• 🌐 changes the language.
• A A makes the text bigger or smaller.

Some tabs have a row of small buttons under the title (for example Reminders Zmanim Prayer journal). Swipe that row sideways to see all of them.

Today is the first screen you see. From top to bottom:

• Shalom, with today's date, the Hebrew date, and the time of the Jewish year (for example the days before a holiday).
• Next prayer: Shacharit, Mincha or Maariv, with a live countdown. Tap Turn on prayer reminders to be reminded, or Change my times to pick your own.
• Zmanim for your city: today's key times, such as sunrise, the latest time for the Shema, sunset and nightfall.
• Shabbat: this Friday's candle-lighting time and Saturday night's Havdalah time, and this week's Torah portion.
• A Name of God for today, with its meaning and where it appears in the Tanakh.
• Verse of the day from the Tanakh. Tap Read the chapter to read the whole chapter.
• Coming up: the next holidays and fast days, with days to go.

Scroll down for more:

• 📍 Family locations: who is sharing their location with you, and a 📍 Share my location button. See Family locations.
• Today's reminders: tap Add to set a reminder.
• Ask Ner Tamid anything: quick ideas to get started. Tap one and Ner Tamid starts answering.

Prayer reminders

Jewish tradition has three daily prayer services: Shacharit in the morning, Mincha in the afternoon and Maariv in the evening. You choose the reminder times that fit your day.

1. Tap Prayer, then Reminders.
2. Set a time for each prayer. Change any time to suit your day.
3. For each time choose Chimes, Gentle chime, your own sound, Notification only or Off.
4. Set the volume, then tap Turn on prayer reminders.

Want a different sound? Tap Choose a sound file to use a recording you like. It stays on your phone.

Zmanim for your city

1. Tap Zmanim.
2. Choose your city from the list. Ner Tamid works out the times from the sun for where you live.
3. See today's times: dawn, the earliest time for tallit and tefillin, sunrise, the latest time for the Shema and for Shacharit, midday, the earliest Mincha, Plag HaMincha, sunset and nightfall.

On Fridays and before holidays you'll also see candle-lighting (18 minutes before sunset, or 40 minutes in Jerusalem), and on Saturday night the time for Havdalah.

Prayer journal Private

1. Tap Prayer journal.
2. Type what you're praying for, add notes if you like, and tap Add to my journal.
3. When a prayer is answered, mark it Answered. Switch between Still praying, Answered and All to look back over time.

How to pray

Tap How to pray for simple help:

• The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4–9). Tap 🔊 Listen to hear it.
• The Amidah, the standing prayer at the heart of every service, explained simply.
• Modeh Ani on waking, and the Bedtime Shema at night.
• Blessings (brachot) before food, such as Hamotzi over bread, and Birkat HaMazon, the grace after meals.
• Maimonides' Thirteen Principles, summed up in plain words.

Counter

Tap Counter. Choose what to count or type your own words, pick a goal or no limit, then tap the big circle each time. Use it to keep track of Psalms you have said, to count the Omer, to aim for 100 blessings a day, or to pray for a list of people one by one. Tap Reset to start again.

Synagogue

• Find a synagogue near you: type your city once, pick a stream if you like (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Chabad, Sephardic, Reconstructionist and more), and tap Find a synagogue.
• Service reminder: choose the day and time your synagogue meets, and how early you'd like to be reminded.
• Watch a service live: search by synagogue or city, or see what's live right now.
• Kosher food, JCC and mikvah: find kosher restaurants and stores, a Jewish community center or a mikvah near you.

Tracker

Tap Tracker and check in each day: tap I read Tanakh today and I prayed today. You'll see the last 4 weeks at a glance, and you can tap a day to change it. Missed a day? That's okay. Just start again today.

This week's Torah portion

At the top of the Tanakh tab you'll see this week's parsha. Tap it to read the whole portion, in English with the Hebrew if you like.

Read & listen

1. Tap Tanakh, then Read & listen.
2. Choose a book and a chapter. Use ← Previous chapter and Next chapter → to move along.
3. Turn on Show the Hebrew under each verse to read the Hebrew and English together.
4. Tap 🎧 Listen and follow along, then ▶ Play. Each verse lights up as it is read aloud.
5. Change the speed, and turn on Keep going to the next chapter if you'd like it to keep reading.

Tap any verse to listen to it, copy it, share it, post it to the community, or ask Ner Tamid about it.

Daily quiz

Tap Daily quiz for a few new questions each day about the Tanakh and the Jewish holidays. It's a fun way to learn together as a family.

Reading plans

Tap Reading plans and pick a plan:

• Torah by parsha: the 54 weekly Torah portions, one a day.
• Psalms in 30 days: all 150 psalms in the traditional monthly order.
• Proverbs in a month: one chapter a day.
• Tanakh in a year: all 929 chapters, Torah, then Prophets, then Writings.

Read today's chapters, then tap Mark this day as read. Your progress is saved.

More ways to read

• Famous passages: start with well-loved passages such as the Shema, Psalm 23 and the Priestly Blessing.
• Names of God: the names and titles of God in the Tanakh, and what each one means.
• Why the Tanakh: why the Tanakh matters in daily life, and where to start if you're new.
• All 39 books: Torah, Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings). Tap a book to open it.

Ask Ner Tamid works like a chat. Ask anything, the same way you would ask a knowledgeable friend. No sign-in is needed. Ner Tamid uses one of the most capable AI models available, and it can search the web for current information such as prices, news, opening hours and events.

1. Tap Ask at the bottom.
2. Pick the language for answers under Answer in.
3. Pick a topic button if you like, such as Torah & Judaism, Talk it through, Marriage & family, Recipes, Car & home repair or Money & business. Ask anything works for everything.
4. Type in the box, or tap the 🎤 microphone and speak.
5. Tap Send.

Ner Tamid's answer appears in the chat as it is written. Then you can:

• Ask a follow-up question. Ner Tamid remembers the conversation.
• Tap Listen to hear the answer read aloud.
• Tap Watch videos when you'd like a video on the topic too.
• Tap Stop to stop a long answer.
• Your chats are saved on your phone. Tap 🕘 Past chats to reopen or delete one, or ＋ New chat to start fresh.

When a question needs up-to-date information, you'll see 🔎 Searching the web… for a few seconds, and Ner Tamid names its sources in the answer. When Ner Tamid quotes the Tanakh, it gives the reference so you can look it up. Where the streams of Judaism see something differently, it tells you so.

If something goes wrong (for example, no internet), Ner Tamid says so and shows Try again. Your question is still in the box.

Weekly chats

Ner Tamid Premium includes a weekly allowance of chats. Short questions use very little; long answers and web searches use more. When you've used half or more, a line under the message box shows how much is used and when it resets.

If you use them all before the week ends, Ner Tamid shows when they reset and offers two choices:

• Get more chats · $4.99: a one-time purchase through Google Play, not a subscription. Extra chats you don't use carry over to later weeks.
• I'll wait for the reset: your question stays in the box, ready to send after the reset.

Sign in

1. Tap Community, then Profile (or Sign in or create your account).
2. Type your email and tap Send my code.
3. Open the email from Ner Tamid and type the 6-digit code into the app. No password needed.
4. Add your name and a photo or avatar if you like.

The Community is for adults 18 and older.

Tap the ⋯ on any post to Report post or Block someone who breaks the community rules.

Tap the red SOS button at the top of any screen.

• 📞 Call police: 911 calls emergency services right away. On Android, your phone also sends your location to the dispatcher in most of the US and many other countries.
• 🚨 Alert my emergency contacts sends your family and friends a live map of where you are, with an urgent alert.
• Where you are now shows your exact location. Tap Copy to paste it into a message, or Map to see it.

Stay on the line with the dispatcher. Ner Tamid can't contact the police by itself.

Share your live location

1. Tap 📍 Share my location on Today (or open SOS → Share my live location).
2. Choose how long: 15 minutes, 1 hour, 8 hours, or until you stop it (up to 7 days).
3. Choose who can see it. If you're signed in, tick your Ner Tamid connections. Leave Also give me a link to send by text, WhatsApp or email on to share with anyone.
4. Tap Start sharing.

The people you chose see you move on a map in real time. Tap Stop anytime to end sharing right away.

See where your family is

When family members share with you, they appear in the 📍 Family locations card on Today and in More → Family locations.

• Each person shows live now or when they were last updated.
• Tap View map to follow them on a map and get directions.
• If someone pressed SOS, they show in red with needs help.

To see each other, both people need to be signed in and connected in the Community, and each person chooses to share. Nobody can see your location unless you share it.

Tap More to see every other feature, grouped into Judaism, Family, Daily life, Community and Account. Type in the search box at the top to find anything, for example "Shabbat", "Omer", "tzedakah" or "kids". Tap ← All topics to go back.

Settings

More → Settings:

• Your language: changes the app and Ner Tamid's answers. Nearly 80 languages.
• Make text larger for easier reading.
• Your city, for zmanim and for finding synagogues and sessions near you, and your prayer reminder times and sounds.

Light or dark mode follows your phone's setting.

Subscription

More → Subscription shows your Ner Tamid Premium plan. Ner Tamid Premium is a 7-day free trial, then $9.99 a month through Google Play.

• Cancel anytime with Cancel subscription. You keep Premium until the end of the month you paid for. Cancel during the free trial and you are never charged.
• Refunds: tap Request a refund.
• Got a new phone? Sign in with the same Google account and your subscription comes back.
• Ner Tamid chats this week shows how much of your weekly chats you've used, when they reset, and any extra chats you bought. Tap Get more chats to add more.

Feedback

More → Feedback: pick what it's about, write your remarks and tap Send feedback. We read every message.