Offline Big Book reader & study companion
A quiet, distraction-free reader for the public-domain first edition text (1939, with the 1941 printing's revisions) of Alcoholics Anonymous, with the page numbers read in meetings. Highlight, bookmark, leave sticky notes and search, all kept privately on your own device.
Independent project. Public domain in the United States only; copyright status in other countries may differ. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Principles Before Personalities is a reader built for people who actually work the book. You get the first edition text (1939, with the 1941 printing's revisions) with its real page numbers, laid out as a warm paper page on a calm dark background, plus the tools you would use with a pen and a pad of sticky notes. Your highlights, bookmarks, notes and place are saved on your device. There is no account and nothing is uploaded.
It suits the way many people in 12-step recovery already read: on your own, with a sponsor, or before a Big Book study meeting at your home group. The name comes from the recovery tradition of placing “principles before personalities.”
A library sidebar with collapsible books, parts and chapters sits beside a paper-style reading sheet.
The text is split into the book's real pages. Type a page number to jump straight to it. Bill's Story starts on page 1 and How It Works on page 58.
Select text and paint it in yellow, amber, pink, green or blue. Overlapping highlights merge and split cleanly, and an eraser removes them.
Flag any page with a colored ribbon. A “Marked pages” list in the sidebar takes you back to each one.
Drop a note on any page, then drag it, resize it and pick one of five colors. Chapters that contain notes show a small indicator in the sidebar.
Search the whole book, see the number of hits, step to the next or previous match, and find the current match marked on the page.
Move by page or by chapter, and filter the chapter list by name to find a chapter quickly.
Open any .txt or .md file. It is split into chapters and pages automatically and added to your library, ready to highlight and annotate.
No account, no network and no telemetry. Your place, highlights, bookmarks, notes and imported texts are saved automatically on your device and come back the next time you open the app.
The app comes with two texts. Both come from the first edition text (1939, with the 1941 printing's revisions), which is in the public domain in the United States. This is not the current fourth edition, and stories added in later editions are not included. See every chapter with its page numbers.
The basic text
The Big Book as read in meetings, with meeting page numbers kept, from Bill's Story on page 1 through page 164.
First edition
The personal stories from the first edition, including The Doctor's Nightmare, The Unbeliever, The European Drinker, A Feminine Victory, Our Southern Friend and A Business Man's Recovery.
You can add your own texts alongside them with Import a text.
Choose your platform. The Mac, Windows and Android versions are .zip downloads, and the iPhone version is a web app you open in Safari. None of them come from an app store, so your device may ask you to confirm the first time. The steps for each platform are below.
Native app · macOS 14 Sonoma or later
Download for MacDesktop app · Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit) · nothing else to install
Download for WindowsAndroid app (.apk) · Android 7.0 or newer · sideloaded, not from Google Play
.apk. When Android asks, tap Settings, turn on Allow from this source (the Install unknown apps setting), then go back.Web app for iPhone · not an App Store or native app
Open the web appIt also runs in any modern web browser. Prefer to host it yourself? Download .zip
No. The app contains the first edition text (1939, with the 1941 printing's revisions), which is in the public domain in the United States. It is not the current fourth edition, and stories added in later editions are not included.
Not word for word. The app contains the first edition text as revised in the 1941 printing: for example, Step 12 reads “spiritual awakening”, and the “Spiritual Experience” appendix added in that printing is included. That text is in the public domain in the United States. The page numbers are the ones read in meetings, not those of the April 1939 printing.
No. Principles Before Personalities is an independent project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
Yes. There is no price, no account and no subscription. The bundled text is in the public domain in the United States only; copyright status in other countries may differ. Choose your platform in the Download section of this page.
The app keeps the page numbers read in meetings: Bill's Story begins on page 1, How It Works on page 58, and the basic text runs through page 164. Type a page number to jump straight to that page.
You can use it the way you would use a paper copy: highlight passages, mark pages and leave sticky notes as you read, then bring what you marked to a meeting or to time with your sponsor. Your notes stay on your own device. The app has no sharing or group features.
It works fully offline. The app has no account and doesn't need a network connection. Your highlights, bookmarks, notes and reading place are saved only on your own device, and nothing you read or write is uploaded.
No. The app includes only the two first-edition texts described on this page: the basic text (1939, with the 1941 printing's revisions) and the personal stories. You can add your own .txt or .md files with Import a text.
Mac (macOS 14 Sonoma or later), Windows 10 and Windows 11, Android (an installable .apk), and iPhone (an installable web app that you add to your Home Screen from Safari).
Publishing a native app on the App Store requires Apple's paid Developer Program, so the iPhone version is an installable web app that you add to your Home Screen from Safari. It is not a native App Store app.