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I don't use an app as a sidur ever so maybe there is something thing obviously wrong with my question, but how can an app be used if it has Hashem's name?? - aren't you erasing His name when you scroll up or down, or is it that the letters aren't actually there they are just pixels displaying it....I don't know how it works electronically or Halachicly. Can someone please clue me in here
This may seem like a duplicate but there were no answers concerning this exact question there
The broader question is how can we allow the name of hashem to appear on a computer screen at all when we know the screen will eventually be turned off or the text moved. Whether you daven from the screen or not the issue is the same.
There are a number of sources that deal with this, and the bottom line they all come to in the end is that a computer screen is not "writing". There is no ink, no hand forming the letters, and no intention of permanentness. Old CRT monitors refreshed 60 times a second, so nothing on the screen had any permanence at all. Modern LCDs still have nothing physical - to quote Rav Ovadiah it's just "a combination of various lights".
Sources:
As a side note, I'd like to point out that it's possible that e-ink (used in amazon kindle) is of a different status because it does contain ink, and is permanent when drawn. I haven't seen a rabbi (or anyone for that matter) address the issue of e-ink yet, so my answer does not apply to that technology. I'm not saying it's asur. I'm not saying it's mutar. I'm saying I don't know.
