Smartphone Apps for Genealogy

Smartphone Apps for Genealogy
February 15, 2012  By James Tanner

One of the hallmarks of technology is its rapid change. The world of apps (or applications, i.e. software) related to genealogy on smartphones is growing at a staggering rate. Just a few months ago, the Android Market had just a few offerings. The number of smartphone apps has increased so quickly that it is now very difficult to review all of them. Genealogists can now pick-and-choose while only a few months ago there were very reduced offerings.

One of the big events of 2012 is the introduction of the 1940 U.S. Census that will be going online on April 2, 2012 on the U.S. National Archives website. With the advent of the census records, FamilySearch has announced a major initiative to index the entire census is record time. At almost the same time as the announcement of the intitiative, FamilySearch announced a free app for mobile devices to do indexing. The Apple iOS FamilySearch Indexing app is available for both iPhone and iPad. The same app is also available for Android devices in the Android Market.  

The apps are described, in part, as follows:
This mobile app is expected to complement the FamilySearch indexing program, which has been operating since 2006. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers from around the world have contributed their time to index genealogical records using the FamilySearch indexing desktop software. Today there are more than 2.5 billion freely searchable names in the familysearch.org database, thanks largely to their efforts. Your mobile contribution to this effort, however large or small, is greatly appreciated. To ensure quality and accuracy, the system compares your work with answers from other volunteers until a “consensus” is reached.

The recent RootsTech 2012 Conference had its own app for both iPhone/iPod/iPad and Android. There is a TechTips article about the new app.

Some of the major genealogy database programs have had apps for some time or are now just adding them. These apps usually allow you to enter information both on your computer and on your smartphone and the synchronize the information between the devices. Here is a list of the apps I have found lately. Unless otherwise noted, the apps are available for both Apple iOS and Android phone users. Some of the apps are free, others have a charge. Although the apps may be free, the main application, such as Ancestry.com may have a charge.

Legacy Family Tree’s Families app for smartphones $
Ancestry.com Family Trees app for smartphones
MyHeritage.com app for smartphones
Reunion app for iPhone (Mac only)
Mobile Family Tree Pro (iPhone/iPod/iPad)
Family Tree app for Android in English and Chinese  (there is a app by the same name but not the same name for iPhone/iPod/iPad)

Some of these apps have very special audiences. The Family Tree app for example, is primarily in Chinese and according to the reviews, the English implementation is not complete.

There are currently 81 genealogy apps in the iTunes store for Apple iPhones. The Android Market has also increased its offerings with 241 apps available. 

Some of the stand-alone apps include:
GedStar Pro (Android)
Family Bee (Android)
GeneDroid (Android)
GedView (iPhone)
Mobile Tree (iPhone)

Basic Software Tools for Genealogists

Basic Software Tools for Genealogists
February 22, 2012  By James Tanner

Unless you have an unlimited budget, you need to prioritize your hardware and software purchases for genealogy. This post is intended to assist you in making informed decisions about where to allocate your software dollars to have the most useful computer system. Having the right software to assist you with your genealogical research is like having the right tools for any job. Without the right tools, you might spend needless time and even more expense than is necessary to acquire, organize, document and ultimately display your research findings.

Once you have a computer system, your first priority is to have a connection to the Internet. Many of the online resources on the Internet consist of digitized images of documents and books. To adequately view these images, you will need a fast Internet connection. The slowest connection is dial-up that uses regular telephone lines. You will find trying to do research with a dial-up connection to be very slow and frustrating. The faster Internet connections are termed “broadband.” This can be either through a local service provider, such as a cable TV system, or through a wireless provider. There is a monthly charge for the connection. All newer computers also come with a wireless connection capability called “wifi.” If you cannot afford Internet service you should investigate if there is a free WiFi connection near to where you live, computer access in your local library, or other type of access to the Internet. For more information see Wikipedia:Internet access.

The program you have on your computer to access the Internet is called a browser. There are several browsers available, all of which are a free download. When you purchase a computer in today’s market, it will almost always come with a browser already loaded on the hard drive. The most popular browsers in no particular order are as follows:

Internet Explorer (usually supplied with Windows Operating Systems)
Mozilla Firefox (a free download)
Goggle Chrome (a free download)
Safari (usually supplied with Apple OS X operating systems)
Opera (a free download)

The type of software your computer uses depends on the type of processor and the operating system. Although there are many different computer chips, there are only two basic operating systems, those sold with Apple computers known as OS X and those that have a Microsoft Windows operating system. All computer systems change over time as newer and faster processors are developed. It is important to determine the latest versions of the operating systems and make sure you have a version of the operating system that will operate with your computer and that will also work with the programs you choose to purchase. Present-day computer systems do so much more than they did even a few years ago, so it is important to stay up-to-date.

There are probably millions of software programs, if you include all the computer games in the world, but as genealogists there are not unlimited choices. But even before you investigate a genealogy program, you should consider a basic word processing/spreadsheet combination program. Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel are the two most popular programs for both Apple and Windows computers. There are some free downloadable alternatives, but my personal experience has not been overly positive with these free programs. Apple also has word processing and spreadsheet program called iWork. You can also buy a bundle Microsoft programs that includes Word and Excel called Microsoft Office.

Once you have a basic computer setup, you can start to think about storing your genealogical information on your computer. Essentially, you have multiple choices, either store your information online or on your local computer’s hard drive, or both. The consensus among most genealogists is that a local computer-based genealogy program should be you first priority. Online programs can be used to backup your data or to share with others, but should not be a substitute for have your own data locally on your own computer. This may change over time and it is possible that genealogists in the near future may think having your data on a local machine to be hopelessly outmoded. But right now, local storage of your genealogical data is the best practice with backups both online and on separate external hard disks.

You can download an adequate genealogy program for free from the Internet, but in most cases you get what you pay for. The venerable old Personal Ancestral File program is free for Windows computers. If you need support, and want a program used by most of the genealogists, there are several commercial programs that work very well. A list of some of the most popular programs follows (in no particular order):

RootsMagic (PC)
Family Tree Maker (PC and Mac)
Legacy Family Tree (PC)
Ancestral Quest (PC)
The Master Genealogist (PC)
Reunion (Mac)
MacFamilyTree (Mac)

Some of these commercial programs have free downloadable versions of their programs also.
Once you have a genealogy program, you are ready to go to work either transferring your data from one of your relatives or entering it yourself.

From here the choices of programs and add-ons are almost infinite. You might consider a program to store and catalog photos. There are programs that will assist you in searching for genealogical information. There are programs print or display your data on wall charts or other large scale prints. At this point you might want to do some exploration online or attend a genealogy conference. The best way to get a feel for what is out there is to talk to other genealogists. There may be a genealogy club or other organization near you. You can also visit one of the many FamilySearch Centers around the world and talk to some experienced genealogists.

Any recommendation, evaluation, opinion, or endorsement of a specific product, brand, work, practice, or entity in this post, or the comments following, reflects the sole opinion of the author and not those of FamilySearch, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or their affiliates.

About James Tanner
I have more than thirty years' experience in law, computers, and over twenty years experience as a research genealogist. I presently serve as a volunteer at the Mesa Regional Family History Center in Mesa, Arizona, where I alternate between helping patrons and teaching classes. I am most interested in the technological aspects of genealogical research because of my strong technology background.