Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Technology Tuesday -- Updated Ancestry.com Mobile App

Ancestry.com recently updated its mobile app for iPad, iPod and iPhone - you can read the press release in Ancestry.com Mobile App Has New Features.  I don't know when they will update the mobile app for Android and Windows 8.  The mobile app is FREE from the App Store on the iOS products, and from Google Play for Android products.

The mobile app links to a selected Ancestry Member Tree on Ancestry.com submitted by the user.  The app can view most of the information submitted to the Ancestry Member Tree, including media items and events.  However, source citations and Fact notes are not shown.  Hints are offered, and the user can search Ancestry.com for more information.

Here are some screens from the Ancestry.com mobile app on my iPhone 5s:

1)  The "Name List Tree" view with all persons in the Ancestry Member Tree, listed alphabetically by last name.


Note the icons across the top.  They include:

*  Recently searched persons.
*  Portrait tree view
*  Pedigree tree view
*  Name List tree view:

There are also icons across the bottom for:

*  Hints
*  Comments
*  Tree
*  DNA
*  Settings

Tapping on a name will bring up their profile (see below).

2)  The "Portrait Tree" view (in landscape mode) shows direct line ancestors and siblings and children of the highlighted person. 


 I can swipe up and down, or right and left, to see more ancestors in the tree.  Tapping on the name of a person will bring up their profile.

3)  The "Pedigree Tree" view includes only direct line ancestors and children of the highlighted person (shown in landscape mode).


 I can swipe up and down, or right and left, to see more ancestors in the tree.  Tapping on the name of a person will bring up their profile.

4)  I tapped on Lyle L Carringer on the screen above, and saw his profile:


Scrolling down, I see the person Note at the bottom of the "Timeline" view:


I can tap the "Note" area and edit the person Note.

Note that there is a link for "Hints" below his name and vital data.  A timeline follows with events from Birth to Death (and beyond).

Down at the bottom of the screen are three buttons.  The "Timeline" view is shown on the screen above.  The "Family" and "Gallery" buttons will be shown below.

5)  I tapped on the "Birth" Fact on the Timeline above, and it told me that there was a Gallery with 8 sources for this "Birth" Fact:


I can "Edit" or "Delete" the Fact by tapping the "Fact" button on the screen above.  I saw no way to view the Fact Notes.

6)  I tapped on the button for "Gallery with 8 Sources" and saw thumbnail images of the sources:


6)  If I tap on one of the thumbnails, then I can see the indexed Record Details for that source:


I don't see a way to see a source citation for this source - only the record image.

7)  If I tap on the green square in the middle of the image above, I can see the record image, if one is available.  I can expand the view to zoom in on the image detail:


I will have to swish right and left, and up and down, in order to see all of the information on the page.

8)  The "Family" View for the person (button at bottom of screen) shows Parents, Spouse(s) and Children of the person:


9)  The "Gallery" View for the person shows a thumbnail of each record attached to the Tree for this person:


If I tap on an image in the Gallery, I can zoom in to see more detail, or Edit Photo, Share Photo, or Delete Photo" by tapping the "Photo Details" button, or I can Comment on the image.

10)  I haven't shown the Record Hints or the Searching of the Ancestry.com databases yet.  i'll do that in a subsequent post.

11)  With this mobile app, I can access my Ancestry Member Tree anywhere that I have an Internet connection through my iPhone, iPad or iPod.  I can see Hints, add them to a person profile, or ignore them.  I can search Ancestry.com for more information about the person.  This is truly my family tree in my pocket.

However, I can't see everything in the Ancestry Member Tree, which is unfortunate.  Perhaps source citations and fact notes will be added in future updates.

This is a very powerful tool.  If you invite your family members to be guests or editors to your Ancestry Member Tree, then they can download the FREE Ancestry.com mobile app and have your family tree (with their ancestors) in their pocket also!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/09/technology-tuesday-updated-ancestrycom.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


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