Thursday, March 5, 2015

Ancestry.com Mobile App Updated

I saw that the Ancestry.com mobile app updated when I turned on my iPhone today.  There appear to be some new features, and I'm sure they will tell us what they are soon.  Here's what I saw today in my brief sojourn into the app and my database.

1)  The opening screen in the Family View:


In the Family View, I saw six generations of ancestors, with siblings for the last four generations.

I like having more generations, but some of the spouses of my direct line (on the screen above, my mother, my paternal grandmother) don't have there ancestors showing.  If I tap on their image, then they do appear in a Family View.

2)  In the Pedigree View, there were five generations (shown in Landscape):


3)  The alphabetical List View shows the persons with Hints:


4)  If I tap on a person in one of the Views, I see the profile for that person.  Here is Isaac Seaver (1823-1901):


There are links for "View Hints" and "Search Records" under his name.  The events are presented in a timeline format.  At the bottom of the screen are buttons for "Timeline" (shown above), "Family" and "Gallery."

Further down the screen, the Timeline includes two "Historical Insights" (one shown below):


If I tap on the Historical Insight image, a more complete explanation appears:


5)  The information shown on the mobile app for the Timeline of a person includes almost all of the features that are included in the "LifeStory" in the Beta version of Ancestry.com that I highlighted about one month ago (see Ancestry Introduces Beta "Improved Website" - And A First Look).  The information at RootsTech 2015 was that the Beta website would be available for all Ancestry subscribers in the late spring.  Perhaps it will be accelerated now that the mobile app shows all of the LifeStory features.

Note that the background for the three view options is the dark gray seen on the Ancestry Member Tree in the Beta version.  I'm not a big fan of the dark gray color...but that's just me, I guess.   I like the use of the light green on the mobile app screens to highlight the navigation tools and the event titles in the Timeline.

I noted that the "Notes" for the person were included at the bottom of the Timeline screen on the mobile app.  I still can't find them on the Beta site.  I assume that they will be added to the person Profile, either at the bottom of the "LifeStory" page or on the "Facts" page.

If I find other important additions to the Ancestry.com mobile app, I will highlight them.  What have you found?

I use the Ancestry Mobile app as my go-to "family tree in my pocket" app - as long as I have a cell or wifi signal, I can see pretty much what I have for a person in my Ancestry Member Tree.  That eliminates a lot of paper that I used to carry with me in notebooks or my computer case.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/03/ancestrtycom-mobile-app-updated.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver




1 comment:

James said...

There is a closed Facebook group that has been developing this updated app for the past several. It is called 'Ancestry iOS Beta' and the point of contact is Michael Lawless. He loves feedback on bugs and things users find. Check it out.