Comparison of genealogy software. Legacy Family Tree: 9.0.0.169. Family Tree Maker for Mac Yes No No No No No No No No No No No.
Take Your Ancestry Family Tree on the Go This free genealogy app offers Ancestry.com members the tools to create, maintain and share a multi-generation family tree – including the ability to organize photos and document scans, and add stories, journal entries and other info. You can view and edit your own Ancestry family tree, start a new tree directly from the app, or view other family trees that people have shared with you. Ancestry.com membership is not required to use this free app, but if you want to search their genealogy databases or attach digital documents from their Web site you will need to purchase a subscription. Store, Sync and Share Documents DropBox is a tool I couldn't live without. Whether it is getting a large folder of document images to a client, backing up my most important files and photos, or accessing my genealogy research notes on the road, DropBox makes it easy to store, sync and share photos, docs and videos. It's also a great way of getting files to and from your iPad. The free Dropbox account comes with 2GB of space that you can use for as long as you like. Pro plans for a monthly fee offer up to 100GB.
Have DropBox and want to learn how to better use it? Legacy Family tree has an archived webinar by Thomas MacEntee available for purchase on CD; titled, it includes both the webinar and 18 pages of handouts. Save and store notes anywhere Instead of scribbling notes on napkins, receipts or other scraps you have handy, this free online note service allows you to type and store a variety of material.
This includes audio notes which are great for impromptu family history interviews, and even photos taken to jog your memory of something. Evernote will sync your notes to your laptop, desktop and iPhone or Android smartphone - keeping your genealogy notes in sync and handy no matter where you are.
Notes are even geo-coded for mapping and search. Read, organize and access documents GoodReader is a true workhorse app, allowing you to open and read documents in a variety of formats, including pdf, word, excel, jpegs, even video files; annotate PDF files with typed text, underlines, highlights, comments and free-form drawings; and download and upload your documents, plus autosync to, Dropbox, SugarSync or any WebDAV or FTP server. Great for bookmarking favorite genealogy sites too. If you want just one app for reading, storing and marking up documents, then GoodReader does a little bit of everything well. It doesn't always play nice with other iPad apps, however. Annotate PDF files I love GoodReader for viewing and organizing PDF files, but for annotating, highlighting, etc.
I love using iAnnotate PDF. You can mark up text and add comments and notes to your hearts content including highlight, strikethrough, stamp, and underline by just dragging your finger. It even allows you to sketch diagrams, add in arrows, or other free-form drawing. iAnnotate PDF, which opens documents from email, your computer, the Web and DropBox, also allows you to fill-in forms and fully integrates its annotations directly into the PDF such that they will be available to any standard PDF readers like Adobe Reader or Preview, or you can save your annotated PDF in 'flattened' format. Tabbed PDF reading allows you to switch easily between multiple open documents. PDF Expert is a similar application so you may want to check it out as well before purchase.
Reunion on the Road If you're a user of the Mac-based Reunion genelaogy software, this app lets you take your family tree with you; names, events, facts notes, logs, sources and photos. You can browse, view, navigate, search, and edit your information on the go, including adding new people, documenting new information, even correcting data. You can then sync the changes with your Reunion family file on the Mac. The Reunion for iPad app offers additional features above and beyond the Reunion iPhone app. To use the Reunion for iPad app, you must have Reunion 9.0c installed on your Macintosh, and must also have a wireless connection to your Macintosh. Flash-compatible browsing This is my favorite go-to browser for the iPad because it is the first that Apple endorsed for browsing and viewing Flash-based content (which I seem to come across quite frequently in my genealogy research).
It handles most sites that the built in Safari iPad browser stumbles on, including Flash video (with video compression to help save your bandwidth). It does not yet, however, handle flash apps such as the display of digitized documents on FamilySearch.org. The Skyfire app also includes some nifty tools, such as a Facebook QuickView, Twitter QuickView, Google Reader, and tools for easily sharing content from every Web page you visit.
Organize your genealogy travel Set up a free TripIt account and forward copies of your travel itineraries to the service’s address—[email protected]. That's all there is to it. Too difficult?
Then configure TripIt’s Website to check your inbox automatically to skip even this simple step. TripIt keeps all details of your travel itinerary, whether it is flight and gate information, hotel reservations, or cruise ports of call, in one easy to use app, including text and/or email alerts of last minute changes such as flight delays or gate changes. The TripIt travel organizer is available for both iPhone and iPad, although the TripIt for iPad also offers an easy-to-view master map that captures your entire trip, as well as individual maps for each step of your journey. Free with ads. Ad-free version also available for purchase.