ipad?

[polly88]

Has anyone got an ipad?   And do you use it for your family research?  I'd love to know what people think, and how user friendly they are.  I travel about a lot and would love to be able to access my tree.  I am very ignorant about ipads, and even though I've googled it, and watched videos of them I am still confused about how useful one would be for me.

Hope this is the right forum.

[RJ_Paton]

My ipad has replaced my laptop as my mobile device of choice. The screen is a reasonable size the machine is highly responsive and its good to have everything in one place.

On the downside
1 You still need a PC or Mac
2. the machine still cannot multi task although any program put on standby restarts at exactly the point you left it
3. the choice of genealogy software is limited - I use an app called Gedview which is an excellent program lacking only a full tree display. Other apps are available and offer differing levels of usability.
4. the camera is not as good as I would like but is handy for spur of the moment shots

[polly88]

Thanks for replying Falkryn.  To address your points:

1.  I have a laptop, using windows 7.

2.  That sounds ok to me.

3.  In Gedview can you amend or add to your tree, or is it just to view?

4.  Do you photograph documents in situ, and if so, can you incorporate the photos into your tree on the ipad?

So sorry if I am asking stupid questions!  I am a bit of a Luddite; actually that's not true, I do try to keep up with technology but it changes so rapidly!

[RJ_Paton]

The following is from a review of Gedview

Unlike iHeritage, this allows for utilizing and editing your existing GEDCOM genealogy files on the iPad in full-screen mode. Unlike some of the other genealogy applications available for iPhone/iPad/iPod touch, this does not require a specific Mac OS X application on the desktop/laptop side of things. It also allows you to keep all of your genealogy data/family trees on your iPhone/iPad/iPod. You can also import multiple GEDCOM files and maintain them in separate databases. New databases can be created on-the-go as well.

Platform: iPhone OS / iPad / iPod Touch
Software Requirements: iPhone OS 2.2.1 or above (OS 3.0 required for Mapping)
Hardware Requirements: iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad running OS 2.2.1 or above
Landscape/Portrait: Yes
Languages Supported:

GEDCOM Support: Yes
- Allows for editing, allows for multiple databases based on multiple GEDCOM files
- Import GEDCOM files from WiFi (Bonjour support), or through mobile connections (GPRS, EDGE, 3G)
- Allows for exporting as a GEDCOM file through a built-in web server.

Misc. Notes:
- GEDCOM oriented, supports ASCII, ANSI, ANSEL, UTF-8, and UTF-16
- Offers full-screen use on the iPad
- Allows for multiple databases with multiple GEDCOM imports
- Configuration options available for you to configure the look of GedView to suit your needs.
- With iPhone OS 3.0 or above, mapping is enabled.
- New databases can be created
- Offers a passcode security lock
- Supports custom events
- Developer has tested on ~68MB GEDCOM files and 99,000 individuals
- Supports calling or emailing people from within when the information is present for the person, on an iPhone

With regard to point 1 - the laptop would be used to intialise the ipad with itunes and for later transferring any files over to it but apart from that the ipad becomes self sufficient - its charged from the mains as few computers can supply the needed power through the usb sockets.

Re point 3 - Gedview allows you to edit amend or add individuals to your database.

re point 4 Gedview also allows you to add photos or videos to individuals from within the ipad (ie ones you have taken) from files transferred over or it can add the photo as you take it

[RJ_Paton]

if you have an Ancestry subscription there is an app which allows you to "Take your Ancestry tree with you everywhere you go" (their words)

Another app is Famviewer which seems very similar to Gedview but with added multimedia support

ohmiGene is another which looks quite good but unfortunately the documentation and intro is all in french which may indicate that the program is too.

There are also several other apps which will link into Mac specific genealogy programs but as you mentioned Windows 7 they wouldn't come into the equation.

[polly88]

Thank you very much Falkyrn, Gedview sounds perfect, just what I was hoping for!  Now I need to start looking at prices, and where best to buy from.  You've been really helpful, thanks a lot.

[RJ_Paton]

A piece of software I have recently come across for the ipad and iphone is an App called Heredis. Looks good and loaded my gedcom file with no problem. The graphic representation of a generations tree which Gedview does not provide is excellent. Even better Heredis itself is free.

[Blondie1]

I love my ipad but for some reason I can get here on the Roots Board but not into Chat does anyone know why

[jc26red]

Hmm... Just tried to get into the chat room using he iPad and I only get a blank page. Strange