Hi, I am new to forums but considered this might be the best way to find the info I need.

I'm considering purchasing an IPad2 (hope I'm not too old to cotton on to it!) and would like to know if anyone in the group uses the RootsMagic 4 genealogy program on it. If so, have you encountered any problems?

Thank you

Good to hear from you. You’ll find a whole bunch of iPad enthusiasts in this Forum who are only too willing to help other iPad owners and to hear of their experiences. Don’t be afraid to post any questions you may have or use the ‘Search’ button near the top of the Forum web page. I usually find I discover one new interesting and useful piece of information about my iPad every day - and often not even what I was looking for!!

Hope to hear from you soon with your thoughts about the iPad.

Have fun and enjoy your iPad


If you don’t already have it you can download a copy of the iPad manual for free.

Apple - Support - Manuals

Please read the rules too!!

Forum rules - everybody please read!!

Tim
Scotland

Originally Posted by leschenault

Hi, I am new to forums but considered this might be the best way to find the info I need.

I'm considering purchasing an IPad2 (hope I'm not too old to cotton on to it!) and would like to know if anyone in the group uses the RootsMagic 4 genealogy program on it. If so, have you encountered any problems?

Thank you

Hi there Leschenault

I don't have Roots Magic on my iPad, but I do have Ancestry tree view. The programme is pretty handy and my intention is to use the tree for reference when out and about.

I have Apple's iPad keyboard which is very good. I can see the keyboard helping considerably in transcribing records into either "Pages" or "Numbers" (2 neat programmes) when on site.

I'm glad to see that there is a Genealogy thread and hope it will take off.  

Sent from my iPad 1 using iPF - Greetings

Let's bump this thread, in the hope there are other family historians on the iPad forums.
After all genealogy is supposed to be one of the top Internet interests       

I'm off to the SOG (society of Genealogists) in London for a Family History Society Meeting. It will be good to see old friends.

Cheers

Sent from my iPad 1 using iPF - Greetings

I use the GedView (reads any .ged file) and love it. This app allows cross-over from my FamilyTree Maker PC Software (back-up saved as .ged) to the iPad with great effect and no loss of information. All my notes, vital statistics, and general information synch from my PC to my iPad and I have immediate access to all my family history when I'm out doing research. No need to bring along the laptop ever again. Using GedView, Penultimate, and Notes together I no longer need to bring pen and paper, either. My research habits have changed dramatically over the past year using my iPad.

P.S. The iPhone4 camera has been helpful, as well. I've used it to take images of documents, graveyard headstones, buildings, etc.

P.S.S. I love technology!!

Originally Posted by The Alternative

I use the GedView (reads any .ged file) and love it. This app allows cross-over from my FamilyTree Maker PC Software (back-up saved as .ged) to the iPad with great effect and no loss of information. All my notes, vital statistics, and general information synch from my PC to my iPad and I have immediate access to all my family history when I'm out doing research. No need to bring along the laptop ever again. Using GedView, Penultimate, and Notes together I no longer need to bring pen and paper, either. My research habits have changed dramatically over the past year using my iPad.

P.S. The iPhone4 camera has been helpful, as well. I've used it to take images of documents, graveyard headstones, buildings, etc.

P.S.S. I love technology!!

I'll have to try it. The Ancestry Tree view is a bit unwieldy. Will GedView display very large trees accurately?

Sent from my iPad 1 using iPF - Greetings

Originally Posted by Richard Brown

Originally Posted by The Alternative

I use the GedView (reads any .ged file) and love it. This app allows cross-over from my FamilyTree Maker PC Software (back-up saved as .ged) to the iPad with great effect and no loss of information. All my notes, vital statistics, and general information synch from my PC to my iPad and I have immediate access to all my family history when I'm out doing research. No need to bring along the laptop ever again. Using GedView, Penultimate, and Notes together I no longer need to bring pen and paper, either. My research habits have changed dramatically over the past year using my iPad.

P.S. The iPhone4 camera has been helpful, as well. I've used it to take images of documents, graveyard headstones, buildings, etc.

P.S.S. I love technology!!

I'll have to try it. The Ancestry Tree view is a bit unwieldy. Will GedView display very large trees accurately?

Sent from my iPad 1 using iPF - Greetings

Yes, it does. I currently have 2,826 individuals loaded into my GedView app complete with vital statistics, events, notes, civil unions, relationships, and sources. The index interface is easy to use, as well. Just tap on the letter of the surname of an individual and all individuals with that surname letter will appear. Scroll through the surnames and tap the one you’re looking for to find individual statistics, etc. It’s easy to use and I love the fact that I have all the information in one easy to find, portable location. An especially nice feature is that you can edit your notes on an individual right inside the app while at the research facility. The drawback here is that you cannot synch added notes back to your Family Tree software on your computer. I usually end up copying and pasting the notes on the fly and e-mailing them to myself to copy and paste back into FamilyTree Maker when I return home from a research excursion. I hope this helps answer your question.

Originally Posted by The Alternative

Yes, it does. I currently have 2,826 individuals loaded into my GedView app complete with vital statistics, events, notes, civil unions, relationships, and sources. The index interface is easy to use, as well. Just tap on the letter of the surname of an individual and all individuals with that surname letter will appear. Scroll through the surnames and tap the one you’re looking for to find individual statistics, etc. It’s easy to use and I love the fact that I have all the information in one easy to find, portable location. An especially nice feature is that you can edit your notes on an individual right inside the app while at the research facility. The drawback here is that you cannot synch added notes back to your Family Tree software on your computer. I usually end up copying and pasting the notes on the fly and e-mailing them to myself to copy and paste back into FamilyTree Maker when I return home from a research excursion. I hope this helps answer your question.

Many thanks for the information. The "inconvenience" of having to add amendments etc to you main tree on the fly is extremely minor compared with the portability of the iPad.

I currently have 2,108 individuals and 722 families in my tree.

Do you use a spreadsheet to load up lists of material for future reference? Numbers is an extremely goog version which replicates mainstream spreadsheets very nicely.

Sent from my iPad 1 using iPF - Greetings

There is a way to encourage youngsters to become interested in family history.

The Scouts and Guides movements run a family history badge scheme. Well, that's the information passed on through a family history message board - Roots L.

Yes, there are useful forums outside of IPF.

It is so sad to see people selling off family heirlooms because youngsters are not interested in their family history. As they mature, the interest may well be ignited. My interest was ignited very late in life, after the majority if my elders had passed away.

Sent from my iPad 1 using iPF - Greetings

Originally Posted by Richard Brown

Originally Posted by The Alternative

Yes, it does. I currently have 2,826 individuals loaded into my GedView app complete with vital statistics, events, notes, civil unions, relationships, and sources. The index interface is easy to use, as well. Just tap on the letter of the surname of an individual and all individuals with that surname letter will appear. Scroll through the surnames and tap the one you’re looking for to find individual statistics, etc. It’s easy to use and I love the fact that I have all the information in one easy to find, portable location. An especially nice feature is that you can edit your notes on an individual right inside the app while at the research facility. The drawback here is that you cannot synch added notes back to your Family Tree software on your computer. I usually end up copying and pasting the notes on the fly and e-mailing them to myself to copy and paste back into FamilyTree Maker when I return home from a research excursion. I hope this helps answer your question.

Many thanks for the information. The "inconvenience" of having to add amendments etc to you main tree on the fly is extremely minor compared with the portability of the iPad.

I currently have 2,108 individuals and 722 families in my tree.

Do you use a spreadsheet to load up lists of material for future reference? Numbers is an extremely goog version which replicates mainstream spreadsheets very nicely.

Sent from my iPad 1 using iPF - Greetings

I generally use the iPads resident Notes program to keep my research notes for any given trip. When researching I can multitask between the Notes program, GedView, and Penultimate (for keeping my own handwritten notes.) By giving my individual notes the title of the person I am researching and adding what I need to study in those notes I can easily scroll between names inside the app.