MacFamilyTree 8
Create your family tree the easy way
$59.99 Developer Synium Software, syniumsoftware.com/macfamilytree Requirements OS X 10.10 or later, 64-bit processor Charting your family tree is one of those thankless tasks computers were created to tackle. Unfortunately, native OS X software is often cumbersome, difficult to use, and less full-featured than superior Windows apps or many of the subscription-based web services available. With a complete interface overhaul and support for features such as Force Touch, MacFamilyTree 8 is the genealogy software Mac users have been waiting for.
It’s intuitive, easy to use, offers an insanely comprehensive set of features, and more ways to visualize and share your family tree than you can shake a branch at.
The change is apparent at first launch, with all of the core functions intelligently organized in a way that takes better advantage of available screen real estate. The four core categories have been relocated across the top, with each set of tools neatly presented underneath as well as in a full-window overview for easy access.
Edit is where you’ll spend the bulk of your time, while Views, Reports, List, and Publish provide every conceivable way to display and use data. This includes the ability to export everything you’ve found and organized to a printed book using predesigned templates, as a website for others to enjoy, or a GEDCOM file for importing to other genealogy applications; you can also append or merge existing files into MacFamilyTree 8 databases.
The sheer number of features can be a bit daunting, but Interactive Tree is the easiest way to get started. Otherwise it’s all pretty straightforward, with only a few limitations. You can’t create links by dragging names from the redesigned Person sidebar list and dropping them onto a tree; adding adoptive or step relationships also isn’t particularly intuitive.
Synium also offers a $19.99 version for iOS. MobileFamilyTree isn’t some less-powerful companion app, but a surprisingly faithful port of the Mac edition with iCloud sync that allows smartphone and tablet users to pick up where they left off on the desktop with virtually the same user interface. A few features are missing (Web Search, Virtual Globe view, several Publish options), but aside from occasional screen refresh delays, it’s equally as powerful and looks great on iPad Pro and iPhone 6s Plus.
the bottom line. MacFamilyTree 8 is the full-featured genealogy software OS X users have been waiting for. J.R. Bookwalter