Genealogy Software for Mac

chrisx74chrisx74
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Hi!



I want to start working on genealogy on my Mac. I've used FamilyTreeMaker on my WinPC in the past. Good application, sometimes hard to use.



I've googled and I've found three applications: MacFamilyTree from Synium (http://www.synium.de), Reunion from Leister (forgotten link) and iFamily For Leopard.



I've tested the demo versions of the three applications and here are my observations:



MacFamilyTree seems to offer the most features and is a mac-like application. They seem to offer many free updates with improved functions and the price tag is ok for me (49 US$). Reunion seems to be a well regarded application in the mac community, but looking at the demo, it feels like an old application, many features are missing (the web pages the app is creating are ridiculous bad) and the price of 100 US$ is very steep . iFamily looks promising despite some missing features, to bad the developer died in 2008 so there will be no more updates.



At the moment, I am tempted to go with MacFamilyTree. Am I missing some other apps?



Thanks in advance!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    hudson1hudson1 Posts: 800member
    I have used Reunion for several years. I bought it because it was considered to be the gold standard in genealogy software and I've never read a review since that stated that it's been unseated. The fact that it's been around for a long time, many pros use it, and is still being actively supported and updated are all good reasons to go that direction. I felt it was worth the money and, from what I can tell, others do, too.
  • Reply 2 of 8
    dr millmossdr millmoss Posts: 5,403member
    FWIW, I gave up on genealogy software when I subscribed to Ancestry.com. Storing everything online does have some drawbacks, but if you are already an Ancestry subscriber or think you might become one, it's an alternative to consider.
  • Reply 3 of 8
    chrisx74chrisx74 Posts: 3member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hudson1 View Post


    I have used Reunion for several years. I bought it because it was considered to be the gold standard in genealogy software and I've never read a review since that stated that it's been unseated. The fact that it's been around for a long time, many pros use it, and is still being actively supported and updated are all good reasons to go that direction. I felt it was worth the money and, from what I can tell, others do, too.



    I've read these reviews, too, but they are fairly old (most of them are several years old). Have you looked at the competitors I've posted? Do you have a comment on them?



    Ancestry.com is nothing for me, I've checked it and it does not seem to be a viable replacement for a desktop app as of now.
  • Reply 4 of 8
    dr millmossdr millmoss Posts: 5,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ChrisX74 View Post


    Ancestry.com is nothing for me, I've checked it and it does not seem to be a viable replacement for a desktop app as of now.



    Not sure what you mean by "nothing," but personally I haven't used any desktop genealogy software in years and don't miss it much.
  • Reply 5 of 8
    chrisx74chrisx74 Posts: 3member
    Forgot to mention: The developers of Reunion seem to charge pretty high update fees (last time 60 US$ on a 99 US$ full version) for a relatively minor update from Version 8 to 9. I've read on the internet that Reunion did not run in Mac OS X for a long time and they did not natively supported intel macs for nearly one and a half years after the release of the first intel macs.
  • Reply 6 of 8
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    Ancestry.com is a decent option



    I'd tried out a couple but I've decided to wait for the next major Reunion upgrade. They've got a decent looking iPhone client and it's been about a few years since their 9 upgrade. I think an upgrade is probably pending.



    Family Tree looks decent but frankly I couldn't really get anything done with it in a brief demo that I did.
  • Reply 7 of 8
    grayshadesgrayshades Posts: 78member
    I have been using Reunion for ~6 years. No problems, very satisfied with it.
  • Reply 8 of 8
    hudson1hudson1 Posts: 800member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ChrisX74 View Post


    I've read these reviews, too, but they are fairly old (most of them are several years old). Have you looked at the competitors I've posted? Do you have a comment on them?



    Ancestry.com is nothing for me, I've checked it and it does not seem to be a viable replacement for a desktop app as of now.



    The most recent review of Reunion was two years ago by Macworld and they gave it their highest rating... five mice.



    I worked with MacFamilyTree for a little bit on my current GEDCOM file. There were a few pretty things in it but I didn't find a reason to not use Reunion despite the higher price. Admittedly, I didn't use MFT for a month, more like an hour, but it felt long enough to come to what I thought was a reasonable conclusion.
Sign In or Register to comment.