Forebears

Bring your Family Tree to Life

Free

You'll find everything you've been asking for packaged into this great new release. Enjoy! Forebears is a full-function, pocket-sized genealogy app where you, and you alone, own the data. No costly subscriptions. Import a GEDCOM from any of the popular genealogy apps or build your own family tree directly in Forebears. This app has the power to handle huge family history databases (tested on 15,000 members and 5,000 families). There's a unique graphic interface to move around and across the generations by tap gestures. We call it the 'Wonder Wheel' because that's what it is! Best of all, Forebears has been designed as a standalone family history archive that's with you all the time and can be easily updated whilst you're on the go. --- MAIN FEATURES --- GEDCOM Import/Export • Import GEDCOM files of any size to instantly display family trees • Export GEDCOM files to exchange your family history with other Forebears users and other systems Publish to PDF • A comprehensive index of all the people in a family group, their dates, partnerships, and children. All clearly laid-out and alphabetically sorted, ready to be bound into a book. • The Ancestral Circle can be printed as a digital image or hard copyForebears Wonder Wheel (attractive interactive graphic to build, navigate and view complex family histories) • Use the Wonder Wheel to view each 'nuclear family' (parents, siblings, partners, children and step-relationships)  • Use the Wonder Wheel to quickly move around your family tree using simple 'tap' gestures • Use the Wonder Wheel to easily build your family tree using simple 'tap' gestures Forebears Ancestral Circle (familiar chart showing previous generations on both paternal and maternal sides) • View all your ancestors on the Ancestral Circle, refocusing by simple 'tap' gestures • Tap to redraw the Ancestral Circle with different data displayed (dates, places, etc) • Display and Print the Ancestral Circle in large formats (iPad version displays more generations) Classic Family Tree • Two display modes: (1) everyone descended from a chosen person (their gene-pool) (2) The patriarchal line with the same family name • Quick navigation with single-tap anywhere on the tree to refocus the tree and the Wonder Wheel. • Scroll up/down and left/right to move swiftly around the largest Trees. • Toggle the Tree size by tapping arrow buttons (down for full screen, up for half-screen above Wonder Wheel) Analysis tools • Find the fastest path between distant relatives and 'tap' named people to take a journey along this path • Search members by name or by position in family • Identify sub-groups (Kings and Queens, Soldiers, etc) • Identify logical inconsistencies in GEDCOM imports • Bulk 'geo-coding' raw textual addresses to display on a map in Forebears • Display Anniversaries by Month and Day • Chart showing how many people were born by decade (iPad) • Chart showing how many life events have date and address (iPad) • Find most popular boys and girls names • Find the most frequent family names • Count how many life events in the group • Count how many events have dates and locations • Display all the photos Secure data • Safeguard imported databases from change • Enable updates to imported databases • Hide display of living people Build family history from scratch • Build and/or import any number of family histories and easily switch between them • Apple-style contact records with standard gestures to build and display the members of your family tree • Quick entry of dates in all genealogical formats • Place lookups with grid references • Record wide range of life events in detail • Take photos or import from photo library • Display imported notes • Add any number of sub-groups to categorise people Packed with goodies! • Pre-loaded with the British Royal Family to get you started • Change the colour scheme and background themes (light and dark mode) • No need for public database subscriptions

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### Enhanced Date Support - **Date Ranges**: You can now record date ranges and periods (e.g., "From 1939 to 1953" or "After 1920") - **Incomplete Dates**: Support for start-only or end-only dates when exact dates aren't known - **GEDCOM Compatibility**: Date ranges import and export correctly with proper GEDCOM formatting ### Improved Address Display - **Multi-line Addresses**: Address fields now support multiple lines, making long addresses easier to read and edit - **Better Import**: Addresses from GEDCOM files are now captured more completely, including both place names and street addresses ### Enhanced Note Management - **Cleaner Note Display**: Person-level notes now appear in a dedicated pop-up view for better readability - **Rich Text Support**: Formatted notes (bold, italic, underline) are preserved when exporting and importing family trees - **Easy Access**: Notes are easily accessible via a dedicated button that appears when notes exist ### Adding People to Groups - **Standalone Additions**: You can now add people to existing groups without requiring them to be direct relations - **Flexible Family Trees**: Perfect for groups with separate family branches or unconnected individuals ### Seed Group Management - **Full Control**: Demonstration groups (Royal Family and US Presidents) can now be edited and deleted like your own groups - **Easy Reinstall**: Reinstall demonstration groups anytime from Settings if you've deleted them ### Enhanced Descendant Tree View - **Partner Display**: Partners are now shown within each person's cell, making family relationships clearer - **Visual Indicators**: Partners with children are marked with numbered badges, while partners without children use hollow icons - **Parent Display**: Parents of the focal person are shown at the top of the tree with clear "Father:" and "Mother:" labels - **Improved Navigation**: Tap any person or partner in the tree to navigate to them - the tree stays expanded when navigating - **Better Organization**: Multiple partners are clearly displayed with visual connections showing which partner produced which children ## Improvements & Fixes - Fixed issue where addresses were being cut off or missing after importing GEDCOM files - Improved display of dates and addresses with clearer labels and formatting - Enhanced group deletion handling to prevent empty screens - Fixed Mac Catalyst display issues with dark overlays - Various stability and performance improvements

The developer, Opsisoft Limited, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

  • Data Not Collected

    The developer does not collect any data from this app.

    Privacy practices may vary based, for example, on the features you use or your age. Learn More

    The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More

    • Provider
      • Opsisoft Limited
    • Size
      • 337.4 MB
    • Category
      • Reference
    • Compatibility
      Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
      • iPhone
        Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
      • iPad
        Requires iPadOS 15.0 or later.
      • iPod touch
        Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
      • Mac
        Requires macOS 12.0 or later.
      • Apple Vision
        Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
    • Languages
      • English
    • Age Rating
      4+
    • Copyright
      • © 2020 Martin Brooks and Opsisoft Ltd