Apps for android Smartphones and Tablets

Genealogy on your android Smartphone

 Use of one or more GEDCOM files – Family Tree

With these applications, you can install your family genealogy from a GEDCOM file on your android device (Smarphone or tablet).

Apps « GEDCOM », « GEDMultiLang » and « Family2023 » for android devices

Genealoy of up to 3500 people

By Marc DANIEL – February 2023 updates

The « GEDCOM » and « GEDMultiLang » applications are used to convert a GED file (called « Gedcom ») into an easily readable and usable database. The database thus created will be saved in the internal memory of your Android Smartphone or Tablet in a directory named “GEDCOM”. Once installed, this database can be « read » with the « Family2023” application.If you created

If you created your database with “GEDCOM” or “GEDMultiLang” in French language, the database will be written in French and you will not be able to correctly display it in another language.

If you created your database with « GEDMultiLang » in English for example, the database will be written in English and you will not be able ti display it correctly in French for example.

« GEDCOM » and « GEDMUltiLang » allow you to erase the database already saved on your device in one language and recreate it in another language using the same source GED file.

Installation of the French version

1- Download the GEDCOM.apk file on your android device and install it

Possibility of managing 1 to 3500 people

Download the PDF manual 

Installation of the multilingual version (FR - EN - DE - IT - ES)

1bis -Download the GEDMultiLang.apk file on your android device and install it (« GEDMultiLang » in French version does the same job as « GEDCOM ».)

Possible management between 1 and 3500 individuals

2- Allow app access to your devices’s internal memory. Go to your device settings and give the necessary permissions.

3- Upload the GECOM file you have chosen – A GEDCOM file is created online on a genealogy platform (MyHeritage, GENEANET, FILAE, FamilySearch for example) or it is generated by genealogy software (HEREDIS, Généatique, Genealogos, Arbre Généalogique, Family Tree, for example ...). This GEDCOM is a text file with specific tags, the suffix is “GED”, il can be read by a text editor like NotePad for example.

The GED file also called « GEDCOM » will be found, once dowloaded, in the « Download » directory of your android device.

4- Start the app 

5- Once you have created your database on your android device, I advise you to install the «  Family2023 »  version which is only used to “read” your already installed genealogy database.

Téléchargez la notice d’utilisation de l’ application Family2023 ici >>> Notice Family2023

Operation and screenshots:

Here are the successive home pages inviting you to select a GEDCOM from the one (or those) that have been downloaded to your device (Download directory).

A database is created from this source file and then the people detected are listed in alphabetical order in a text file called ‘ListeAlpha.txt”.

This file as well as the UTF-8 copy of the GEDCOM are saved in a “GEDCOM” directory created in the internal memory of your device.

Selecting a person from the drop-down list : You can manually scroll through the list to reach the person whose individual record you want to view. If the list is very large, il is possible to speed up the scrolling by using the round, blue slider on the right. With this slider, scrolling is done by hundreds of people at a time

To select a person, press your finger for a long time on the chosen name.

Operation of an individual record :   You can trace the higher generations if existing by clicking on the name of the father or the mother. You can click on the spouse’s name to display their family. You can scroll the list of children (if existing) at the bottom of the screen and select one by a long press on the name.

Possible changes:  It is possible to personalize the application by adding, modifying, deleting photos concerning the existing people in this genealogy under the following conditions:

1- Connect the android device to a PC with a USB cable and in the connection settings, choose the option: « USB – File transfer».

2- In the internal memory of your device, you will find the file “ListeAlpha.txt” in the directory named “GEDCOM” and the photos can be installed in the “MEDIA” sub-directory in GEDCOM.

You can add (or modify) a photo concerning a person by modifying the end of the line concerning this person in the “ListeAlpha.txt” file which includes one line per person.

People are listed alphabetically by last name. The name of the photo must be added at the end of the line just after the sign § (delete “VIDE”).

Examples: §MyName.jpg or §QueenElisabeth.PNG

3- Then you have to copy the corresponding photo in the “MEDIA” sub-directory. Attention, the name of the photo must be strictly the same as the name saved in “ListeAlpha.txt” otherwise the photo will not be recognized and not displayed.

Avoid spaces and accents. You can also simply change the existing photo keeping the same name. If you delete a photo, the line corresponding to the person must end with: “§VIDE”.

 For the curious, here are the separation codes used in the “ListeAlpha.txt” file :

LastNAME | FirstName * Personal code@ Sex [ date of birth ] place of birth { date of death } place of death $ profession or function

£ parent family code % first union code ♫ Second union code ♪ Third union code § PhotoName.PNG or jpg or jpeg

NB – Support for third unions has been discontinued due to technical issues, so you won’t find anything after the ♪ tag

Be careful, you must save « ListeAlpha.txt » after modifications and not “ListeAlpha(1).txt” for example !

Update of this document in May 2023

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