MacFamilyTree and MobileFamilyTree Updates Released 20 Oct 2008

I was a day early on the review of MacFamilyTree. Synium released MacFamilyTree version 5.3 today. They updated MobileFamilyTree to version 1.3 yesterday.

I’ve downloaded my copy of both and will check the issues I noted in the beta version. I’ll publish a report on their status later this week.

The press release with the details (provided by Synium) is below:

MacFamilyTree 5.3 Final: New Reports, Picture Sync For MobileFamilyTree
55129 Mainz,  DE   Oct 20, 2008 in Software

Mainz, Germany – Synium Software makes the final version 5.3 of MacFamilyTree available for download. After less than a month of public beta testing, the popular and intuitive genealogy application for the Mac receives another important update.

With new WebKit-based Reports and an entirely new Kinship system, Synium rewrote two core components of MacFamilyTree from the ground up. Hobby genealogists as well as serious researchers can freely define lists of persons, families, events and places. Reports’ layout, look and feel can be cutomized to specific workflow and publishing needs. Font types and sizes can be adjusted to perfectly match your output requirements, in print or PDF – and on the Web.

For MacFamilyTree 5.3, the Kinship analysis technology has been redesigned completely, and the German software developers heavily improved the Descendant Chart too. Both analysis tools now ensure better and more reliable visualization of complex family relations. Also, using the Virtual Globe was heavily enhanced with the new interactive events list, allowing direct access to places for, e.g. the birth of a child or a marriage event.

Further improvements include a new Bookmarks feature for efficient research and editing workflows as well as numerous tuneups to MacFamilyTree’s user interface. The freely navigatable Virtual Tree now also highlights bookmarked individuals, adding to the usability of this much acclaimed 3D visualization mode.

If you already own MobileFamilyTree, Synium’s iPhone and iPod touch client application for MacFamilyTree 5, you will like the new MobileFamilyTree 1.3. This new version adds picture synchronization to make photos of your loved ones available, on-the-go, everywhere. MobileFamilyTree is available from Apple’s App Store for $4.99 (USD). The update is free for existing users of this much-acclaimed iPhone application.

New Features in MacFamilyTree 5.3:
* new WebKit-based Reports can be saved and are individually customizable for enhanced screen and print output
* rewritten Kinship Report for reliable representation of complex relationships
* improved Family Assistant: better visibility, partnerships with or without marriage, biological or adopted children, generation-dependent coloring of person icons
* new Family and Person Bookmarks to keep track of current research; Bookmarks can also be used for enhanced navigation in the Virtual Tree
* new interactive Events list for the Virtual Globe
* improved Desendant Chart for better visibility and printed output
* much improved Search for persons and places in your family tree
* huge pictures can now optionally be downscaled on import

Other Fixes and Improvements:
* improved quick navigation labels precisely define the context in which you are currently working or browsing
* better handling of date format inconsistencies and individual notations for incomplete date entries and/or modifiers
* more reliable workflow for coordinates lookup
* improved print and screen representation at high zoom ratios; i.e. when zooming far out to view a big chart in its entirety, quality and visibility of small detail is now much better
* improved GEDCOM import and export for better compatibility with other genealogy applications
* better integration with Apple’s MobileMe and our own MacFamilyTree.com internet services
* further improved user interface, performance and stability

What’s new in MobileFamilyTree 1.3?
* Synchronization for pictures stored as ‘Media’ in MacFamilyTree
* many enhancemens to the user interface

System Requirements (MacFamilyTree):
MacFamilyTree 5 requires Mac OS X 10.4.9 or higher, a PPC Macintosh with 512 MByte RAM (1024 recommended), ATI Radeon 7500 or NVidia GeForce 4 MX graphics chipset or better and a minimum of 16 MByte video memory. All Macintosh computers with Intel processors and Intel’s GMA 950 graphics chipset or better are supported. MacFamilyTree 5 is fully compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Note: Safari 3.0 or newer, which is available for free at Apple’s ‘Downloads’ section, must be installed for MacFamilyTree 5.3 to work.

System Requirements (MobileFamilyTree):
MobileFamilyTree requires an iPhone or iPod touch with iPhone OS 2.0. Mobile FamilyTree also depends on a fully licensed installation of MacFamilyTree 5.3 or later to run. Please visit the MacFamilyTree 5 product page on the Internet for more information.

Supported Languages:
* US English, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish
* Many other language versions are due to be released as subsequent free updates

Pricing and Availability (MacFamilyTree):
MacFamilyTree 5 can be purchased for $49.00 (USD), upgrades are $29.00 (USD). Special Limited Upgrade Pricing: valid through October 31, 2008, upgrades from previous versions to MacFamilyTree 5 are available for the special reduced fee of $25.00 (USD).

Demo is also available for download. Update from all previous versions of MacFamilyTree requires valid registration key from previous versions. For customers who purchased MacFamilyTree 4 on, or after August 14th, 2007 the upgrade to MacFamilyTree 5 is free. Registration codes will automatically work with MacFamilyTree 5.

Pricing and Availability (MobileFamilyTree):
The companion application MobileFamilyTree allows you to link your iPhone or iPod touch with MacFamilyTree on your Mac. MobileFamilyTree is available separately from the Apple App Store for $4.99 (USD). With MobileFamilyTree you can browse and edit all persons and families in your family tree everywhere and at all times.

Synium Software GmbH is a software development and consulting company, based in Mainz (Mayence), Germany. Apart from being a successful publisher within the Mac software market, we offer a popular web-based news service at mactechnews.de for the German-speaking audience. All Material and Software (C) 2005-2008 Synium Software GmbH / All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.