Good News From Ancestry - Deadline Extended!

Olive Tree Genealogy received this email notice yesterday from Ancestry.com

Due to recent site issues, we will be extending the period that MyFamily, MyCanvas, Genealogy.com, Mundia and the Y-DNA and mtDNA websites will be available. These sites will not retire until September 30, 2014. 

That's gotta be good news for many genealogists! Kudos to Ancestry.com for extending the deadline almost a full month so that customers have time to finish projects or download data before the services close.

Ancestry Retiring 5 Services

Yesterday I was invited to participate in a Conference Call with Ancestry.com about some recent decisions made that will affect many genealogists. This morning the official announcement was published on the Ancestry.com blog and you can read details there. Basically here is what is happening

Ancestry has decided to retire some of their services: MyFamily, MyCanvas, Genealogy.com, Mundia and the Y-DNA and mtDNA tests. It's important to note that AncestryDNA (autosomal)  will continue to be available for purchase.

Starting September 5, 2014, these services will no longer be available to access. Here are more details about each closure

DNA
Only the y-DNA and mtDNA tests will be retired. Customers can download their raw data on the Ancestry DNA website. Autosomal DNA tests (AncestryDNA) will be the focus

MyFamily
Refunds will be issued automatically to site owners of active MyFamily sites. These refunds are effective as of June 5, 2014 and will be pro-rated to this date.

Genealogy.com
Genealogy.com  will continue in a slightly different form. Certain portions of Genealogy.com will still exist but will not be interactive. They will exist in read-only format
–GenForum message boards
–Family Tree Maker homepages
–The most popular articles

MyCanvas
Between now and September 4th, customers can finish current projects or start and complete new ones. After September 4th, MyCanvas will no longer accept printing orders and all projects will be deleted

Mundia
Members can  download the family trees they’ve created in their native language before September 5, 2014. Mundia trees can be accessed for free on Ancestry.

I can see the logic behind these closures. Any company has finite resources to commit to projects. With Ancestry focusing on their main goals, customers should see more data coming online as well as other new things.

With Autosomal DNA being the most complete DNA test that's the route to go and the test genealogists will want in order to make connections with other relatives. I'm sure some genealogists will be upset about MyCanvas closing but there are many good alternatives out there. Personally I love Shutterfly for creating Family History books.

Please take a few moments to read Ancestry.com official blog post at the URL above and reach out on Social Media to Ancestry with questions or concerns you might have.

Press Release: Ancestry, a New Genealogy App for the iPad

This Press Release arrived from Ancestry.com. Co-incidentally I had just downloaded the App in question from the App Store. I've only looked at it once but I liked it. It looked easy to use (a big plus for me!) and your list of Family Trees is displayed in an easy-to-spot format

However for me personally I can't see any use. I don't use Ancestry Family Trees except for compiling genealogy data that I want to publish using MyCanvas. So I don't think I would ever need to use my iPad for this purpose. However if you are a big user of Ancestry Family Trees, I'd say go for it! 

Ancestry.com's New iPad App Lets Consumers Update and Share Family Trees, Old Photos and Records in Stunning Detail

Ancestry.com App Exploits iPad Form Factor and Features to Create a Deeper, Brighter, Smarter User Experience 

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Ancestry.com, the world's largest online family history resource, today announced the availability of its new iPad app called Ancestry. 

Built specifically to deliver a compelling tablet experience, the new Ancestry app brings to life on iPad's large screen multi-generational family trees complete with images of original family records and photos, making iPad a powerful tool for users to display and share their trees with family and friends in an interactive, highly visual way.
A dynamic, intuitive user interface and integration with Ancestry.com makes it simple for users to record memories, edit vital information, document life events and organize photos, and also for use in conducting field research, collection, and documentation.  

Introducing Ancestry.com onto this compelling platform takes the website one step closer to its mission of helping everyone discover, preserve and share their family history.

"Since I already use my iPhone to document my life, it's natural to use it to document my family tree," said Ancestry.com user Aaron Vaughn of San Francisco. "Being able to research and upload photos and information on-the-fly makes updating my Ancestry.com account a seamless part of my life.  Now, with the new iPad app, I've got all the added benefits the larger format affords." 

Eric Shoup, Senior Vice President of Product for Ancestry.com, comments: "The new Ancestry iPad app makes it fun and easy to explore and share your family history research by allowing you and your family to tap and swipe your way through your family tree, old photos and records.  

"Ancestry.com is committed to leveraging the latest technology to make what we offer on our website easily accessible, simple and enjoyable to use for family history novices and experts alike, at their desks or in the field."

The Ancestry.com app for iPad is now available for free at the iTunes App Store. A new version of the popular Ancestry.com iPhone app, which includes more features for navigating a family tree and viewing records already attached to a tree, is also available for free in the App Store. 

To get started, just download the apps to your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch(i), log in to your Ancestry.com account and choose a family tree.