Monday, February 6, 2012

Mobile Monday

This post has been milling around in my head for a awhile now. The mobile applications available that are related to genealogy are being released just about every day it seems. I have tried a few and have a few more on my radar to try.

Resting Spot - This was the first one I tried and I love it. It allows you to record the GPS coordinates of a grave. You can add photos and birth and death dates from the app which is available on Android and Apple app stores. The app is a free download. At this time there isn't too many entries recorded into the site's database but I am sure it will improve as more people download the app. It is a bit time consuming to record each entry and you can't add notes via the app. You can record notes and other information about the person via the website.

Billion Graves - This app is very similar to Resting spot but takes a much different approach. It is designed to quickly record pictures of the gravestones in a given cemetery. Once you are done you can upload the photos when you get home. Then from the website members can transcribe the gravestones images. They have been actively recruiting new members by offering prizes and allowing members to join teams to encourage more people to use the app and do the transcribing work. People who do the transcribing do not need to have the mobile app. The app is free but does have  an in app purchase option for the ability to search entries. It also is available on Android and Apple app stores. I used this one once and it is very easy to use. I have few things I do not like about the app. The photos recorded with the app are not my photo roll on the phone and search feature doesn't show the town and state of the cemetery in the search results and when you click through it takes you directly to where the entry is on the map. So I end up zooming out to try and figure out where the cemetery is. I sure this will improve in time. I have already found from entries in the database that are interesting to me so the database is constantly changing.


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