Ancestry: Family History & DNA

I can’t complain about the amazing range of relatives I’ve discovered going back centuries. But sometimes the hints I get are a little frustrating, because my tree will tell me that “Joseph Smith” is the father of “Sara Brown” while the hints show that Sara is the daughter of “David Jones.” And often it’s hard on the app to navigate your way back to the more remote branches of the tree. That being said, if you’re lucky enough, as I am, to have two parents going back to pre-Revolutionary days (who happen to be light-complected), and suspect that your parents might be distant cousins, you can sometimes find out they are, and also discover Jewish nth-degree great-grandmothers; darker-complected cousins; pastors and poets and actors; Mary Queen of Scots; a slave overseer for Thomas Jefferson 😔; figures such as Robert E. Lee and Martha Washington; Irish criminals deported to the Americas; and an assortment of French Huguenots by way of the British Empire. Your husband might have the DNA test confirm that yes, despite a Greek name and an immigrant from Germany, he is nearly half-Jewish and is attached to storied family fur-trading company owners from Kastoria in Greece who immigrated to the US via Germany. And your children won’t have inherited the same percentages of genes as their siblings. Viva la difference!

Love this app. It was amazing for me to learn that I have ancestors across 3 different continents when I did the DNA test. The “Thrulines” feature is amazing too but I would like to suggest in future updates that there can be some way to search for DNA matches that share varying percentages of ethnic backgrounds. I am very interested in connecting the dots with the Latino side of my family and finding out if possible where I can trace my African heritage as well. Since I have nearly 100,000 DNA matches and not even close to half of the people have pictures associated with their profile, it is hard to tell what ethnic backgrounds are shared with people without clicking individually on every profile. If there was a way to show any or all DNA matches who have, say, more than “10% total Sub-Saharan African and/or 25% Central American” that would be REALLY helpful in potentially connecting dots and further filling in my family tree. I would love to find where those connections are but it is really hard to do without a filter in the search that allows you to bring up DNA matches with people in specific categories. Thanks for your help! I really hope this is a feature you guys will be able to add in the future.

Update: working much better! Old: Let me start with the positive: the tree section is lovely, helpful, works well, and I love it. Now, the negative: the DNA section, which updated on the 1 July is not great. It is set up similar to the website, but please consider that apps are used on devices, such as a phone. The DNA section has become a behemoth if information, difficult to manage or view, crashes if you try and look at Cousin matches for a second person... it used to be quite simple and elegant with the 11 generation view, and option but not requirement to open other users’ entire trees. How can I possibly appreciate their full multi- thousand tree of information on my iPhone? I hate to complain, I use the Ancestry app daily. Some people do crosswords or sudoku. I work on the family tree, it’s my favorite puzzle. I just wish I could use the DNA cousins’ section with ease, but it seems to have become way too huge to appreciate as a simple task in bed or during down time, with the phone. It has become a project strictly for sitting at my computer. Is there any chance to make it more convenient for device use? It’s an app, after all. Thanks :)

Ancestry has been a joy to explore. I first started my tree several years ago, but had suspended my membership for lack of time to devote to the project. Earlier this year I decided to explore my genetic history through AncestryDNA, so wanted to continue my tree as well. I’ve been thrilled with the enhancements the site has made in the intervening years. It’s been even easier to connect the family dots through the system of ‘hints’ provided by the app. Each time I feel I’ve begun to hit a wall, a new hint is revealed that keeps me going. I’m also pleased with how the genetic app is enhancing my search. I have barely begun to explore the many connections that submitting my DNA revealed. As just a beginning, I can engage any person who is 4th cousin or closer - and who chooses to keep their connection open as well. What I’m most looking forward to is searching for all those Scandinavian relations that make up a full third of my DNA. I had no idea there was any measurable Norse blood in my past! I really am pleased with Ancestry, and AncestryDNA, and have only scratched the surface of the app’s many features and my past.

I really appreciate the convenience of being able to do ancestry on my phone! It makes it so easy to hop on and do a few leaves between activities. The app works well, but with a few issues. Occasionally, when trying to view something with a photo/attachment, it will say I need a paid account to view it, but usually when I go back and then click on it again, it works. Also, there are a few hints that take you to a website that you have to pay to be a member, just to see if that hint is the person in your tree (e.g. family search); I always skip those hints. Thirdly, a few hints always mess up no matter how many times you try to accept them; it just says something went wrong; try again later. (I’ve noticed this with newspaper articles.) I only give 4 stars because the census pictures only show you one page, whereas on the PC you can click to view the next page or previous page. Often the family is split between two pages, and I can’t confirm anything that is not on the page that it chooses to show me. If this were changed, I could give 5 stars, though those other problems still need addressed too.

If you are interested in the genealogy of your family this app will do it. But the full price of the app is way too high and the claim of newspaper artifacts is quite limited. If your ancestors come from Russia and your Jewish you will not be able to get further back than 1860. Assuming that your family came here in the very early 1900’s. My son in law is from German decent and I could trace his family back to 1675 when they came here as early settlers of Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Everyone in my family did ancestry DNA and it we found it very interesting. I had thought we were the only family with our last name in the America but with the DNA and matches I found that another family with my last name settled in Chicago around the same time my grandfather came. This I am sure of because I am a match for at least on of that clan. But I cannot figure out how we are related because the answer to that is in the small towns in Russia where the Jews were persecuted by the tzar and forced them to immigrate to the US. Instead of five stars I put four because I think they mislead me with the “all access” when it really isn’t “all access”

I have used Ancestry since its inception. As a previous person stated, At first it was lacking records, but now it is amazing. If they could make the search where it would narrow down some more, because looking through 2,000 or more and having people come up who are in the 1900s when you want the late 1700s is very aggravating to me. Surely if you put the date of 1768, why are 1970s people showing up. Same with state, if I put SC and California is shown, I wonder why did I even put South Carolina, But I have to admit it does give you much more accurate information. And the DNA information amazes me. If the new ones would put their trees online and the stubborn old ones not keep everything to themselves, especially when you have given them information. Especially on the pictures. I have so many to identify and Rosa or Jose is from the same family, but they won’t share. However ancestry has really added to my knowledge and I know it will get better and better because it already has. It is sad to me because I won’t be around to see what’s to come. (I am 73.) So if you want to know is it worth it? I say a definite YES.

I love finding all my long dead relatives but I wish there were more detailed options for your family tree. For example, it should include siblings on each layer of the tree to make even more accurate assessments of relation. Also, including an option for adopted children would be amazing. My grandfather was adopted by his aunt, and so she kept being listed as his mother when in fact she was only his mother by adoption. As a result of this, I’m having an incredibly hard time finding out who my actual great-grandmother is because the records are only show the adopted parents name. There should be a way to include both adopted parents for the purposes of records AND the actual parents for genetic purposes. Also, it would be nice if there were more inclusive options that were sensitive to transgender individuals, including the records for older relatives who may have had to alter their paperwork because of the times they were living in. The history that you can uncover is really eye-opening and I just think everyone should be able to experience it.

The app crashed over 10 times in the first 30 minutes of it being downloaded. I got tired of counting the app crashes. Plus, it's constantly trying to force me into a $25/mo subscription. Very annoying. To be fair, but for these two disappointments, the app would be great.

Yes it does cost money to get more information, but the more you know the you can see. The part that is free(even with the new update) I can actually see the names of the country my ancestors came from. Before I couldn't see the names just shapes. I do wish that they would make things easier by touching/clicking on a country to see more of what it looks like. More history on that country so I wouldn't have to have two windows open googling the location and history.

The app is very limited compared to the website, which isn't the greatest either. The graphs are very spread out meaning a lot of scrolling. When looking at sources it won't show you a summary of the person's info alongside so you have to remember which can be tough when working with a lot of people. It also caches everything and is very, very slow to refresh when you have made updates elsewhere. There is no way to force a refresh that I can find.

I am struggling with how to figure out how I am related to my DNA matches. The Thru Lines are a great idea however I wish there was something similar that only showed Dna matches instead of everyone because when someone like myself is adopted and has no idea of their heritage or ancestors, it’s just a big puzzle. For instance I entered my “assumed” grandfather and I get tons of hints and thru lines for him but I have no idea if I’m related to him via DNA because so far no matches that I can find . I do admit I have thousands of relatives I can’t link in my tree even though we matched DNA, simply because idk how we are related. No common Surnames shared mostly. It’s very hard and confusing and I’m struggling to find my real ancestors because I don’t know my family nor who is who. If you could help us find a way to piece this together, you would be healing many lives that have holes in them from not knowing their families. you would help make so many lives better. Nonetheless ty for the hard work you have done so far.