# Forebears — Bring your Family Tree to Life > Pocket-sized genealogy app for building and managing family trees with GEDCOM import/export. (iPhone/iPad app by Opsisoft Limited.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/forebears/id1542532908 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Opsisoft Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1542532911) - Category: Reference, Education - Price: Free - Rating: 3.90/5 from 46 App Store ratings · 14 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 15.0 · 318 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2021-01-03 - Data updated: 2026-07-17 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/forebears/id1542532908/reviews.md ## What is Forebears? Forebears is a full-function, pocket-sized genealogy app where you, and you alone, own the data. No costly subscriptions. Import a GEDCOM from any of the popular genealogy apps or build your own family tree directly in Forebears. This app has the power to handle huge family history databases (tested on 15,000 members and 5,000 families). There's a unique graphic interface to move around and across the generations by tap gestures. We call it the 'Wonder Wheel' because that's what it is! Best of all, Forebears has been designed as a standalone family history archive that's with you all the time and can be easily updated whilst you're on the go. --- MAIN FEATURES --- GEDCOM Import/Export • Import GEDCOM files of any size to instantly display family trees • Export GEDCOM files to exchange your family history with other Forebears users and other systems • Import/Export Forebears Folders including GEDCOM plus Images and Notes Publish to PDF • A comprehensive index of all the people in a family group, their dates, partnerships, and children. All clearly laid-out and alphabetically sorted, ready to be bound into a book. • The Ancestral Circle can be printed as a digital image or hard copyForebears Wonder Wheel (attractive interactive graphic to build, navigate and view complex family histories) Wonder Wheel • Use the Wonder Wheel to view each 'nuclear family' (parents, siblings, partners, children and step-relationships)  • Use the Wonder Wheel to quickly move around your family tree using simple 'tap' gestures • Use the Wonder Wheel to easily build your family tree using simple 'tap' gestures Forebears Ancestral Circle (familiar chart showing previous generations on both paternal and maternal sides) • View all your ancestors on the Ancestral Circle, refocusing by simple 'tap' gestures • Tap to redraw the Ancestral Circle with different data displayed (dates, places, etc) • Display and Print the Ancestral Circle in large formats (iPad version displays more generations) Classic Family Tree • Display everyone descended from a chosen person (their gene-pool) or just the the patriarchal line • Quick navigation with single-tap anywhere on the tree to refocus the tree and the Wonder Wheel. • Scroll up/down and left/right to move swiftly around the largest Trees. Anniversary Calendar • Generate an Apple calendar for Birth, Marriage and Death events with Notification periods Analysis and Search tools • Find the fastest path between distant relatives and 'tap' named people to take a journey along this path • Search members by name or by position in family • Advanced search by occupation, location and event-date • Identify sub-groups (Kings and Queens, Soldiers, etc) • Identify logical inconsistencies in GEDCOM imports • Bulk 'geo-coding' raw textual addresses to display on a map in Forebears • Display Anniversaries by Month and Day • Chart showing how many people were born by decade (iPad) • Chart showing how many life events have date and address (iPad) • Find most popular boys and girls names • Find the most frequent family names • Count how many life events in the group • Count how many events have dates and locations • Display all the photos Secure data • Safeguard imported databases from change • Enable updates to imported databases • Hide display of living people Build family history from scratch • Build and/or import any number of family histories and easily switch between them • Apple-style contact records with standard gestures to build and display the members of your family tree • Quick entry of dates in all genealogical formats • Place lookups with grid references • Record wide range of life events in detail • Take photos or import from photo library • Display imported notes • Add any number of sub-groups to categorise people Packed with goodies! • Pre-loaded with the British Royal Family and US Presidents to get you started • Change the colour scheme (light and dark mode) • No need for public database subscriptions ## Key features - GEDCOM Import/Export - Wonder Wheel interactive interface - Ancestral Circle chart - Classic Family Tree view - Anniversary Calendar - Analysis and Search tools - Publish to PDF ## Recent user reviews (10 of 14) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/forebears/id1542532908/reviews.md ### 4/5 — Great for Reading Family Trees *2026-01-15* This is a really great program for looking at genealogical data files. The program can read native forebear files and can import .ged files. ### 5/5 — Gedcom *2025-11-08, version 3.2* The new family tree feature is fantastic. Best genealogy app on the market! ### 2/5 — Confusing *2025-02-11, version 1-1-6* Difficult to use and seems to be impossible to edit if you make a mistake. I couldn’t gave up after entering just one or two people when it confused the relationships. ### 2/5 — No Tree View *2024-07-19* Difficult to use and does not have a family tree view. Very buggy. No use to me! **Developer response:** Hi. I’m sorry to hear this and my apologies. If you’re able to contact me on the app’s support email then I’ll investigate the bugs you’re finding urgently. You’re right that Forebears doesn’t currently display a family tree diagram and whilst I probably should add one, it’s missing for a reason. Family trees look forwards through the generations which is useful I agree to show distant cousins. However, family history looks backwards through prior generations and for this I find the Ancestral Wheel far more useful as it shows both the female and male ancestors. My app is called Forebears for a reason: it’s uniquely good at illustrating a person’s forebears. If you feel able, please give Forebears another go and meanwhile I’ll work on making it even better in the next release! ### 3/5 — Feels clunky *2024-06-17* Moving around app is clunky. The wheel is effective for working with a specific individual only, moving around to others not directly associated with an individual is a more annoying process than it should be. I was not impressed. **Developer response:** Thanks for this feedback! So didn’t the left-hand pane with all group members listed and a search bar help? Perhaps I’m missing your point and then I’m sorry. If you’d like to reach out to me on the app’s support email then we can maybe get clear on the improvements you’d find helpful. Very likely I can make changes. ### 5/5 — Brilliant app! *2024-05-28, version 3-1-6* Once you’ve figured it out this app is brilliant! Easy to use and read, better than ancestry which hasn’t been working lately and doesn’t allow you to add titles which is very important for me as I’m using this to track the family in my novel, who are of royal descent. I only have a few notes: If someone has a child with someone it wants you to put in their marriage date but they’re not always married to them, there needs to be an option for unmarried. The death section needs to be longer as I cannot add the cause of death in so few characters, the summary isn’t showing everything, on some it shows the birth of their children but not on others, same with residence, marriage, etc,etc. it should show everything in the points above. Last thing is the nicknames, it changes from their full name just to using their nickname but when you search you can’t use the nickname, just the full name and when adding a lot of people this can get confusing, it should keep the surname with the nickname. Those are just pointers however, there are no ads, it isn’t laggy or slow and there are lots of options of information to add! ### 5/5 — Still enjoying it! *2024-03-12, version 1-1-6* Well done with this great little app. ### 5/5 — Great program *2024-01-23* I was looking for an app to import a gedcom file and forebears did it. I had a couple of questions and have emailed to program creator and Martin has been extra responsive. This is a wonderful program and the more I play with it the more I like it. the program makes it easy to see the relationships between the different family members and generations **Developer response:** Thanks! I’m really pleased you’re enjoying Forebears. ### 5/5 — Très pratique *2023-11-23, version 3-0-1* Pratique ### 1/5 — Coughs when trying to load Gedcom *2023-09-19, version 2-5-5* Ok, so it’s a gedcom file with 50,000 individuals, but it’s only 26MB, should be able to handle it? ## Frequently asked questions about Forebears ### How do I import my family tree into Forebears? Forebears allows you to import GEDCOM files of any size from popular genealogy apps. You can also build your family tree directly within the app. ### Can I export my family tree from Forebears? Yes, you can export your family tree as a GEDCOM file to share with other users and systems. Forebears also supports exporting Forebears Folders, which include GEDCOM, images, and notes. ### What is the 'Wonder Wheel' in Forebears? The Wonder Wheel is a unique graphic interface in Forebears that allows you to build, navigate, and view complex family histories through simple tap gestures. It helps visualize nuclear families and move easily through generations. ### Does Forebears require a subscription? No, Forebears is a free app and does not require any costly subscriptions. You own your data entirely. ### What kind of analysis tools does Forebears offer? Forebears includes tools to find the fastest path between relatives, search members by name or position, and perform advanced searches by occupation, location, and event-date. It can also identify sub-groups and logical inconsistencies in GEDCOM imports. ### How often is Forebears updated? The latest version of Forebears is 4.3.5, which was last updated on March 25, 2026. This indicates a relatively recent update cycle. ### What devices does Forebears support? Forebears is supported on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod. The iPad version offers enhanced features like displaying more generations and charts. ### What is the age rating for Forebears? Forebears has an age rating of 4+, making it suitable for a wide range of users interested in family history. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 4.3.5 — 2026-03-25 Minor changes and information about new MyForebears release ### 4.3.3 — 2026-02-16 Minor improvements to the App ### 4.3.2 — 2026-02-16 This is a minor maintenance update ### 4.3.1 — 2026-02-10 This is an important maintenance release to upgrade the App's internal data storage. ### 4.3 — 2026-02-09 Just one new feature but an important one to those in the genetic genealogy community. Forebears is now able to generate a GEDCOM file containing only the direct paternal lineage for a given person. ## Apps similar to Forebears | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [MyForebears](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/myforebears/id6760908655) | — | Free | Reference | | [FamilySearch Tree](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/familysearch-tree/id885982973) | 4.8 (494,465) | Free | Reference | | [Family Tree Maker & Heritage](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/family-tree-maker-and-heritage/id6754881010) | 4.3 (261) | Free | Reference | | [BillionGraves](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/billiongraves/id602792141) | 4.6 (1,308) | Free | Reference | | [Ancestry & Ethnicity: Face DNA](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ancestry-and-ethnicity-face-dna/id6747972810) | 5.0 (13) | Free | Reference | | [GEDCOM Viewer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gedcom-viewer/id6754165309) | 5.0 (1) | Free | Reference | ## More apps by Opsisoft Limited - [Bamboozle](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bamboozle/id6476789572) All apps by Opsisoft Limited: https://appshunter.io/developer/1542532911 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-17.*