Critically Needed Update to the Family Tree Mobile App
Many new users are told that a good way to work in Family Tree is to use the mobil app and just work on their Ancestors With Tasks list. Due a problem in the work flow of attaching hints in the mobile app, sources can be attached to more than one person. This is not allowed on the web version of Family Tree and should not be allowed in the mobile app either.
I have for the following illustration used the Source Linker of the web version to incorrectly attach a source.
Going now to the mobile app, here is the workflow:
1) I Click the Tasks button to open Ancestors with Tasks:
2) I click on the hint icon for Thelma:
3) I click on the hint title to open it:
4) I click Compare:
5) Scrolling through this, everything looks good. So I get down to the bottom and find a box that as a new or inexperienced user I'm not sure what to make of:
Why do I care if it is attached to another person? Why would I want to view someone else? Or does this mean view Thelma? I don't need to view her since I just did. I have no idea what Revie...hment means so I'll just ignore it. All I want to do is attach this source so I'll just click Yes, Attach and ignore that box.
6) I click Yes, Attach:
Everything looks great so I finish attaching the rest of the people then go on to the next task. I certainly am doing "Good Work."
Then when someone comes along much later and sees this:
and is really confused and annoyed that someone could be so careless and be mystified of how anyone could have done this anyway.
Obviously this is much more of a problem when this is not artificially created as I did here but when the record hint is incorrect to begin with and the mobile app user is not forced to consider that since the source is already attached to a person with similar name and information the hint is wrong and should not be attached. It is also a problem when the source is attached to an incorrect individual and the user attaching the hint correctly is not required to detach it from the incorrect individual first as one must do on the web version.
Please update the mobile app to function as the web version does and not allow a source to be attached to a person if it is already attached to someone else. There are several possible options I can think of.
1) Do not present hints under Ancestors With Tasks if they are already attached to someone. Leave these hints to be dealt with using the much better overview of the entire situation which is available in the web version.
2) In the yellow box leave out the View Person so that Review Attachment can be fully spelled out. Have the Yes, Attach button and the Not A Match button greyed out until the previous attachment is dealt with. This gives the user a chance to see if the attachment is incorrect or if it is attached to a duplicate person that needs to be merged in.
There are probably other better options but again, please update the mobile app so we do not get these doubly attached sources.
Comments
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I just received the Family Tree 4.6.2 (mobile Android) update today.
"What's New - Version: 4.6.2:: Improved stability and fixed bugs."
Are you indicating this update is unstable?
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@genthusiast You were too quick. Sometimes I type the title for a new topic and hit return instead of tab or clicking with my mouse into then next box. That immediately posts just the title and I have to edit the post to get the actual post in there.
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I frequently edit my posts as well.
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@Gordon Collett Good catch! I guess this <bug> is how a previous user a while ago was seeing those multiple source attachments (though if I recall it was attached to the same person multiple times?). I don't recall the resolution to that post - but this seems to explain it?.
I see that you detached the source from Glen - but my question: since it remains in the Latest Changes/Change log - will that hint be suggested again for him - or the fact that it was detached will resolve that confusion for the Record Hint engine? I certainly hope the engine doesn't suggest again Record Hints that were detached due to erroneous first attachment.
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Don't worry! The Hint engine never looks at the Change Log. I am completely convinced of this.
For one thing, that would be totally foolish. The Change Log is where all the incorrect information about a person which has been removed from that person resides.
For the second, I've observed through the years how the Hint engine works. Generally when I am working on a person, attaching hints is the very last thing I do. As I research and improve a profile I have observed that, for example, there will be four hints on the profile. Then I'll make an edit and two hints will vanish. Then I'll add some family members and the hints will jump to six. Then I'll make more corrections and all the hints will vanish. Working further, three hints will appears. Generally by the time I am done, there will be a couple of hints and they will always be correct. So I'll attach them. This also means that I rarely add information while attaching a hint because it' all already on the person.
If the hint engine considered the Change Log at all, then Hints would never vanish when corrections were made because the information that was removed is still in the Change Log.
(As a side note, the Hint engine did not suggest the incorrect attachment. I fiddled in the Source Linker to attach it to a sibling rather than the suggested person in order to illustrate the problem. It is in a family I follow very closely so this will not cause any problems.)
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The mobile app works with an image of the main database, so attaching sources in any part of the app carries some risk of multiple attachments. I have also seen this happen on the web interface. The problem isn't the app, the problem is edit warring.
The involved contributors may not even be aware edit warring is going on. Certainly a mobile app user isn't likely to be aware, but the signs are easy to miss also on the web interface.
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Attaching a source already attached used to be much easier to do. My impression is, this problem is largely in the past. FamilySearch now shows on the source index page and in the Source Linker that a source is multiply attached, so over time the multiple attachments will be found and corrected.
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We appreciate you bringing this problem to our attention. This has been submitted for investigation. We will get back to you as soon as we have an answer. Thank you so much for your kindness and patience while this is being addressed.
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@Gordon Collett Thank you for your detailed report and your patience.
I'm happy to report that the mobile Family Tree app no longer allows users to attach the same source to multiple persons in the Tree, and gives helpful warnings when a source is already attached to other persons. This update is available for the FamilySearch Tree app:
- for iOS as version 4.6.12 in the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/familysearch-tree/id885982973
- for Android as version 4.6.10 in the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.familysearch.mobile
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