Using the FamilySearch Memories App

August 18, 2014 By Todd Powell

FamilySearch Memories allows you to take photos, record stories, and make audio recordings without having to first navigate to a person. You can take photos or make recordings and indicate later who is in the photos or stories. This is great for capturing a special moment at a family gathering, making digital copies of the photos from a family album, or recording a family member telling stories. With this app, you can do the following:

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• View photos and stories and listen to audio recordings that you have added to Family Tree.
• Add photos, stories, and audio recordings to your ancestors in Family Tree.
• Share the photos and stories.

View Photos and Stories and Listen to Audio Recordings

When you first open FamilySearch Memories, you see the My Photos page. It displays photos that you have added to Family Tree or photos that you have taken with your device.

 

 Go to a Different Screen

Tap the icons at the bottom of the screen to go to a different page.

View or Listen

• Swipe up and down to see all the photos, stories, or recordings.
• To view photos and stories, tap the item you want to look at. When you have looked at a specific item, swipe from side to side to see the other items.
• To listen to audio recordings, tap the play u button.

Add Photos, Stories, and Audio Recordings to an Ancestor
When you add a photo, story, or audio recording, it is also added to the person’s Memories in Family Tree.

Add Photos

1. Go to the Photos screen.
2. To add a photo, tap the icon at the top of the screen.
3. Choose to take a photo or use a photo from your camera gallery.
4. If you are happy with the photo you took, tap Use Photo. Tap Retake if you want to retake the photo. Tip: As soon as you tap Use Photo, the photo shows up at the top of the Photos screen. If you are online, it syncs to FamilySearch.org. If you are offline, you have it on your device, and it will sync the next time you connect to the Internet.
5. When the photo is added, tap the photo. Now you have a viewer that is similar to a typical photo gallery.
6. If you want, tap Add Title, and add a title using the keyboard.
7. Identify the people in the photo.
• To identify a person, tap Who is this about?
• Tap the person in the photo. The app creates a tag so that you can add a name. Tip: iOS identifies faces for you. The circle around the face shows what will appear in the portrait. Use the green dot on the circle to adjust the size or placement of the circle.

• Tap in the blank area below the photo, and use the keyboard to enter the person’s name.
• As you start to type, the system displays similar names from tags you have already created or from people who are in your family tree. If the person is in the list and has a Family Tree ID number, tap that name. The system attaches the photo to that person in Family Tree. A check mark appears at the top of the screen.
• If the person you need does not appear in the list, tap Add New.
• To identify more people in the photo, in the lower right corner tap the green icon, tap the person on the photo, and add the person’s name.

1. When you’re done, tap the check mark in the upper right corner.
2. If you want, share the photo.
• In the bottom left corner, tap the share icon. Whatever services you have connected to your device will be displayed.
• Tap the one you want to use to share the photo.
3. To delete the photo, in the upper right corner, use the trash can icon.

Add Stories

Use the Stories screen to add stories about your ancestor. You can use your device’s recording and speech-to-text features.

1. Go to the Stories screen.
2. In the upper right corner, tap the icon. This screen appears.

1. Tap Enter Story Title, and use the keyboard to enter a title.
2. Enter the story content. To enter a story without typing it, tap the microphone key by the space bar. The device starts recording immediately. Tip: It may help to decide how you want to start the story before you tap the mic key.
3. When you are through, tap Done. The system writes what it heard. You can edit words that are incorrect, and the feature saves you a lot of time typing.
4. To add a photo to the story, tap Add Photo.

• To add a photo from Family Tree, tap Select from FamilySearch. The photos you have added to Family Tree are displayed. Tap the photo you want. (You can only attach 1 photo to the story.)
• To take a photo to add to the story, use the device’s photos feature.
• To add a photo from your gallery, tap Select from Camera Roll.

7.  Tap the photo you want to attach to the story.
8.  When you are through with the story, tap Done. You can scroll up and down to read the story.
9. To have the story appear on the person’s Stories page in Family Tree, in the bottom right corner of the screen, tap Who is this about?

• Use the keyboard to enter the person’s name. As you start to type, the system displays similar names from tags you have already created or from people who are in your family tree. If the person is in the list and has an ID number, tap that name. The system attaches the story to that person in Family Tree. A check mark appears at the top of the screen.
• If the person you need does not appear in the list, tap Add New.
• To identify more people in the story, in the lower right corner, tap the green icon, tap the story, and add the person’s name.

10.  When you’re done, in the upper right corner, tap the check mark.
11.   If you want to edit the story, in the upper right corner, use the 3 dots.
12.  If you want, share the story.

Add Audio

Use the Audio screen to add audio recordings of your ancestors’ voices or to add recordings of people telling stories about your ancestors.

1. Go to the Audio page.
2. In the upper right corner, tap the icon. The device starts recording immediately. You can record for up to 15 minutes at a time.
3. When you are through, tap Done. The system displays a screen where you can add a title for the recording.
4. To add the title, use either the keyboard or tap the mic key by the space bar and speak the name of the story. If you are on the Internet, a green bar will show that the audio is syncing to Family Tree.
5. Tap the recording. You will see the play control.
6. To add the audio to the person in Family Tree, in the bottom right corner of the screen, tap Who is this about?
• Use the keyboard to enter the person’s name. As you start to type, the system displays similar names from tags you have already created or from people who are in your family tree. If the person is in the list and has an ID number, tap that name. The system attaches the story to that person in Family Tree. A check mark appears at the top of the screen.
• If the person you need does not appear in the list, tap Add New.

1. To identify more people in the recording, in the lower right corner, tap the green icon, tap the recording, and add the person’s name.
2. When you’re done, in the upper right corner, tap the check mark.
3. If you want to edit the title of the recording, in the upper right corner, use the 3 dots.
4. If you want, share the story.