Family Historian User Group

So that Chromebook users can run FH

Afterall the whole world is moving to cloud based software services

Only the "whole world" that have decent internet speed and are happy to have their data in the cloud!. I don't and I am not, so I would see this as an add-on and not a replacement for locally installed software.

Outside the USA education system, the Chromebook market for productivity applications is still pretty small, so expecting a tiny outfit like Calico Pie to support such a minority operating system is just not realistic. Not even the bigger Family Tree Maker and RootsMagic operations have taken that one on board. I think you have been reading too many Chromebook enthusiast posts...

I tend to agree with the previous comments, but Chromebook is based on Android, so maybe a cloud-based product would not only support Chromebook but also Android tablets, and perhaps Apple iPad and Mac too, that would offer a larger market.
One snag is the need for an Internet connection which may be a problem when researching data in the field such as graveyards.

Also Codeweavers have a beta version of Crossover for Chromebook. I use the Mac version of Crossover to run Family Historian on my MacBook Air and so it may allow the running of FH on a Chromebook. Give it a try and report back.

Cloud based software would be a web based application (effectively a website), in a similar way to how you can run cut-down versions of Word, Excel, etc. in web applications from any modern web browser via Chrome, Linux, Windows, etc. So if there was a web based version of FH it would be accessible from any device with a web browser. Facilities in sites such as Ancestry to build your family tree are cloud based and give you an indication of how this might work. However, web based software tends to be complex to develop and would take a huge investment to even begin to approach the sophistication of Family Historian. I really don't think this is likely to happen with Family Historian and if it did it would be a very much 'cut-down' version with very few of the current facilities.

Valkrider wrote: ↑

17 Aug 2020 10:50

Also Codeweavers have a beta version of Crossover for Chromebook. I use the Mac version of Crossover to run Family Historian on my MacBook Air and so it may allow the running of FH on a Chromebook. Give it a try and report back.

I also used crossover on a Mac Book Air to run FH and was happy when I saw that they were doing a Chromebook version so installed the beta and FH ran and worked for four or five commands but then locked up repeatedly. I logged the issue (1227981) & provided all the data requested in July 2019. Since then as far as I can remember there has been one update but the issue is still there.
I suspect for much of the time Codeweavers may have had all hands to the pump updating the Mac version for the last Mac OS update which must have required serious changes & this would be a much more significant product for them. However with the lack of progress and the announcement of the Google partnership with Parellels to bring Windows applications to Chrome OS I wonder if this project has been abandoned or at least put on the back burner.

I would still like to see and purchase Crossover on Chrome OS but I gave up waiting and bought a small light weight Windows laptop for research trips.

This does look like a wide range of platforms but despite working for a Microsoft Gold Partner I like to see what the other platforms offer and I do like the Chromebook as a lightweight option for occasional casual use.

We already have wish list items for:

Family Historian Version for Android

and

Family Historian Version for iPhone/iPad

Do we need an additional request for ChromeBook, or an overarching request for mobile devices?

As someone who has not yet moved to FH (but planning to), please take my comment as a very respectful suggestion only.

I see the Chromebook requirement as running FH "in the cloud" (app and data). Whilst I see Android and IOS requirement as running the app locally (with the data either locally too, or in the cloud).

So, I see the Chromebook request as being different to the Android/IOS request.

And I see either request as being in addition to FH on Windows.

Glenn

Helen,

For info. Crossover and 'native' Wine installation are both existing possibilities for Chromebook (Android) users so the existing possibilities should already be similar to those of MacOS and Linux users.

I'm not an Android user so can't comment personally on how easy/difficult it might be to set up a working system.

Mervyn

Mervyn, that's what I thought from reading the thread.

However, the request seems to be for something where all the processing is done in the cloud, rather than on the Chromebook itself. The first question that comes to mind for me is: Whose servers are going to host the processing and data?

Setting up a PC to be remotely controlled from a Chromebook is possible, and might be sufficient to meet the need?How to Remotely Control a Windows 10 PC from a Chromebook (disclaimer: I've only used the same technique to control one windows pc from another so don't know how effective it is with a chromebook).

I'm personally not interested in such a solution; I'm just trying to tease out the Wish List request to be created (if one is needed after discussion).

Helen,

Yes, I see the problem of trying to get some clarity into a more precisely defined Wish or set of Wishes.

The combination of "Chromebook" and "in the cloud' suggests to me something like the Google concept of everything being stored in Google Drive to be accessed on demand, which leaves me wondering how realistic that might be when it comes to the management/storage of of media files, the maintenance of a GEDCOM file (see comments below) and need to maintain easy interaction with commonly used data provider Websites which would ideally be via a multi-tabbed web browser; and the difficulties of producing data output. I suspect it would definitely require a fully cloud/network aware version of FH, with some form of network management/cloud provider API add-on, which would have to be paid for (preferably only by users who actually want it as an option!).

Apart from the exclusively online 'Tree' applications which all have significant limitations, I only know of one Family History app that comes close to interacting directly with an online cloud account, but that's an exclusively MacOS/iOS and only works with Apple's iCloud. Another probable issue for FH is that, as far as I know, all existing Android/MacOS/iOS Family Tree software that interacts with the cloud use a 'real' database once uploaded, most commonly SQLite, and those that can upload a GEDCOM actually process the file into a usable database format during the upload process. I don't think it's feasible to maintain a GEDCOM datafile directly in the Cloud in any meaningful way, but if anyone knows better....

Mervyn

Apart from this thread, the OP had only visited FHUG a few times in 2007 & 2008 and has no FH version in their Profile.
So I am tempted to suggest this is parked in the Closed Wish List Requests.

Mike, if it was 5 years old, I might agree. Also, it isn't necessary to be logged on to visit the forums.

So I'm more inclined to raise a Wish List request for a cloud-based version of FH and leave it to the voters to express an opinion (and for CP to adopt or ignore it).