Kin Nearby

Get your family tree into Kin Nearby

Kin Nearby reads a GEDCOM file, the standard file for a family tree (it ends in .ged or .gdz). Services make one from their website on a computer, not from their phone app. It takes about five minutes.

Kin Nearby is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ancestry, MyHeritage, Geni, WikiTree, FamilySearch or RootsMagic. They are named here only to show where to find their export.

Step 1. Export the file, on a computer

From Ancestry

Only the tree's owner can export it.

  1. Sign in at ancestry.com and open your tree.
  2. In the toolbar on the left, click More (the three dots) and choose Tree Settings.
  3. Under Manage your tree, click Export tree.
  4. Confirm, wait while the file is prepared, then click the button to download the GEDCOM file.

From MyHeritage

  1. Sign in to your family site.
  2. Move your cursor over Family tree and click Manage Trees.
  3. Click Export to GEDCOM next to the tree's name.
  4. Choose whether to include photos (Kin Nearby does not use them, so you can leave them out), then click Begin the export.

From Geni

  1. Sign in at geni.com.
  2. To export from yourself, open the GEDCOM Export page. To export from another person, open their profile and choose Export GEDCOM from the Actions menu.
  3. Follow the page to create and download the file.

Geni makes the file around one person, and only from profiles you added to Geni, so a tree built by many people may export smaller than you expect.

From WikiTree

  1. Sign in at wikitree.com.
  2. Open wikitree.com/wiki/Special:DownloadGedcom.
  3. If that page does not open, choose Help, then Search Help Pages, search for "export", open "Exporting a GEDCOM", and click the link "Click here to export a file from WikiTree."
  4. Choose the options if you want to refine what is exported.
  5. Click the Export GEDCOM button.

From FamilySearch

FamilySearch does not make a GEDCOM file. Use a family tree program on a computer, such as RootsMagic, to bring your tree down from FamilySearch, then export a GEDCOM file from that program (look for Export or GEDCOM in its File menu).

Menus change from time to time. If you cannot find the export, search the service's help for "GEDCOM export".

Step 2. Get the file onto your iPhone or iPad

AirDrop it, email it to yourself, or save it to iCloud Drive.

Step 3. Open it in Kin Nearby

Tap the file in Files, or share it and choose Kin Nearby (look under More if you do not see it). Or open Kin Nearby, go to Settings, then Family Tree, and choose Import a Different Tree.

What happens next

Your tree is read and kept on your device. The app shows the places and dates it could find. A place it cannot match is shown as such; to change a place, fix it in your tree and export again. Your tree stays on your device, with no account. See the privacy statement for the details, and support if something does not import.