Saturday, August 2, 2014

Update: AncestryDNA What is Coming Next? Not! It's a Google Chrome Add-On.

Thanks to Adriana Gerard on Ancestry's Facebook page, the mystery of Crista's extra Ancestry DNA tools has been solved. Turns out it wasn't from Ancestry but the extra tools actually part of a Google Chrome Add-On for AncestryDNA that you can see and download at https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ancestrydna-helper/hjflmfphflaeehhpdiggobllgffelfee?hl=en-US. Oh, did I mention that the Add-On is "Free?"

Thanks Adriana for the heads up.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After I posted last night to this blog about the updated matching coming to AncestryDNA I remembered a video I viewed back on June 19, 2014, presented by Crista Cowan, The Barefoot Genealogist. She does the learning videos for Ancestry online.

In this particular video, "AncestryDNA: The Search for Biological Family" Crista in the first part of the video was teaching us how to link your online Ancestry tree to your DNA results if you hadn't already.

What grabbed my attention at the time, but I put on the shelve was what her DNA page screens looked like compared to mine. They are definitely different and I wonder if this is what is coming to the rest of us common folk in the near future.

For instance, here is my current screen (click on any of the images below to enlarge):




And now here is that same screen in Crista's DNA account.



OK Ancestry and Crista, what is "Scan," "Download Matches" and "Download Ancestors of Matches" functions?  I don't have these features on my DNA match pages. How about an explanation for the rest of us and when do we get to see these neat tools?

Then there is even a more mystic and cryptic second screen. Here is Crista's page with her matches:


And here is what my screen looks like:


What is missing on mine that she has is that little brownish looking icon on the right.



What that appears to be is two people connected together type of icon? Is this the long promised new collaboration tool that will be better than the chromosome browser mentioned at the last RootsTech?

So what do we really have here and when will the rest of us see this on our DNA match pages?

I think I will post a link of this post here on the blog to the Ancestry Facebook page. Maybe I will get an answer, or be totally ignored which is usually the case with me an Ancestry. ;-)

I will post more when I hear something. Good genealogy hunting today to all.