GEDCOM Viewer is available for download and demonstration free of charge and with no obligation. To install GEDCOM Viewer, use the browser on your Android device to download the Android package (.apk). This will cause a notification icon to appear at the top of your screen. Drag this icon down to slide open the notification window (notifications can also be accessed via the menu on the Android "Home" page). When the download has completed, click on the name of the downloaded package and the system should offer to install it. This is probably the easiest installation method for most people, but besides this some alternative installation methods are:
If your device manufacturer has included an "APK Install" application, you can use that to select and install the package file once it has been downloaded to your device.
The package file can be downloaded to a host PC and then installed
over a USB connection using the adb tool.
For all installation methods, the user must configure the settings of their Android device to permit the installation of "non-market" applications. In the future, GEDCOM Viewer may also become available on the Google Android market and/or other similar services.
When GEDCOM Viewer is installed on a device, it requires permission to access certain features and services on that device. In particular, the following are requred:
Although the current version of GEDCOM Viewer does not use the Internet in normal operation, it requires it when it is initially launched in order to obtain a license key from a server.
GEDCOM Viewer reads GEDCOM files from the external storage medium and needs to be able to write this medium in order to cache "map" files there. It can read GEDCOM files from anywhere on the external storage medium. Map files are only written to an application-specific area that is deleted when GEDCOM Viewer is uninstalled.
The license key scheme used by GEDCOM Viewer requires that it be able to positively identify a particular device to which a license is being issued. For phone-type devices, it uses the IMEI/MEID identifiers for this purpose. GEDCOM Viewer does not use any other phone state information and the information is not distributed or used for any purpose other than issuing a license key.
For non-phone devices, which do not have IMEI/MEID identifiers, the WiFi MAC address is used to identify the device. Again, this information is accessed only during the issuing of a license key file, and it is not distributed or used for any other purpose. GEDCOM Viewer does not manipulate the WiFi service in any other way and once the license key has been issued it can be used without having WiFi enabled.
When GEDCOM Viewer is installed and initially launched, it will attempt to obtain a demonstration license key from the license server. The demonstration license will enable the application for a limited period of time. In order to continue to use GEDCOM Viewer after the demonstration period has expired, the user must purchase a "standard" license, which will enable the application for an indefinite period. Purchase of a standard license is accomplished by visiting Kagi.com to make payment, then entering a transaction code that will be received by email into a screen provided by GEDCOM Viewer for that purpose. Upon entering the transaction code, the license server will be contacted in order to obtain the license key. Once the license key has been obtained, it will enable the application for as long as it remains installed on the device. Uninstalling the application or wiping the device will delete the license key.