Reunion Review by Hkahdfs,  Jun 1, 2013

Reunion 10 is adequate for basic genealogical documentation, but really is not the final say in genealogical software, despite other glowing reviews. Its user interface is incredibly dated (early 2000s), and frankly ugly in my opinion. More importantly, the documentation system is absolute rubbish. Yes, you can record your sources, but there is no way to indicate the quality of the source (though you can add a field and do it manually), nor format the sources the way you want; you can change the order that the fields appear it, but that is about it. Overall this is almost a deal killer for me.

The other big turn off is the so-called mapping function. Yes, you can add geotagging to place names, but if you want to view it on a map, Reunion just opens up Google Map in your web browser rather than having a built-in globe view (MacFamily Tree is far better for this).

While Reunion does allow you to note pretty specific information (”no children,” “never married,” etc.), it is also a bit disappointing in not providing any data format overrides for specific cases. For example, if you want to have a Hungarian name formatted as family name first, given name second (and is appropriate for Hungarian), it is impossible. In fairness, there are only a few genealogy programs that will do this, and they are all on Windows, but it does make Reunion less interesting for professionals who want to do things right.

Biggest Pro: fairly complete feature set, but not perfect
Biggest Con: properly formatting sources is impossible

Reunion Review by Meg Bate,  Apr 30, 2013

Best program for the Macintosh Computer. I have used Reunion over a number of years am am now using the latest version and I am still happy using it. I have looked at some other programs and they still do not match it.

Biggest Pro: Easy to use - Great for linking multimedia to people & families
Biggest Con: Probably no windows version

Reunion Review by Lyle Rawlins,  Dec 9, 2012

I have been using Reunion for several years.

Biggest Pro: The web search feature

Reunion Review by Gil Cantlin,  Nov 24, 2012

I think Reunion is the very best genealogy program in existence. That is true not just for Apple for which it was written, but Reunion outshines every other genealogy program for any operating system including Apple’s. It covers the waterfront of needs. The time it takes to become familiar with it is more than a great investment. Nicely, that’s relatively easy, especially if you’re familiar with others. The tech support in the manual is excellent, almost more than one can handle. Fortunately, the email tech support is every bit as good as the program itself. Apple and Reunion were truly made for each other, and what a valuable and happy bond.

Biggest Pro: Easy coverage of all needs.
Biggest Con: No cons whatever.

Reunion Review by Glenn Thomas,  Oct 23, 2012

Good app but very expensive to upgrade. IOS apps are just sluggish

Biggest Pro: user interface.
Biggest Con: expensive to upgrade, no notification when updates are ready.

Reunion Review by Heather,  Feb 28, 2011

Amazing. Wonderful. Faultless,
Only problem is that it is not in a Windows Platform.

Biggest Pro: It is written by a Genealogist who also understands how to keep it simple and perfect
Biggest Con: No Windows version of can be purchased now

Reunion Review by Meg,  Jan 12, 2011

I have used several other genealogy programs (Windows & Mac) and Reunion is by far the best for Mac users. It is comprehensive and relatively easy to use. The online Help manual is actually helpful. The program is extremely flexible; but with so many possibilities, newbies may be a little overwhelmed until they decide how they want data to appear.
The company is responsive to users and maintains an active users forum which I have used often. The support exceeds that offered by most other companies for any product.
Reunion is one of the few iPad versions of genealogy programs currently available, which increased the usefulness of the program for me.

Biggest Pro: The company support is fantastic and well worth the price of the app.
Biggest Con: Citation documentation could be improved by the addition of a few templates instead of having to make your own.

Reunion Review by James Moule,  Sep 7, 2010

I have been using this program for over 15 years and use it every day. It is very easy to find someone in a large file of people with Reunion’s indexing and search capabilities. It produces a very wide variety of reports and charts. The ones I use most frequently are a) Family Group Sheets to tell a correspondent what I know about a family, b) register reports to produce books on different families, and c) web cards that I upload to my web site to share what I have learned to others.

The iPod version is very handy. I have a copy of everything I have learned in my cell phone. If my mother or my children ask who is related to whom or when they were born I have the answer in my pocket. The new iPad version is fantastic! It is very easy to carry all your information with you and update it on the road when visiting libraries etc.

Biggest Pro: An easy to use, full featured, program
Biggest Con: Every one I ever thought of was taken care of in periodic program updates.

Reunion Review by Floyd,  May 16, 2010

I wanted and needed a program that was very user friendly because I am a stark novice, new to genealogy and not a professional. I have spent two months making a tree on Ancestry and needed software to send the tremendous amount of stuff I had accumulated.

After a lot of time spent researching genealogy software, it seems as if I was lead down the garden path once again! The reviews I read on Reunion 9 for Macs were so glowing that I said even though the price was a bit large and the OTHER reviews said it was as good as sliced bread or canned beer, I took the bait. What a waste of time and my money!

Program is extremely tedious, NOT user friendly, incredibly confusing, and has a VERY steep learning curve for ones who are newbies. The software mfgr should warn folks who are new to the family history game about the learning curve! I guess they just assume all who buy this piece of junk know all about data entry and such for family trees! There are some of us who DO NOT and it would be nice to be warned before hand! The price is way way over the top and overall not good value! My dislikes are so many I can’t list em all! But one GLOWING complaint- no delete function for wrong entries! You gotta open a clipboard and navigate this to delete an entry! Where is the “save as” button? You gotta be joking!
Did I mention NO paper instruction book? They want you to PRINT your own, and it is LONG too! Guess printer ink and paper costs are best left to us unsuspecting customers! Thanks a lot!

I have been diligently trying to figure out this program for three days and have given up in disgust!
Hard to believe this is a MAC program! It will now sit on my hard drive unused till I decide to take it off and give it to my grand kids in around fifty years IF anyone in my family ever becomes interested in genealogy.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PROGRAM TO ANYONE WHO IS NEW OR HATES STEEP LEARNING CURVES!

Biggest Pro: Nice looking WHEN you can figure it out!
Biggest Con: STEEP learning curve-and NO paper instruction manual

Reunion Review by Lawrie,  May 9, 2010

Excellent program. I have used it for over 10 years. The mail list is excelleent because it answers every questio I have had.

Biggest Pro: Easy to use from day 1!!!
Biggest Con: There isn’t one!

Reunion Review by Peter Verburg,  Oct 30, 2009

Reunion is for me a great solution for my hobby. I’m using it now for over ten years. Outstanding support from Leister and from the local support of Frans van Bodegom in The Netherlands.

Biggest Pro: Ease of use
Biggest Con: No idea

Reunion Review by Chris J Simpson,  Oct 26, 2009

The previous reviewer’s opinion is nonsense - one star ratings across all aspects of a software package, respected by professional genealogists, just looks ridiculous. Reunion is a stable, refined and very comprehensive package, coupled with a splendid version for the iPhone/Touch which virtually replicates the desk based application and can synchronise both ways to update from research in the field. Worth every penny!

I also use iFamily for Leopard which also is a splendid alternative at somewhat lower cost.

Sorry for the initial rant, but when I see such senseless reviewing it galvanises me into replying.

Biggest Pro: Comprehensive especially with the added iPod sync. ability in version 9.0b
Biggest Con: Probably the cost - but compared to the hours spent researching your genealogy, good value

Reunion Review by Maura,  Oct 17, 2009

I absolutely detested this program. It is boring, bland and dated.Hard to believe that it is a MAC program. The price is a rip off. I would not recommend. I am now using ifamily for Leopard and I love it

Biggest Pro: Nothing to recommend it
Biggest Con: Boring, bland, dated and very difficult to use. Price is an absolute rip off.

Reunion Review by Richard Anders,  Jun 5, 2009

Tried the demo out but it was not what I’ve expected. It was clumsy to use, the charts and reports are ridiculously bad and it is very expensive (99 US$). Leister does not seem to add features for free, they charged 60 US$ for the last update from reunion 8 to 9 while adding only minor new features. It took leister over one years to publish a Universal Binary application after the first intel macs were available and they charged 60 US$ for the update (60% of the original price!!)

Finally bought MacFamilyTree, did not regret the decision.

Biggest Pro: Documentation is good
Biggest Con: Outdated, expensive, clumsy to use, charts are ugly

Reunion Review by Lisa Rex,  Apr 10, 2009

Reunion is superb. I won’t go back to using any other programs. I’m especially impressed by the full drag-and-drop features, plus the ease of creating and editing sources.

Biggest Pro: Source handling
Biggest Con: I haven’t found one yet

Reunion Review by Lorraine,  Apr 3, 2009

I have been using Reunion for about 20 yrs. I get the updated versions as they come out. It is very easy to use and allows the input of all the information anyone would want to keep. You can add your references and in a family group print out they are listed, so it’s easy to keep track of those resources you have accessed.
You can input several unrelated family groups as well. I use this facility when helping older friends without computers, organise the information they have.

Biggest Pro: Logical, easy to enter information, easy to print several different types of reports.

Reunion Review by C Waller,  Jan 7, 2009

Does whatever one asks of it. Outstanding, stable product.

Biggest Pro: total flexibility
Biggest Con: none

Reunion Review by Cari Thomas,  Nov 28, 2008

To complete my review, which was not included: My one big irritant: is in the Ahnentafel report, when it lists the children in these default words— “They had the following child:” or “They had the following children”.

I would prefer the default as “They had AT LEAST the following child:” (my caps) or “They had at least the following children:”

I believe that stating the known children as an exact number is misleading in the majority of cases. Even genealogists who grew up in a nuclear family may not know of stillborn/otherwise-deceased siblings (prior to the birth of the genealogist), siblings adopted-out, or siblings placed in care facilities, let alone half-or full-siblings born before parents’ marriage. And of course, the same is true of any ancestors.

Reunion Review by Cari Thomas,  Nov 28, 2008

Love it. Have been using REUNION since Feb 1996 (Version 4) Now on Version 9. Easy transition from one version to the next.

Biggest Pro: Its intuitiveness; almost seems to know what I want to do, before I’ve even decided!
Biggest Con: My one big irritant: is in the Ahnentafel report, when it lists the children in these default words— “They had the following child:” or “They had the following children”.

Reunion Review by Don Michaud,  Oct 4, 2008

Reunion sure makes the quest of researching and building a family tree an enjoyable hobby instead of a chore. The many tools including being able to add photo’s and find peoples names with ease makes me gives this software a top rateing.