Great to see more people attacking the underserved math app segment on the iOS. I'm the author of Scalar ( http://scalarapp.com ), another calculator replacement for iPhone / iPad. Just tested both versions of Tydlig very heavily, looks like the author ran into lots of the similar math/UI problems as I did when I was working on my app. :) Some approaches he has chosen look similar, some are unique. Great work, good l…
This looks rather good (sadly no iDevice). Looks as if Apple came up with it, if they weren't so silly with the way they applied their skeumorphism. I always imagined that if you were aiming for the mathematician market (huge market!!1 /s) you could have an app like that except on a tablet you'd use with a pen. Then you'd just write down calculations and OCR would figure out what you are trying to calculate and do th…
Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone
111–120 of 151 posts
Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone
#112Here are my thoughts as I use it (I will add to this comment. Hopefully the kids won't wake up soon.)
Wish there was an UNDO. I just moved a number and didn't want too. Shake to UNDO?
Pinch to zoom in and out. I'm using this on an iPhone.
Can I save a canvas? It doesn't look like, but maybe I'm missing it.
Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some of the copy on your page is not quite right. "Each value could be . . ." -> "Each value can be . . .". There are one or two other places with this improper word usage. Just a heads up.
Thanks! It's hard to be a non-native speaker!
Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone
#114I basically stopped using "calculators" when Soulver and more recently Calca came out. Much easier to use and a lot more flexible. That said the graphing in this looks quite nice.
Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone
#115I basically stopped using "calculators" when Soulver and more recently Calca came out. Much easier to use and a lot more flexible. That said the graphing in this looks quite nice.
Wow, Calca is amazing. Thanks for the tip. :)
Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone
#116Graphing functionality on a phone reminds me of an old TI calculator. I really don't know why recent OSes (be it on PC, smartphone, tablet) always came with such feeble calculators. It's not like TI calculators are difficult to use. Sure if all you want is add/min/mul/div functionality the TI is essentially a traditional calculator, and then behind that you've got all these nifty graphing utilities. It's not like a g…
On that note, iPad doesn't even have the iPhone Calculator app, and it's _impossible_ to get it (without hacking) because it's a built-in app; one you cannot remove nor acquire from the App Store. It's also missing Compass, Voice Memo and Passbook apps. Edit: Weather app too.
Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm working on an RPN calculator (with some pretty sweet gestural functionality) which solves approximately half of those problems. Wait, no, more like a quarter. Welp. It does return the correct value for sin(π) though (you gotta call __sinpi(x / M_PI) if you don't want to return -8.74e-8 or some ridiculous value).
> It does return the correct value for sin(π) though (you gotta call __sinpi(x / M_PI) if you don't want to return -8.74e-8 or some ridiculous value). This is ridiculous. Your calculator (most calculators) cannot apply sin to π, because π is not representable is their system (typically base-2 or base-10 floating-point). What you have done here is make sine worse for all values, including the representable value close…
I should clarify for other readers: __sinpi() is an Apple-created addition to Math.h, what it does is multiply the argument by M_PI before calculating. When you consider that my calculator has a key which inputs the constant pi (which is, of course, not actually pi, but M_PI), it all comes out in the wash (cosmetically speaking).
However, what would you do instead? Test before each trig function whether the argument is a multiple of M_PI and then choose which function to use? I would imagine this would fall apart at higher values...
Also consider that 'cosmetically satisfying' is not an unreasonable goal (in my mind) when the calculator really only has horizontal space for 12 digits in 36-point Helvetica, but you're right, as the user could arrive at arbitrary values by other means.
Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone
#118Looks great. Just needs a new name. Tydlig?
Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone
#119Good to see that Bret Victor's ideas outlined in "Inventing on Principle" start taking some foothold.
Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd love to hear you highlight a few of the unexpected challenges.
For example: 1. When someone enters "1 / 3" how many decimal places you display in the result? My approach: use MAX(4, MAX(decimal_places(entered_values))). His approach: use 3 everywhere. - Bonus 1: how many decimal places you display when someone enters "sin(3.14)"? What about "sin(1 / 3)"? My approach: use as much space you have on the screen. - Bonus 2: how do decimal places propagate when you're using refs? 2. W…