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Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone

tydligapp.com

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Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone

#131

Post by robterrell »

jckt wrote: post #4

Graphing 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 OS X it's Graphing Calculator. See the amazing story behind it: http://www.pacifict.com/Story/

Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone

#132

Post by smikhanov »

silverlake wrote: post #130
smikhanov wrote: post #68

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…

How does your app compare to Soulver?

I think very well. :)

Scalar does not deal with plain text as math. At all. Plain text is good on Macs with keyboard as it allows very quick, familiar and intuitive copy/paste and document restructuring, but is terrible on touch screens. That was the main motivation for me to start the project, BTW.

Commenting system is different as well (Soulver simply ignores all non-parseable text).

Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone

#133

Post by axman6 »

robterrell wrote: post #131
jckt wrote: post #4

Graphing 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 OS X it's Graphing Calculator. See the amazing story behind it: http://www.pacifict.com/Story/

I was just going to write this comment myself before checking to see if I'd been beaten. It's definitely one of the great stories of computer history.

Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone

#134

Post by glomph »

asselinpaul wrote: post #47
fophillips wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never been allowed to use a TI for exams in the UK. I've only ever been allowed to use a Casio.

I am currently in Year 13 in London. You are definitely allowed TI in the mathematics exams (A-Levels). TI-89 is one of the only that is banned because of its CAS. Friends in the French system are allowed the TI 89 though.

I think it depends on the modules/exam boards.

Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone

#135

Post by chinpokomon »

csmuk wrote: post #83
ronaldx wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because π is not representable is their system (typically base-2 or base-10 floating-point). Casio scientific calculators do have an internal representation of π (it's treated differently from the closest possible typed value) and very nuanced representations of numbers in general. As you say, this is where calculator apps almost inevitably fail - representing numbers properly is really crucial to the UX, and float…

Spot on. This is one reason I still use my 50g - it uses decimal internal representation with known precision on every operation. Casios are a mess. They are actually made my Kinpo which do a shitty job of pretty much everything. The notable exceptions being the FX991MS and Fx5800P which are very very close to my 50g (which was laboriously tested on paper before I trusted it)

I favor the 48GX with several modifications. I have a library that gives me 5 stack lines, but also shows a symbolic representation. In other words, typing "5 6 /" is represented as "5/6" rather than a decimal equivalent. If you multiply that by 2, my calculator maintains the symbolic representation as "(5/6)*2". By retaining values as symbolic representation for as long as possible, when you finally evaluate, it will result in "5/3". This is great for when things cancel out and it allows me to carry precision further since I'm not working with approximations. I can also request the decimal representation at any time. This is what no other calculator app is giving me.

Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone

#136

Post by visakanv »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #61
visakanv wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's so sad that kids with iphones aren't allowed to use phones on tests. They're being tested in an archaic context for archaic purposes. Under what circumstances are people going to be working without internet access? School has a lot of catching up to do with the real world. :(

What about the kids without iPhones? Are they handicapped because they can't afford one? Or is the school expected to provide hundreds of iPhones?

I'd suggest that they do what we do when we don't have the resources we need in the 'real world'- figure out some way to collaborate with others!

Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone

#137

Post by visakanv »

hrktb wrote: post #58
visakanv wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's so sad that kids with iphones aren't allowed to use phones on tests. They're being tested in an archaic context for archaic purposes. Under what circumstances are people going to be working without internet access? School has a lot of catching up to do with the real world. :(

I think it's a shame computer like devices (iphone, ipad, what you want) are not allowed. Learning to use them efficiently in a time constrained context would be a really valuable skill. Internet access is a lot more complex though, you'd have to filter what they can access and monitor everything every student is accessing, and that doesn't seem worth it for most tests. Image a scenario where the students just throws…

In which case I think the flaw is with the test, not the student. Why does a kid need to memorize something that he can get on-the-fly expert answers from? Why memorize something you can look up? =\

Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone

#138

Post by visakanv »

withad wrote: post #51
visakanv wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's so sad that kids with iphones aren't allowed to use phones on tests. They're being tested in an archaic context for archaic purposes. Under what circumstances are people going to be working without internet access? School has a lot of catching up to do with the real world. :(

For any field, there's always some basic knowledge that anyone studying or practicing it simply has to have if they're going to be at all effective. A well-written test should be checking that the students have acquired that knowledge (which can be much of the course content) and can apply it appropriately to problems. Anyone with an internet connection can easily find out, for example, how to add together two ints i…

Agreed with your reasoning within your framework. But I'm a little skeptical of the utility of this framework for thinking about learning. Why do we test people without communication, when most of what they're going to be doing throughout most of life is going to involve communicating with others, one way or another?

I think there IS utility in assessing people with the constraint of "you can't talk to anybody else", but I'm not comfortable with that being the dominant, primary means of assessment. It should be consistent with the likelihood that you'll actually be forced to work stuff out on your own- maybe 10, 20% at most?

Your thoughts?

Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone

#139

Post by hrktb »

visakanv wrote: post #137
hrktb wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's a shame computer like devices (iphone, ipad, what you want) are not allowed. Learning to use them efficiently in a time constrained context would be a really valuable skill. Internet access is a lot more complex though, you'd have to filter what they can access and monitor everything every student is accessing, and that doesn't seem worth it for most tests. Image a scenario where the students just throws…

In which case I think the flaw is with the test, not the student. Why does a kid need to memorize something that he can get on-the-fly expert answers from? Why memorize something you can look up? =\

The memorizing part is where computer could be allowed. You'll still have to remember how to get the information back though.

Now test are flawed by definition, you'll always have to create some artifical restriction to control what aspect you are assessing. Idealy you never test someone by putting him/her in a room with a pncil and paper, you'd assess how good the students cleared real tasks in realistic conditions.

Re: Tydlig – Calculator Reimagined for iPad and iPhone

#140

Post by shurcooL »

superuser2 wrote: post #116
shurcooL wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Missing compass because the WiFi version does not contain a GPS or magnetic compass.

There is a cellular version of the iPad too.
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