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iOS 18: Overhauled Calculator App Supports These 15 Conversions

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During its WWDC 2024 keynote on Monday, Apple introduced a new Calculator app for iPad that includes a new Math Notes feature, and there are similar changes to be found in the Calculator app in iOS 18.

calculator-app-ios-18.jpg

The Calculator app on iPhone now has an additional button to switch between Basic, Scientific, and Math Notes in portrait or landscape view. Meanwhile, there's a useful new History feature that helps you keep track of previous calculations.

In addition, a new Convert option supports unit conversions for length, weight, currencies, and more. Here's the full conversions that are supported:
  • Angle
  • Area
  • Currency
  • Data
  • Energy
  • Force
  • Fuel
  • Length
  • Power
  • Pressure
  • Speed
  • Temperature
  • Time
  • Volume
  • Weight
In iPadOS 18, the new Calculator app lets users type or write out mathematical expressions with an Apple Pencil and see them solved in their own handwriting. These Math Notes are automatically accessible in the Notes app in a new Math Notes folder that can be accessed on both iPhone and iPad.

The first developer beta of iPadOS 18 is now available, with a public beta following in July, and official release to the public in the fall.

Article Link: iOS 18: Overhauled Calculator App Supports These 15 Conversions
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/06/11/ios-18-calculator-these-conversions/
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On 27 June 2020, Marquess Brownlee asked Craig Federighi if iPad would ever get a calculator. Federighi said if they could do it better than anyone, they might.

Well…. Is there a calculator on iPad that is better for the masses? I’m not talking about a specific purpose calculator, but one for everyone.
 
It’s about time, and I checked with Apple support which Apple Pencil works, answer was Apple Pencil 2 and pro.
In my case it works on my iPod mini 6 .
 
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Just imagine if a 1/10th of 10 billion Apple lost on car project, was devoted to iPadOS...
 
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big_papa_johnny said:
Oh give it a rest.
Click to expand...
Why give it rest? Apple deserve the abuse for having relied on pathetically minor tweaks for years now. For how any years have we heard how the latest device is several angstroms thinner than the last one, or icons have been redesigned? All, fluff, no innovation. The biggest FU2 from Apple continues to be their built in device obsolescence, rendering devices all but useless after a few years due to lack of backwards compatibility of apps and OS.
 
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If Apple wants to give us a new calculator, why not give us the opportunity to set it up for Reverse Polish Notation (RPN). Been using these types of calculators since HP released them in the 70s. It is a whole lot more efficient than any TI style calculator where you have to use parenthesis.

I know there are RPN calculators apps that can be downloaded. But it would be nice to get an official Apple version.

To the fairest,

Eris
 
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big_papa_johnny said:
Oh give it a rest.
Click to expand...
I can, but even if in general I think Apple far better and advanced than others (which I do), this is like the third or forth news about the calculator and this just point out that it includes unit conversions. We could have just explain everything in one and apple could have done this like a long time ago.
 
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smithdr said:
If Apple wants to give us a new calculator, why not give us the opportunity to set it up for Reverse Polish Notation (RPN). Been using these types of calculators since HP released them in the 70s. It is a whole lot more efficient than any TI style calculator where you have to use parenthesis.

I know there are RPN calculators apps that can be downloaded. But it would be nice to get an official Apple version.

To the fairest,

Eris
Click to expand...
Agree. If this new iOS Calculator doesn't have RPN then it's mostly a waste of Apple's time and mine. The MacOS Calculator has had it for years.
 
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aue123 said:
currency? what's it going to do, connect to the web to pull the current value of the peso every day?
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It will do it in real time, but yes, that's how it would work. Its not very complicated, its nice they gave the interns a project to complete.
 
It would be useful if we could add other conversions we might want. Whether in some way defining them ourselves or having as library of some sort available - or both options!

I quite often need to convert mass to molar units - or the other way round.
 
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smithdr said:
If Apple wants to give us a new calculator, why not give us the opportunity to set it up for Reverse Polish Notation (RPN). Been using these types of calculators since HP released them in the 70s. It is a whole lot more efficient than any TI style calculator where you have to use parenthesis.

I know there are RPN calculators apps that can be downloaded. But it would be nice to get an official Apple version.

To the fairest,

Eris
Click to expand...
Fair comment. . . . but even back then, most people had no idea how to use it.
 
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polyphenol said:
It would be useful if we could add other conversions we might want. Whether in some way defining them ourselves or having as library of some sort available - or both options!

I quite often need to convert mass to molar units - or the other way round.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Creating our own programmable functions would be nice. Or even better, make the calculator programmable.
 
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Re: calculator et al. . . . Apple is, IMO, in a tough place trying to update their built-in apps. The onslaught of antitrust suits makes it tenuous for Apple to create the best on-device apps in the marketplace. The Notes app is good and can obviously copy more things that other apps have done. But a) how will that impact the profitable marketplace that apple has created for other apps and b) does that expose Apple to another set of lawsuits.
 
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