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PCalc is a work of art. I can't personally speak to the developer's philosophy here, but it feels like they sat down and asked themselves how they could make th
by mshroyer 6y ago
PCalc is a work of art. I can't personally speak to the developer's philosophy here, but it feels like they sat down and asked themselves how they could make the best possible app in this very specific domain, then doubled back and added an extra 10x attention to detail on top.
A calculator app might seem like a very small thing, but the availability of PCalc is literally one of the handful of items I have in my "pros/cons" list of using iPhone vs. an Android phone.
- Arcsech 6y agoIt is indeed fantastic. I think it's partially an effect of how long the author has been working on it. Per https://www.pcalc.com/mac/twenty.html https://www.pcalc.com/mac/twenty.html, PCalc is 28 years old. That's a lot of time to get feedback, refine your design and add features, and repeat.
- redler 6y agoYou’ve gotta love a calculator app that (at least on iOS) includes a driving game and an AR playground that allows you to festoon your living room with piles of calculators — all of which actually work!
- benhurmarcel 6y agoI was quite satisfied with Realcalc when I used Android. It does RPN and basically all functions I need.
- kergonath 6y agoA great application from a great developer. You’re right, it does not do everything, but does what it’s good it really well. I’ve been using it since the Mac OS 8 days.
- jmnicolas 6y agoMay I ask what's your use case? A basic calculator covers about 95% of my needs especially on a phone.
- mshroyer 6y agoIn contrast with the built-in iOS calculator? RPN and unit conversions, primarily, but also occasionally other functions like exponentiation, etc.
- dmd 6y agoThe built in iOS calculator does have exponentiation (in landscape mode), FYI.
- jmnicolas 6y agoMy question was more 'what are you doing that need complex calculations?' I don't know what RPN is btw.
- mikestew 6y ago"Reverse Polish Notation"[0], commonly used on Hewlett-Packard calculators, and considered a superior means of entering calculations on a calculator versus the way most calculators work. Considered by many to be reason enough to switch calculators. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation
- jmnicolas 6y agoThanks.