I have mixed feelings here. I legitimately paid ($1, once, a decade ago) for a calculator app and feel it was a great value (I still prefer it to this day). But then again the free version was fine too and the one-time payment was essentially a donation to the developer for a great app that unlocked… Themes…
I like that model. You get to try the software for free and have a way to thank the developer and get something extra, rather than just a pure donation.
F-Droid has an Android port of the Unix maxima, which is a whole free and open-source computer algebra system, that handles all my heavier lifting. And I’m pretty sure that every phone that I’ve ever seen ships with at a software package that can act as a five-function calculator, if someone is just looking for something simple.
Also, Apple gave iOS a default calculator just a few months ago. When I had an iPad I had to download dozens and dozens of calculators to find one that didnt have ads or subscriptions
Edit: I meant iPad. They sold iPads without the calculator from launch until Q4 2024
In a sense this is great news. If you ever need to earn some money (somehow, anyhow) you now know that there are people out they who willingly pay a subscription for their calculator.
After a long time of using CalcES on my android phone and cheating the ads away with PiHole, I finally spent the very little fee for the pro edition. The app is amazing and the creator absolutely deserves it.
Paid calculator apps.
Not only are many of them paid - but they are subscription as well. Imagine paying a monthly fee for your goddamn calculator.
I have mixed feelings here. I legitimately paid ($1, once, a decade ago) for a calculator app and feel it was a great value (I still prefer it to this day). But then again the free version was fine too and the one-time payment was essentially a donation to the developer for a great app that unlocked… Themes…
Yeah, I paid for PCalc because someone put in effort to make it, and it’s good. Don’t feel bad about that.
But I wouldn’t subscribe to one.
Yeah the subscription is mind boggling.
I like that model. You get to try the software for free and have a way to thank the developer and get something extra, rather than just a pure donation.
F-Droid has an Android port of the Unix maxima, which is a whole free and open-source computer algebra system, that handles all my heavier lifting. And I’m pretty sure that every phone that I’ve ever seen ships with at a software package that can act as a five-function calculator, if someone is just looking for something simple.
Both of those are very different use cases from what I have, though.
Money laundering? Or just going kids download on devices with their parents data to go unnoticed for months at a time?
They 100% bank on people forgetting cancelling
Also, Apple gave iOS a default calculator just a few months ago. When I had an iPad I had to download dozens and dozens of calculators to find one that didnt have ads or subscriptions
Edit: I meant iPad. They sold iPads without the calculator from launch until Q4 2024
A few months ago, in 2007?
i think they meant ipadOS
Is it not the same OS? I had one iPhone and came back to Android.
apple brands them as totally seperate os’s but basically ipadOS is just ios with some extra features and different default apps.
One of those differences was the lack of a calculator on ios until recently.
What an interesting omission. Thanks for pointing that out!
I paid for the pro version of HiPER calc, well worth it as I use it daily.
Soulver is the best calculator on my Mac and has been for more than a decade now.
In a sense this is great news. If you ever need to earn some money (somehow, anyhow) you now know that there are people out they who willingly pay a subscription for their calculator.
Calculator emulators are the way. Wabbit for ti-84 and similar, and hp prime (official) for a full CAS.
After a long time of using CalcES on my android phone and cheating the ads away with PiHole, I finally spent the very little fee for the pro edition. The app is amazing and the creator absolutely deserves it.
Pretty sure I paid for some Ti and HP calc emulators at some point. Only a couple bucks each, worth it at the time. Would not pay to subscribe though.
Haseba Calc on iOS is amazing. Well worth it.