Calcbot: a Wonderful Calculator for iOS and Mac

Calcbot for Yosemite and iOS was created by the remarkable developers over at Tapbots. They’re also the makers of my go-to Twitter app, Tweetbot. Check out there work on Tapbots.com.

Purpose & Functionality

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Calcbot combines a feature-rich calculator with an easy-to-use converter. Its converter supports "over 500 units across 22 different categories including auto-updating currency rates." (Tapbots)

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My favorite Calcbot feature—"history tape"—actually comes from old-school calculators. Remember those calculators that printed as you went? Well Calcbot does the same thing. It keeps a record of your calculations as you work and allows you to reuse the results or the entire expression with just a tap (or click).

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For those of us who need a bit more than a basic calculator, Calcbot includes scientific functions.

Rating: simplicity, usefulness, beauty and necessity

  • Simplicity. (9/10) Calcbot simplifies calculations and conversions on both Mac and iOS. For what it’s worth, I find myself going to Calcbot instead of googling a conversion.
  • Usefulness. (8/10) We all do calculations and conversions every day, and hopefully, we can do most of them in our heads. But for those times we need a little help, Calcbot is there.
  • Beauty. (9/10) Calcbot has been designed to fit seamlessly into iOS 8 and Yosemite. Overall, I found it intuitive, and I really enjoy the gestures on iOS.
  • Necessity. (7/10) There are countless ways to calculate on our computers, phones and tablets. I typically utilize Alfred for basic calculations and Excel for more complicated stuff. But I’ve found that Calcbot’s “history tape” and conversions really fill a hole that Alfred, Excel and the built-in Calculator app don’t.
  • Stickiness. (7/10) As I mentioned above, I really enjoy the functionality and look of Calcbot on both Yosemite and Mac, but if the built-in Calculator app adds some of Calcbot’s features, I’d switch to it right away.

Alternatives

Mac

iOS

  • Calculator (built in)
  • PCalc
  • Tidlyg | Takes an innovative approach

You can download Calcbot for iOS (univeral app) from the Apple App Store and for Mac from the Mac App Store

ReviewsTimothy BuckGeneral