Does my iPad have a calculator?

Originally published at https://mejuto.co on September 21, 2021.

A dream of relax and calculations

It happens. I have to make a quick calculation while on my iPad. Let me open the calculator. Wait. There surely is a calculator in this thousand $currency machine?

Wrong. There is no calculator app in the iPad.

Rumors & folk stories

There are several rumors and stories about why the iPad does not have a calculator, while iPhones and Mac OS have it.

All of the possible stories share one — or several — of these themes:

• Perfection is the enemy of the good

Steve Jobs did not find the original calculator good enough, and now the ship has left. Too late to add it.

• Never admit failure

If Apple decided not to add it it must have been for the best, and adding it now would be akin to recognizing failure.

• Aligned incentives

They say “Nobody got fired for choosing IBM”. Also probably nobody got promoted for a calculator.

Alternatives

Be it as it may, even when there is still no calculator by default, we can still fix it. Here are some of the alternatives.

Google

Did you know that google acts like a calculator? You can simply search 2+2 and Google will help you answer it.

I knew it!

It is also capable of much more. Google search has a graphing calculator with a lot of features

It has graphing and other capabilities 2

It has graphing and other capabilities

This is an attractive option, since it does not require any install or configuration.

Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram alpha has of the best online calculators. You can graph and do a lot of operations.

Some features, such as step-by-step solution, require a paying subscription.

Symbolic manipulation, unit convertion, graphing, and others.

Symbolic manipulation — like solving equations — and graphing in Wolfram Alpha.

iPad calculators

There are many iPad calculators. Unfortunately, a lot of them ask for some sort of subscription or have popup ads. You can find them simply searching calculator on the App Store.

Some of the calculators in the App store

Siri

Siri has a simple calculator. It consists of voice interface only, but it works for simple arithmetic.

Port of the iOS calculator

There is a port of the iOS calculator for the iPad (Disclaimer: I am the author) It is a PWA (Progressive Web Application), which means that we can install it directly from a url, to have a nice icon on the iPad or desktop. It also works offline, unlike a web service. It is completely free and has no ads.

An accurate clone (right) of the iOS calculator (left)

It can be used in two ways:

1. We can visit getcalculator.app and use it on the browser.
2. We can installing by clicking Share and Add to Home Screen. Then we have a regular icon.

📢 P.S. When not writing articles, I contract full-stack in Berlin and Remote and create step-by-step full-stack video courses.

Originally published at https://mejuto.co on September 21, 2021.