Our Rating: 6.2/10

[Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.5.4
Developer: Uplake Media LLC [iTunes Link]
Price as of Review: $4.99
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Size: 1.0MB

Calc Zero is a unit conversion calculator with a highly customizable user interface.  Calc Zero has a lot of competition with apps such as Units [iTunes Link] and Convert [iTunes Link] and unfortunately it’s price and interface just can’t compete.  However it does convert quite a few more units then other apps, like programming modes with hex, decimal and binary (as a programmer I loved these).  For reliability, I, or the users I’ve shown the app to haven’t found any errors in the calculations/conversions this app produces.

There’s a few things I’m not so keen about in Calc Zero, first of all how much they’ve tried to integrate a regular calculator with a conversion tool, the mix just doesn’t work well.  Next is how they convert, rather than a Category:From->To system, you must figure out how to navigate through the interface.  Rather then having an easily accessible clear button, you have to backspace your work and then clear all units and metrics added.  One benefit of the system however is you can easily make cross-unit calculations, i.e. 12mS multiplied by 13 seconds.  I think they need to separate the app into a couple different kinds of interface modes.

As for just the user interface – what it is right now, it has some cool effects, each category of metrics are displayed with a tab.  It uses the iPhone SDK’s default tab interface element which means you’re limited to four different tabs at the same time and then the “More…” tab which allows you to view the rest.  You can press edit and drag around categories nonetheless.  This allows you to put your most used metrics into the front tabs, easy access for whenever you want to make a quick conversion (there should be a button for “Most Used”.

Some little effects are added such as the buttons vibrating when you press them, with the iPhone and it’s tiny keys, this is nice to know that you actually pressed the right button (considering how many are on a calculator).  Calc Zero has a huge manual which is sort of tucked away in the More category right at the bottom.  There’s some delay in navigating between pages, accessing the settings seems to delay quite a bit.  Removing some of these effects would most likely improve response time.  The settings allow you to change readability and all sorts of those “little,” making Calc Zero ideal for the tinkerers out there.

Overall Calc Zero is an interesting unit converter which at $4.99 doesn’t quite make the cut compared to the competitors who offer a lot of bang for a single buck.

Final Ratings:

Usefulness: 7/10  – Not something I’d use on a daily basis but definitely a concept I like having on hand.

User Interface: 7/10 – Awesome but really unresponsive.

Price: 4/10 – Competitors such as Units and Convert are offering an app just as good, if not better for a fifth of the price.

Technology: 5/10  – Not many glitches but very poor stability.  High customization but no landscape mode.

Execution of Concept: 7.9/10 – Lots of different units and metrics – gets the job done.

Overall Rating: 6.2/10

More screenshots of Calc Zero on iPhone App Reviewer’s Flickr Page.

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Version Reviewed: 1.0.1
Developer: Balazs Faludi
Price as of Review: $1.99
Current iTunes Rating: 4.5/5

Numerus is exactly the app we need on the iPhone, it’s the best utility application I have ever used (and I use it almost every day).  Although the iPhone has a calculator it’s features are limited and even in landscape mode it doesn’t compare to a real scientific calculator.  Numerus can handle advanced equations and packs a large variety of features and functions in it’s small package.  The app allows you to save all your previous calculations as well as email them.  You can store variable data and call them in all the mathematical functions it provides (just look at the screenshots here).  It’s highly stable and the calculations are always correct, I haven’t found a flaw in any of the functions, and have never had a crashing issue or glitches.

The user interface performs just like a real calculator, and there’s plenty of room to view your calculation, not to mention a great advantage of Numerus’ view area is that you can compute large numbers (over 10 digits) with ease.  It provides a 2nd function button which unlocks a whole host of new abilities.  Unfortunately it cannot rotate into landscape mode, a lot of people I’ve demoed the app to have noted and disliked the lack of mulitple viewing angles.  Even if you’re not going to use advanced functions Numerus still beats the iPhone’s default calculator by far, it allows you do to long calculations with brackets, exponenents, and all standard operations (*/+-).

All in all Numerus is a great application to have on hand and should be on every student’s iPhone.  I won’t leave to school without it!

Final Ratings:

Usefulness: 9.6/10 – The perfect scientific calculator, a few more feautres like graphing and it could replace an entire set of non-iPhone mathematical tools.

User Interface: 8/10 – Flawless but unfortunately does not have a landscape mode!

Price: 8/10 – Absolutely cannot argue with the two dollar price, obviously beats a real scientific calculators cost too

Technology: 8.5/10 – I haven’t experienced a single glitch or mathematical flaw, again though, no landscape mode.

Execution of Concept: 9.8/10 – You couldn’t expect any more from the developer, it’s an absolute programming masterpiece

Overall Rating: 9.3/10 – Average is 8.8 but I’m giving a 0.5 bonus point!

Further Improvements:

• Landscape Mode
• Quick access feature allowing simple quick equations
• Expression/Equation simplyfing ability

More screenshots here

Other Reviews on Numerus for iPhone and iPod Touch:

• Numerus Review by Apple iPhone School

Why does iPhone App Reviewer link to other reviewing sites?  Because if you’re not 100% satisfied with the quality of our review, then we encourage you to go elsewhere.  The point of iPhone App Reviewer is to give you an honest, open opinion of the application.

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