One of the most unusual omissions in the iPad by far has been the humble calculator app, but it looks like 2024 could be the year that’s finally rectified.
Calculator has been a staple of the iPhone since the first model launched nearly 17 years ago. Before there was even an App Store to install third-party apps, Calculator was there, front and center, wedged between Clock and Notes in the third row. It’s been a staple of the iPhone ever since.
However, when the first iPad arrived three years later, there was no calculator to be found. Perhaps Apple didn’t want to go to the trouble of trying to design a calculator for the big screen — something that could have been challenging in Apple’s era of runaway skeuomorphism — but it clearly wasn’t willing to even try as it’s clearly had 13 years to do so.
To be fair, Calculator wasn’t the only iPhone app missing from the iPad when it launched; Weather, Stocks, and Clock were also absent (plus, perhaps less significantly, Voice Memos and Compass). Clock came to the tablet with iOS 6 in 2012, although Weather and Stocks took until iPadOS 16 to show up.
Now, it looks like iPadOS 18 will finally complete the quartet by bringing Calculator to the iPad.
A “source familiar with the matter” recently told MacRumors that iPadOS 18 will feature “a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update,” saving folks the need to search out and download third-party calculator apps just do basic math on their tablets.
While it’s been possible to use Spotlight Search to type in math formulas for some time now, that’s admittedly far more cumbersome than a dedicated calculator app, especially since you have to use the standard iPad keyboard to do it. Plus, more advanced math functions require knowing and typing in the appropriate formulae.
Apple may have assumed that third-party calculator apps would fill that void since the App Store was alive and well when the tablet launched in 2010, but the reality is that the best calculators on the App Store (and there are some great ones) cost money to download, while most free calculators are ugly, ad-laden messes.
Few people need a sophisticated calculator app; what the iPhone offers is powerful and even features a scientific mode for advanced functions, so it’s been disappointing to many iPad users that it’s not available there.
However, Apple may be going even further this year. A report last week from AppleInsider revealed some exciting new changes coming to Apple Notes in iOS/iPadOS 18, including the ability to do math equations and notation, similar to what’s offered by other apps like Microsoft’s OneNote.
In the process, Apple is said to be working on a significant redesign for the macOS Calculator app. Since it’s doing that work anyway, it stands to reason that it should be pretty easy to port it over to iPadOS, especially in the Apple silicon era. Enhancements expected for the Mac Calculator include a history tape in the sidebar to show previous calculations and variable window sizes with buttons that automatically adjust accordingly, so these are things we can probably expect to see on the iPad calculator, too.