A quick look at notepad calculators, natural language calculators

They go by a couple of different names, but “notepad calculator” or “natural language calculator” will usually do the trick. These are editor style calculators that understand standard calculations like 2+2, but also “20% of $100.” You can also create and assign variables to perform more complex calculations, similar to a spreadsheet, except without the bulk and bloat of a spreadsheet. The standard example is, rate=$10, hours=40, rate*hours. Other uses include: These types of apps are great for little calculations, but are also great for formulas when you don’t need or want to work with a spreadsheet. Soulver might the first one to come to mind, and was my introduction to this kind of calculator. I used Soulver 2 to emulate several website calculations and drop them into Jira which is more readable than copying and pasting spreadsheet cells, plus formulas isn’t ideal. Along with Soulver there are apps like Numi, AYBO, and PiPad. Soulver has also upgraded to v3, […]