Sci:Pro Calculator v1.2.0 ready for release

By Jerry News, Applications With Comments

The beta test of the latest version of Sci:Pro Calculator is complete and the app has been submitted to Apple for review. Version 1.2.0 features an improved floating point engine, bug fixes, and some additional functionality requested by users. We expect the new release to be available in the App Store soon. This update should improve the stability of the app and eliminate the occasional rounding errors that some users were experiencing. Handling of international number formats has also been greatly improved and the current region format of the device is used when formatting numbers for the main display, the history view, and when parsing values for paste operations. Thanks to all the Sci:Pro Calc users that provided feedback, bug reports, and helped us with the ongoing improvements to the app—your contributions are greatly appreciated!

Summary of changes in version 1.2.0:

  • New floating point engine (improved accuracy and rounding)
  • Option to enable or disable grouping separators (thousands, etc.)
  • Binary radix support for Programmer Mode (Incl. entry & conversion)
  • Improved international number handling (using current Region Format)
  • Bug fixes

Floating point

The floating point engine has been overhauled to be more accurate and reliable. This change improves the accuracy of results to more decimal places than the earlier versions were capable of. In addition, a new formatted output handler has been created that should eliminate some of the odd output rounding errors that popped up from time-to-time in older versions of the app. One side effect of these changes is that the new version of the application supports a slightly smaller exponent range than the previous version did— though it is still larger than many of the other calculator apps provide.

NOTE: Users upgrading to version 1.2.0 may have values in their calculation history, memory, or main display replaced with 'Error' values if they exceed the exponent range of the new version.

Configurable separators

Earlier versions of Sci:Pro Calculator automatically used a grouping separator when formatting numbers for Basic and Scientific modes. Version 1.2.0 adds a new "Show Separators" option to the settings panel that enables users to disable this functionality as desired. In addition, the app is now configured to use the appropriate country-specific separator character as defined by the iOS Region Format setting for the device.

Binary radix mode

Binary radix support has been added to Programmer Mode. Previous versions of the app provided a binary view capability but only supported entry of values in Octal, Decimal, or Hexadecimal. Version 1.2.0 adds binary to the list of supported radix formats and enables users to directly enter binary values in addition to the other formats.

Region-specific number formats

International number formats are now supported. Earlier versions of Sci:Pro Calculator defaulted to the 'United States' formatting rules when displaying numbers in the main calculator display, in the history view, or when parsing strings pasted in from other applications. Version 1.2.0 now uses the appropriate grouping separators and decimal indicators for the Region Format selected in the iOS settings panel.

NOTE: while many different regions were tested, it was not possible to test every one of them. Please let us know if you encounter formatting problems for a specific region.

Available soon

As always, all known bugs were corrected prior to submitting this release to the App Store. In addition, an elongated test cycle was used due to the nature of some of the changes that were made. We're pleased with the results and think that version 1.2.0 should be the most stable and feature complete version of Sci:Pro Calculator yet. We look forward to getting feedback from users once it becomes available online.