Calca 1.5

Calca is a symbolic calculator, with the characteristic of updating the results of your calculations as you type.

The tool is actually a text editor supporting Markdown language and performing on-the-fly calculations. The application’s interface is quite minimalistic: there are no toolbars and panels, just the space where you can type your text. Fortunately, Calca comes with various examples that teach you how to use various types of formulas. In this respect, knowing how to use Markdown can help you a lot.

As said, Calca allows mixing regular text with calculated results in the same document. Good news that this application supports not only simple calculations but also more complex functions. Moreover, you are allowed to declare variables and edit their values. In this respect, it is excellent that all results get automatically updated whenever the value of a variable is modified. It is also good that Calca comes with a built-in on-screen keyboard with two additional rows of keys specially intended for entering numbers and math symbols. I also liked the possibility of viewing the graphs resulting from plotting functions. I was also very pleased with the possibility of using Calca from any application using a global hot key.

Calca lets you use formulas similar to natural language. However, you may feel that, compared with other similar applications, its syntax is not as close to natural English. Regrettably, Calca does not allow previewing Markdown text, so you may need to use an external editor at times.

In terms of compatibility, Calca’s documents can be easily opened by other editors, as they are saved in plain-text format. Moreover, there is the possibility of storing your files on iCloud, which allows you to access them from any of your devices, including portable ones.

In short, Calca can boost your productivity when you are writing documents that require calculations. In this respect, it eliminates the need of continuously switching to the calculator or the spreadsheet application. It can be used by anyone, professionals and students. The product can be bought from the Mac App Store.