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All iPads Why doesn't the iPad Air have a calculator built in?

Personally I prefer Apple keep the 'Apple' apps to a minimum. I have a calculator I like, I prefer The Weather Channel, I don't want a stock app (I log into my brokerage account for that), I don't want NewsStand, PhotoBooth, Tips, etc. I don't like having to keep a Junk folder.

Apple could make these a download option, fix the Control Center. I don't have an iPhone so I didn't even know you could add an app there.

I prefer an OS that is pretty much an OS. Makes updates much cleaner.

But it's high time Apple addressed the fact that IOS is not optimized for the iPad. Whether it does or does not include a calculator is a minor issue.
 
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donnaw said:
Personally I prefer Apple keep the 'Apple' apps to a minimum. I have a calculator I like, I prefer The Weather Channel, I don't want a stock app (I log into my brokerage account for that), I don't want NewsStand, PhotoBooth, Tips, etc. I don't like having to keep a Junk folder.

Apple could make these a download option, fix the Control Center. I don't have an iPhone so I didn't even know you could add an app there.

I prefer an OS that is pretty much an OS. Makes updates much cleaner.

But it's high time Apple addressed the fact that IOS is not optimized for the iPad. Whether it does or does not include a calculator is a minor issue.
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The OS on Android is optimized for tablets. Widgets, split screen, etc etc. But their Apps on the Play Store suck for tablets and are just blown up phone apps.

IOS is a phone OS, but with over half a million apps that are optimized for a tablet.

I choose the latter.

Yes. Apple should make most of their apps available for download. Newsstand, weather, stocks, etc etc, but a calculator is the most basic thing on any computer device. It's like Windows without notepad.
 
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I'm a software developer and I like to keep my devices clean (therefore I don't like to junk it up with third-party apps). Nobody has really answered the question posed in this thread. Apple has billions of dollars and hundreds of developers. It has been Years, and they couldn't detail someone to make a calculator? I think there must be something wrong in their technology stack that this can't be done.
 
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I think it may have been in the Steve Job biography, the reason for it is that on a screen the size of something bigger than an iPhone, it starts to look too spread out and just strange. So they don't do it purely for cosmetic reasons. They could fine a way around this im sure, but they must not see it as something worth the effort haha.
 
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Unamuno said:
I'm a software developer and I like to keep my devices clean (therefore I don't like to junk it up with third-party apps). Nobody has really answered the question posed in this thread. Apple has billions of dollars and hundreds of developers. It has been Years, and they couldn't detail someone to make a calculator? I think there must be something wrong in their technology stack that this can't be done.
Click to expand...
Deliberately choosing not to include a calculator on the iPad isn't the same as not having the ability to do so.
 
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I am new to tablets so I think I started to bark up the wrong tree a little. It's not that they can't do it, it's that they don't have a good way to present it. It would have to be in control center, or better yet, be able to pop up like the keyboard. It's hard to think of a situation where you want the entire screen to be dominated by a calculator and nothing else. Still I'm disappointed that Apple hasn't been able to invent a way to do this properly. My current workaround is to keep the Google calculator always open as the first tab in the browser. That's the lightest weight and actually best solution I have found.
 
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Tycho24 said:
Haha....
I didn't realize the longevity of this thread!!! That's fairly amusing.
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It's a pretty durable joke. Make a computer and provide a calculator. It's like Gutenberg inventing the printing press and print a bible. I think Apple is not getting the joke, as iPad sales continue to decline. Everybody has a cellphone right there, so if they put me off the tablet for any reason why go back?
 
Unamuno said:
It's a pretty durable joke. Make a computer and provide a calculator. It's like Gutenberg inventing the printing press and print a bible. I think Apple is not getting the joke, as iPad sales continue to decline. Everybody has a cellphone right there, so if they put me off the tablet for any reason why go back?
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Bc they're larger and therefore easier to see, read, create, consume, type, draw, etc.

A silly argument.
 
I too wonder why Apple never put a basic calculator on the iPad. I got one from the App Store, it works but is a bit clunky, and I had to waste my time trying about 10 others that were even worse. For just about every app type you are looking for, most of them are problematic and you need to try a number of them before finding a good one.

Same with the Stocks app, they decided to not put it on the iPad.

I have Apple's Calculator and Stocks apps on my ancient iPod Touch 2 (8.5 years old) but I can't have them on my iPad Air which I use every day???
 
frank4 said:
I too wonder why Apple never put a basic calculator on the iPad. I got one from the App Store, it works but is a bit clunky, and I had to waste my time trying about 10 others that were even worse. For just about every app type you are looking for, most of them are problematic and you need to try a number of them before finding a good one.

Same with the Stocks app, they decided to not put it on the iPad.

I have Apple's Calculator and Stocks apps on my ancient iPod Touch 2 (8.5 years old) but I can't have them on my iPad Air which I use every day???
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Wonder no longer: #60
 
willmtaylor said:
Wonder no longer: #60
Click to expand...

It's a nice anecdote for sure but raises the question why the problem hasn't been worked out since the introduction in 2010, right?

Another good one:
My iPad still has no weather app either, but can magically show me the weather for my location in the notification center.
 
ericwn said:
It's a nice anecdote for sure but raises the question why the problem hasn't been worked out since the introduction in 2010, right?

Another good one:
My iPad still has no weather app either, but can magically show me the weather for my location in the notification center.
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At this point why bother? Enough quality alternatives out there. Why would Apple use the resources now?
 
willmtaylor said:
Wonder no longer: #60
Click to expand...

That old saw again. I don't think Jobs would have allowed the omission to stand for this long. The inability of IOS on the iPad to have a good way to present a calculator serves to remind me I am not using a serious computer.

I don't need a calculator that often, but I was using my brokerage app on the iPad. I needed to make a quick calculation to decide whether to buy a stock that was fluctuating minute by minute. I couldn't find the calculator and then realized that my shiny new iPad didn't come with one. And obviously it's not convenient to flip between the app and a full screen calculator while trying to watch a stock price fluctuating.
 
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Unamuno said:
That old saw again. I don't think Jobs would have allowed the omission to stand for this long. The inability of IOS on the iPad to have a good way to present a calculator serves to remind me I am not using a serious computer.
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Speaking of old saws, "Steve Jobs never would have..." may be the oldest of all. :cool:

I had never considered that a built in calculator app was the litmus test for "serious computers." (I probably never will.) :rolleyes:

Besides, everyone knows the true litmus test for those bemoaning iOS and yearning for halcyon days of computing is whether it has built in Solitaire and Minesweeper. And perhaps a daily dose of BSOD. ;)
 
willmtaylor said:
B/c God forbid we pay a developer (.99) for making an app. ;)
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God forbid we have consistent performing devices on the same platform. This is obviously half there but missing an iPad front end. And as discussed it is more than one app.
It is not because 99 cents or whatever something costs would be too expensive. A basic weather display on any device should make sense to everyone.
Apple is also about ease of use. Not only should there be an app for it but it should be populated with the same locations I check on the app on my iPhone. My two cents. Besides, premium products and all. :)
 
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