Apple Execs Explain Why The Company Finally Decided To Bring The Calculator App To The iPad, Processes Behind Math Notes, More

With the release of iPadOS 18, Apple made sure that users get what they have been wanting for years – a Calculator app for the iPad. However, Apple just did not want to offer a standard standalone calculator app, as it wanted it to be the best app in its category on any device, and from what we have seen, the company has definitely achieved its gaol. Apple executives sat down for an interview at which the company went deep with the Math Notes and Smart Scripts in iPadOS 18, detailing what went behind the scenes to create the technology.

Apple executives talk about the Calculator app, Math Notes, and more in a new interview, detailing behind the scene processes

In an interview with Chris Lawley, Apple executives detail how the new Math Notes and Smart Script features work behind the scenes. If you are not familiar, the new Math Notes feature allows users to write mathematical notations, which the app can solve in a jiffy while recognizing your handwriting. Apple’s system experiences product manager, Ty Jordon, elaborated on why the company decided to bring the Calculator app to the iPad and how the Math Notes feature works.

We think very deeply when we’re bringing these types of experiences to iPad about how those experiences can be designed for the unique capabilities of iPad and its unique accessories like Apple pencil.

We could have just brought a basic or scientific calculator to iPad, but instead we took the time to really reimagine how you could even do math with Math Notes and Calculator. It sort of works like magic.

It combines the natural input of pencil with the amazing on-device machine learning models that [Jenny Chen, Apple’s engineering manager for input experiences] and her teams work on and the power of Apple Silicon. So you just write math like on a piece of paper and like magic, it just gives you the answer.

Apple’s engineering manager, Jenny Chen, also shared details on input experiences, suggesting how you can insert a graph with a single tap and how Math Notes recognizes it.

One of the great things first is, how are we even able to recognize that this equation is even graphable? So if we have two variables that are not defined, first of all, we use the amazing recognition engine under the hood to be like, “Hey, can we graph this?”

And then for the charts, it actually builds on all the years of work that we’ve done for the Swift charts API and what that provides. It’s great that we’re both enhancing that, but also using it in our own products. And so some of the fun things that came out of that is the fun animations that make it feel nice and smooth and fancy.

The ability to kind of scrub along the graph so that you can see the value as the value changes along the X axis.

Smart Script, on the other hand, is a different feature compared to Math Notes, as it aims to improve your handwriting while you take notes. The feature does this by straightening and smoothing your handwritten text when you write using your Apple Pencil and has the ability to edit the text. Here’s how Jordan explains it:

Smart Script is an on-device machine learning model that learns continuously, but also works very quickly. So you’ll actually notice, even if you start with a fresh brand new iPad, as soon as you start writing words, we’re going to refine them. We know how to make that neater for you.

We’ll also have spell check working straight away because we can see what you wrote, like Jenny said, understand it, and we can offer those suggestions for you.

There are some features like “paste as handwriting” that get better over time as you write more. So really to like dial in your handwriting style takes like one to two paragraphs of that style. But it’ll continuously learn and it’s very contextual.

So for example, if you were to go to a previous paragraph where you had some bad handwriting, we’re going to match the handwriting that was refined there and not sort of try to replicate what you’ve had in other notes.

iPadOS 18 is a major update that brings a slew of new features and changes for all iPad models compatible with the platform and the update will be available in the fall, potentially alongside the new iPhone 16 lineup. However, the company has reserved some features for only the ‘Pro’ iPad models, which include Apple Intelligence features, but these will not be available at launch as the company will release them at a later date. We will share additional details and guides on how to use the feature soon, so be sure to stick around.