Amazing Mac calculator Soulver adds handy QuickSoulver panel

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calculator
Normal calculator apps are so last century.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Soulver is my favorite Mac calculator app, because it doesn’t act like a normal calculator. Imagine that you have a piece of paper on which you jot calculations. Then, the paper works out the results for you. Soulver is like that — you type in the sums, and it solves them. You can rework the problems, just like you could on paper, and you can save the whole sheet. And now, in v3.3, the app’s maker added a brand-new Spotlight-like QuickSoulver popup panel that lets you perform instant calculations.

Soulver: A great Mac calculator app

Mac calculator app Soulver solves.
Soulver solves.
Photo: Aqualia

After using Soulver, the Mac’s built-in Calculator app seems ridiculous. Even with its semi-secret paper roll activated, the concept is absurd. You can’t save documents, you can’t go back and edit a calculation, and it’s just confusing. Imagine that standard Mac text input didn’t allow deletions after you’d finished a paragraph, and you’ll realize how olde-worlde Apple’s Calculator app is.

solver QuickSoulver
Soulver is like a notepad that does math.
Photo: Aqualia

Soulver saves all this with a paper metaphor. It’s kind of a cross between a spreadsheet and a paper sheet. You can make lists, and it will tot them up. You can due unit and currency conversion and use variables. But you also can just type in 2+2 and it’ll give you the answer.

The QuickSoulver panel

New in 3.3.0 is the QuickSoulver panel. This “floats above other windows, so you can use it from anywhere in macOS,” says developer Acqualia. The QuickSoulver panel can even be activated with a customizable global hotkey. You can then copy the answer (⌘-C), or save it to a new sheet (⌘-S). For me, this is perfect. I usually want to do a quick conversion or calculation, and the quick panel makes this easy.

This updated version of Soulver brings lots of other new features, too, from a random number generator to a time-zone converter. Other changes also make it easier to quickly create and save new sheets.

Soulver 3 costs $29.95 (with a free 30-day trial). It requires macOS 10.14.4 or later.

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