There is obviously some great talent in the developer community. We have seen some highly complex software for N9 recently including the Sigma Player, Track@way and Open Video Player. I do hope enthusiast developers will continue to support N9 with great apps.
Unfortunately there are some holes in the N9 app store in terms of certain apps which many general users will find useful. The following are in my humble opinion some of them.
1. Scientific calculator - the bundled calculator is just too basic with not even a sqrt function or brackets. I'm aware there is an AlmostTI emulation but it is too complex for most users with tiny buttons which are hard to press and the input syntax need some mastering.
2. Wi-Fi Analyzer - to display available wi-fi networks in the vicinity, their signal strength, channel no. and lock status would be very useful if you are looking to find the best reception or available network.
3. Wi-Fi File Transfer - ability to transfer files between device and PC using the wi-fi network. Using bluetooth for file by file transfer is too cumbersome and you can't specify the directory it will land in.
4. QR code scanner - QR codes are more and more common but the N9 still lacks the ability to read them.
5. GPS Parking - to fix your present location with GPS and directions to return to it later. Highly useful in metropolitan areas where one may have to park far away from one's destination.
6. Song recognition and lyric finder.
These apps are available in all other platforms including ios, Android, Symbian, WP7 and Bada except N9. As N9 becomes more mainstream I'm sure many users will be missing them. I'm certain it is not beyond the capability of developers here who can produce highly complex software. I'm appealing to developers here to consider them first before going for more esoteric and specialized apps.
1. Scientific calculator - the bundled calculator is just too basic with not even a sqrt function or brackets. I'm aware there is an AlmostTI emulation but it is too complex for most users with tiny buttons which are hard to press and the input syntax need some mastering.
Nice timing, I submitted a calculator app to QA a few days ago. I'll update this post when it's available (it should appear as "Ala Advanced Calculator"). EDIT: Now in the store
It's a command line-style calculator, but it also keeps the function count so low that the buttons aren't horrible to use. (Square root is a waste of space, btw, because it's the same thing as ^0.5)
The non-highlighted buttons have two functions, changed by swiping the keypad left or right.
You can also change the button size and UI color to your own taste.
Nice timing, I submitted a calculator app to QA a few days ago. I'll update this post when it's available (it should appear as "Ala Advanced Calculator").
It's a command line-style calculator, but it also keeps the function count so low that the buttons aren't horrible to use. (Square root is a waste of space, btw, because it's the same thing as ^0.5)
The non-highlighted buttons have two functions, changed by swiping the keypad left or right.
You can also change the button size and UI color to your own taste.
Nice timing, I submitted a calculator app to QA a few days ago. I'll update this post when it's available (it should appear as "Ala Advanced Calculator").
It's a command line-style calculator, but it also keeps the function count so low that the buttons aren't horrible to use. (Square root is a waste of space, btw, because it's the same thing as ^0.5)
This looks nice. Any chance of an RPN version? I use an HP12C on my desk, find it hard to adapt back to "normal" calculators, but I hate all the 12C clones on the small screen... My favourite calc is probably the OSX "scientific" mode in RPN. It's a simple numbers, couple of functions, with a 4 deep visible stack all the time (I dislike my 12C in that I can't see the stack).
I use 1/x very often in RPN - the whole point with RPN is that you just stick in a bunch of numbers and then think about the operators later (you don't need brackets).
I'm not sure if I understand your interface description. Seems like just like typing text, you would press shift/swipe and the "keyboard" changes to a completely different set of buttons, ie numbers -> functions. So for example, taking the OSX screenshot above, it's two groups of 4 buttons wide. The number keypad is group 1, the functions are group 2. This seems to allow you enough room to have sqrt without clutter? (however, bad example, I agree ^0.5 is fine)
Thanks. I have to admit I've never owned an RPN calculator, but I personally prefer seeing the command line history as equations instead of stacks. Wouldn't it be really hard to match lines from the history with anything you've got on paper?
I'm not sure if I understand your interface description. Seems like just like typing text, you would press shift/swipe and the "keyboard" changes to a completely different set of buttons, ie numbers -> functions.
Yes, but that's not 100% correct. In my app, many keys always stay on screen, and never change. Only the function keys change to different functions, so there's less room for buttons. I want to keep the most used keys on screen all the time to avoid constant swapping.
