MK61+ for iPhone Review

Our rating:

By: Aleksandr Skobelev

Version #: 2.0.1

Date Released:

Developer: By Alexander Skobelev

Price: $1.99

User Rating:

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Alexander Skobelev goes rather retro with his new take on the RPN calculator. Say what? Well, if your heart didn’t skip beat yet, it probably won’t once I’ve explained it to you, but RPN stands for Reverse Polish Notation, which played a big part in handheld calculators in the 70s and 80s.
The calculator is based on the Elektronika MK 61 calculator popular in the 80s. Just a lot easier to use and minus some of the “quirks” that Skobelev describes on his website.

“One day I was reading a book and found that I wanted to repeat some more or less complex calculations.” Skobelev explains, “And I wished I had a programmable calculator. As in the days of my youth I had been using MK 61 actively, I immediately thought about it. So I decided to write this app.” And so he did, and in only four months! So can we expect more apps? “yes, I am. I have a list of apps , I wish to work on. I’m not sure yet, how they will be commercial successful, but I’m going to implement them all. I hope.”

We liked the fact that you can easily access help from any screen: you can use the on/off switch, but you could also hold any button or switch and help will pop up. And Skobelev’s app does beat the old Elektronika MK 61 calculator in a lot of ways, such as being able to store & display up to ten mantissa digits (the old version could only do 8) and the memory program contains 160 cells against 105.
RPN calculators are slightly the realm of (physics) nerds, if we are going to be honest. Then again, I read everywhere that nerds are the new rock stars, so maybe you should get one of these even if you haven’t got a clue what it does, just to feel like a rock star!

This app was submitted via our expedited review service, which means we were remunerated for reviewing this app. Tycho Luyben was not influenced by this matter and it reflects his honest opinion.

We rate this app 4 out of 5 stars.