Graphing Calculator – Algeo | Free Plotting - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

I started developing the app while I was an undergrad. So yes and no, I wasn't totally new to programming, but didn't have any professional experience beforehand.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

It is getting the UI right. Scientific calculators have tons of mathematical functions available and you want them to be easily accessible for the users. It has been, and still is, quite a challenge to create an interface that's not too cluttered and still has everything. There were many revisions, often I had to revert changes because it turned out that most people did not like it. Even though I tested each update beforehand, it is super hard to create something that is good looking, easy to use and functional at the same time. I have increasing respect for UX designers every time I touch the UI. Speaking of which, there is a new UI update coming soon that should make everything accessible with fewer clicks!

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Marton, the interviewee and the developer of this app, is a PHD student in Machine Learning at Eotvos Lorand University. He has over ten years of app developement experience and his apps have over 2 million app downloads on Play Store.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

I'm not a big smartphone user. My most used app is Firefox, I try to keep tracking to a minimum. Other than that, I have the usual messenger apps to keep in touch with friends.

How long have you been working on this app?

It's been nearly 10 years now. There were times when I did not have that much time beside my day job to develop it and times when I could spend significant amount of energy on it. However, I don't plan to ever give up on it, I love the positive user feedback and making the app better and better.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

Contrary to the current state of the Play store, there were no graphing calculators available ten years ago. That was the original goal, since then it changed to providing the best possible experience in a math app. Right now, I'm planning to add some small knowledge base so people don't have to leave the app and can look up formulas right there when they need them.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

I'm trying to stay ahead of the competition by always adding new features and making sure everything is as smooth as possible. People have enough trouble learning math, the app shouldn't impose more problems. You should spend your brain capacity on solving your homework, not on remembering in what format an app requires its input.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

Currently I'm working on a redesign that should make the built-in functions and constants more accessible and searchable. It turns out, one of the most important features of a calculator is its keyboard!

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

Please send me feedback on how you use the app or what feature would you include! It helps a lot knowing what problems people have and where the rough edges are.