Category: Feature
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Feature: A new formula engine — and a note from our co-founder
After two years, our new formula engine is finally ready. It powers more than 100 new functions, operators and properties, making more types of apps possible than ever before.Continue reading » -
Feature: 100+ new functions
We now support 102 new functions, including Excel 2021 marvels like XLOOKUP and FILTER, spreadsheet classics like SUMIF, COUNTIFS, INDEX and MATCH as well as the power user favorites MAP and REDUCE.Continue reading » -
Feature: Arrays and ranges
Calcapp now supports arrays and ranges. Arrays are collections of values which enable many of our new functions and properties. A range is a short-hand for constructing arrays with many elements. (Need to sum 100 fields? Easy!)Continue reading » -
Feature: Look up values with XLOOKUP
Excel 2021's XLOOKUP function is now fully supported. It does everything VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP do and more. Use an app to convert table data to XLOOKUP formulas.Continue reading » -
Feature: Use SUMIF, SUMIFS and others like them
AVERAGEIF, COUNTIF, MINIFS, MAXIFS, PRODUCTIF, SUMIF and variants are now supported. Use our formula fragment extension for complex conditions.Continue reading » -
Feature: Send formula-driven emails
Fully determine the bodies of emails you send using formulas. You can also use formulas to set text that appears before or after field values in reports.Continue reading » -
Feature: Use a formula to determine what fields to include in a report
Get full control over your reports. Want to only include fields with values greater than five? Just use FILTER. Also, hidden fields can now be left out of reports.Continue reading » -
Feature: Decide the next screen with a formula
Skip straight to the results if the entered data checks out, or collect supplemental information otherwise. Stop copying and pasting screens — now you can make many screens send the user to the same destination.Continue reading » -
Feature: Decimal commas in formulas
Formulas written with decimal commas are now fully supported. Set your preference the next time you open Calcapp Creator.Continue reading » -
Feature: Dramatically improved documentation for formulas and properties
What's got half a million words? The Lord of the Rings trilogy. And our new formula and property documentation, which is now on the web. Thousands of formula examples make getting started with all the new features easy.Continue reading » -
Feature: IF without all the parentheses, SWITCH and IFBLANK
Use the IF function with multiple conditions without having to use more than two parentheses. Use SWITCH when you need to test the same value for equality against other values.Continue reading » -
Feature: More options for CSV and TSV files
CSV files produced by report buttons can now be customized to make them compatible with more apps and services. Change the decimal separator and the delimiter separating values and lay out values vertically instead of horizontally.Continue reading » -
Feature: More customizable reset buttons
Use a formula to determine which fields are reset by a reset button. These buttons can now assign blank values to fields.Continue reading » -
Feature: Download and start large apps faster
Many under-the-hood improvements make large apps download and start faster and consume less space when stored for offline use.Continue reading » -
Feature: Include array elements conditionally with IF
Use IF to determine if an element should be part of an array.Continue reading » -
Feature: Join arrays together with |
Use the new operator | to join together arrays with other arrays and values.Continue reading » -
Feature: No more typos when referencing colors
Colors can now be referenced with no risk of typos, thanks to "enums." XLOOKUP, XMATCH and FORMATDATE also support enums, which help warn you of errors early.Continue reading » -
Feature: Reset and change your users' passwords
You can now reset your users' passwords directly from Calcapp Creator. Use this feature if your users have trouble resetting their own passwords or if you'd like to set their passwords for them.Continue reading » -
Feature: Auto-height for AMP
The auto-height feature enables an app embedded in your web page to adjust its height in response to content changes. This feature is now also supported for AMP, a technology which makes web pages load faster.Continue reading » -
Feature: Improved offline experience, PWA support
Apps built with Calcapp now qualify as Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), enabling more third-party tools to work with them. We have also made our offline experience more robust, flexible and performant.Continue reading » -
Feature: Easily enter decimal numbers on an iPhone
Apps run on iPhones now use a keypad with a decimal separator button, making it easy to enter decimal numbers.Continue reading » -
Feature: Add users in bulk, download users as CSV
Users who are permitted to access your private apps can now be added in bulk. Also, you can now download the entire list of users, complete with tags, as a CSV file, which can easily be imported into a spreadsheet.Continue reading » -
Feature: Download app statistics as a CSV file
You can now download statistics for your app as a CSV file, which you can easily import into your spreadsheet. Use your spreadsheet's formulas to process the data and visualize it through graphs. For private apps, the CSV file has information on how individual users are using your app.Continue reading » -
Feature: Usage statistics on individual users
The Statistics window now enables you to learn how a particular user is using a private app. For such apps, there is a new drop-down menu with a list of all users you have defined in the Users window.Continue reading » -
Feature: More visual options for embedded apps
Easily apply borders and shadows to embedded apps with the revamped embed tab which appears when you share an app, with a live preview. You can also experiment with our new auto-height feature, which adjusts the height of the containing iframe to match the app content.Continue reading » -
Feature: Auto-height for embedded apps
The new auto-height feature for embedded apps changes the height of the containing iframe to match the contents displayed by the app, so you'll never waste space on your page with an oversized iframe.Continue reading » -
Feature: Use JavaScript with embedded apps
Host pages can now interact with their embedded apps through our new JavaScript library. For instance, host pages can now get all values of an app through the library. We expect this feature to be used by third-party services wishing to integrate with Calcapp.Continue reading » -
Feature: Use Microsoft Flow with JSON schema
Microsoft Flow enables you to glue your apps together with thousands of services, like Excel or Slack, in the same vein as Zapier. It needs a so-called JSON schema to work, though, which are tedious to write. Calcapp Creator can now generate them for you.Continue reading » -
Feature: Paid plans
Calcapp now supports paid plans and we are ending our beta program. To ensure that your apps continue working, upgrade them to a paid plan before May 14. This post walks you through the steps you need to take to upgrade your apps.Continue reading » -
Feature: Private apps requiring users to sign in
Private apps require your users to sign in before gaining access to your app and require you to define who those users are. User tags determine which users can sign into a particular app. Use the USERHASTAG formula function to customize your app based on the tags of a signed-in user.Continue reading » -
Feature: Usage statistics for apps
The new Statistics window uses graphs to shine a light on your app's performance, in terms of app launches, sent reports and signed-in users, with a customizable date range. Use it to compare an app against others in your account or to compare your usage to your app's plan limits.Continue reading » -
Feature: Sort apps by plan and date
The Manage apps window now categorizes apps by their plans. It also allows you to sort apps by their modification time, which is great if you store many backup copies of your apps. Duplicating an app always puts the copy on the Free plan.Continue reading » -
Feature: Minor improvements to reports
Email report buttons now support setting the Reply-To, carbon copy and blind carbon copy addresses as well as the attachment file name. Buttons for downloaded reports now support setting the file name of the report. Finally, we now support Zoho Flow in addition to Zapier and Microsoft Flow.Continue reading » -
Feature: Try Calcapp without creating an account
New users can now try out Calcapp without providing their email address and without having to wait for a confirmation email.Continue reading » -
Feature: You can now set your password
You can now change your password using a new account settings box. If you have a system-generated password, you will be asked to change it the next time you sign in. Finally, you can now reset your password.Continue reading » -
Feature: Insert images in text boxes
You can now insert your own images in text boxes. They can either be centered or float to the right or to the left of the text. A slider lets you adjust the image width. Images work offline and are responsive, meaning that they work well on any screen.Continue reading » -
Feature: Use your own logo
Use your own logo with your app to raise awareness of your brand. The logo is displayed on the loading screen and on home screens your app has been added to.Continue reading » -
Feature: 26 fonts for use in text boxes
You can now use 26 new fonts when formatting text in text boxes, including serif, sans-serif, monospace and playful display fonts. Custom fonts work even when your app runs offline.Continue reading » -
Feature: Formatted text improvements
Calcapp now supports text alignment, underlined and strikethrough text and different font sizes. You can also upload your own images and make use of 26 available fonts.Continue reading » -
Feature: Use spreadsheet data with drop-down fields
Import spreadsheet data directly for use with drop-down fields. Paste the data from your table into our app to automatically generate Calcapp formulas.Continue reading » -
Feature: Edit drop-down values as text
Values of drop-down fields can now be edited as text. This feature makes it possible to paste values from a spreadsheet all at once. It also enables more efficient keyboard editing.Continue reading » -
Feature: Customize the loading screen
You can now customize the loading screen, also known as the splash screen. Change the colors or hide the logo, the progress indicator or both. You can also fully disable the loading screen, which is useful for apps embedded in websites.Continue reading » -
Feature: Color themes and app-wide colors
You can now set base colors for your entire app through the start screen. These colors affect not just your panels but also the loading screen. We have also added a theme selector with five pre-defined color themes to allow you to more easily experiment with colors.Continue reading » -
Feature: Powerful new text-processing functions
Calcapp now supports three new text-processing functions, enabling you to determine if text matches a certain pattern and to extract and replace text, also using patterns. The three functions use so-called regular expressions.Continue reading » -
Feature: The CHOOSE function, an alternative to IF
The new CHOOSE function can be used as a compact, fast alternative to IF in some situations. Use it together with the Index property of drop-down fields to quickly return data matching a value selected by your user.Continue reading » -
Feature: The Index property of drop-down fields
The new Index property of drop-down fields returns the numeric position of the selected value and the Size property returns the number of values. Index is designed to work well with the new CHOOSE formula function.Continue reading » -
Feature: Apps in languages other than US English
Calcapp now supports 79 languages and 147 language variants, enabling numbers, dates and times to be formatted correctly. We have translations for app text provided by Calcapp in 30 languages. Five languages have been translated by human translators and the rest using machine-translation.Continue reading » -
Feature: Change the size of your app user interface
Use the new zoom level feature to make apps appear larger or smaller. Associate a formula with the zoom level property to give your users control over the size with, say, a slider or a switch field. Be sure to make these fields persistent so the zoom level is remembered.Continue reading » -
Feature: Determine labels through formulas
New properties enable you to set validation messages, field units and labels of groups, fields, buttons and list panel options through formulas. This feature enables your apps to more closely adapt to values entered by your users.Continue reading » -
Feature: Format numbers with new functions
Use four new functions to turn numbers into formatted text strings. Another four functions convert numbers stored in text strings to pure numbers. All new functions take the app language into account and support 147 language variants.Continue reading » -
Feature: Calcapp Creator has a new start screen
A new start screen now greets you when starting Calcapp Creator. Use it to set app-wide properties, like the app language and zoom level, and to change the app name. There are also links to various resources.Continue reading » -
Feature: Determine the device type from formulas
New properties help you determine if your user is using an iPhone, an Android device, a Windows PC, an iPad or a Mac. Use this feature to do things like only showing a text box if the user is running an iPhone or changing app colors based on the operating system.Continue reading » -
Feature: Pad numbers with leading zeroes
You can now pad numbers with leading zeroes by setting a minimum number of integer digits in the inspector. With a minimum number of four digits, 23 is formatted as 0023. As a bonus, we show how to accomplish the same thing using formulas and share some news regarding the venerable IF function.Continue reading » -
Feature: Force a 24-hour clock for time fields
Some countries use a 12-hour clock in everyday life, but a 24-hour clock in some professions. Our new release enables you to use a language that normally uses a 12-hour clock and still use a 24-hour clock for some time fields.Continue reading » -
Feature: Customize subject lines of reports
Assign subject lines to reports you send from apps with our new release. You can determine the subject line using a formula, enabling you to include parts of the report in the subject line itself. Use this feature in conjunction with labels or rules in your email client to automatically sort incoming reports.Continue reading » -
Feature: Apps now load faster
The largest apps created with Calcapp can take can take a long time to load. Today, we are speeding up the process considerably by compressing apps and PDF reports before they are downloaded.Continue reading » -
Feature: Change numbers rapidly with sliders
Sliders enable users to rapidly change the value of a number field within a defined range. On mobile devices with cumbersome on-screen keypads, we expect sliders to become the preferred way of experimenting with numeric inputs.Continue reading » -
Feature: Increase and decrease numbers with steppers
Steppers enable users to quickly increase or decrease numbers using dedicated buttons, displayed next to the value. A variety of properties are available for customizing steppers, including minimum and maximum values.Continue reading » -
Feature: The new TONUMBER, TOLOGICAL and TOTEXT functions
The new formula functions TONUMBER, TOLOGICAL and TOTEXT make it easy to convert values to numbers, logical values and text strings, respectively. Converting numbers stored as text to true numbers was previously impossible if the number had a fractional part.Continue reading » -
Feature: New tour template
The tour template shows off many of Calcapp's features and has been completely rewritten. The new tour demonstrates steppers, sliders, number formatting, date calculations, cross-references and more. There's even a color selector for the background color.Continue reading » -
Feature: Remove the navigation bar from apps
Remove the navigation bar from shared apps that have only one panel simply by ensuring that you don't type a panel title. This change especially benefits apps embedded in other websites.Continue reading » -
Feature: Better process for updating shared apps
The Share app button now reads Update app if your app has been shared. Changes you make to an app never go live for your users until you give the go-ahead by pressing the button.Continue reading » -
Feature: Links
Calcapp now supports inserting links to web addresses, email addresses and phone numbers. Linking to a phone number enables users on cell phones to place calls directly from an app. Email links cause a user's email client to appear, with the recipients, subject line and message body you specify.Continue reading » -
Feature: Formatted text
Calcapp now supports formatted text in text boxes. Use bold, italic, quotes, links, various headings and bulleted and numbered lists. All features are keyboard-accessible for a smooth typing experience.Continue reading » -
Feature: Open reports directly from your apps
Reports can now be opened directly from an app, instead of having them emailed. Use the new feature on its own, or use it as a preview feature your users can use to check reports before sending them.Continue reading » -
Feature: Select colors using formulas
Colors can be selected using formulas that take into account values entered by your users. You can use this feature to create field validation that really stands out or to enable your users to select their preferred color scheme.Continue reading » -
Feature: Custom app colors
Give your apps a custom color scheme by setting only a few base colors and Calcapp will figure out the rest. You can also set colors individually for precise control.Continue reading » -
Feature: The new color picker
The new color picker allows you to select the colors used in your app. You can select colors either from a palette with colors that work well together or any color by selecting a hue, saturation and brightness. It also supports entering named colors and colors from the color models RGB, HSL and HSB (HSV).Continue reading » -
Feature: More flexible panel removal
Our next release enables you to remove panels without also removing the panels that follow them. As a result, you can now do things like removing the first panel of an app without touching the rest of the app.Continue reading » -
Feature: Copy and paste panels and fields
Use our new copy and paste feature to copy fields and other items from one panel to another or to copy entire panels. This is a great way to copy data from one app to another.Continue reading » -
Feature: The Panels sidebar
The new Panels sidebar allows you to quickly move to individual panels. You can also reorganize panels by dragging and dropping them. For better control of your panel structure, copy and paste panels instead.Continue reading » -
Feature: Insert panels anywhere
Our next release will allow you to insert panels anywhere in your app. You will also be able to copy and paste panels and fields and other items. A new sidebar will give you an overview of your panels and enable you to reorder them.Continue reading » -
Feature: Insert cross-references in formulas (video)
You can now reference fields from other panels by clicking on them when you're editing a formula. You can also reference buttons and the other items that make up an app from your formulas by clicking on them.Continue reading » -
Feature: New calculated properties
Fields, buttons, calculation panel groups, text boxes, list panel options and panels now offer a variety of calculated properties you can use to make your apps more dynamic. This post offers the complete list.Continue reading » -
Feature: Introducing calculated properties (video)
Use formulas to hide and validate fields, make buttons grayed-out, determine the recipients of reports and more through calculated properties. These formulas are evaluated when your app is run and make it possible to build far more dynamic, complex apps.Continue reading » -
Feature: Cross-references
Use cross-references to refer to other panels with our next release, enabling you to build truly large, inter-connected apps. This update also lays the groundwork for calculated properties, which are coming soon.Continue reading » -
Feature: Data validation
Use data validation to flag invalid values with our next release. Specify allowable intervals for number fields to determine validity. A later release will allow you to use formulas to determine if a field is valid or not.Continue reading » -
Feature: Customize the sender of reports
Customize the sender of reports that are emailed from your apps with our next release. Soon, you will also be able to determine the sender using a formula.Continue reading » -
Feature: A grab bag of improvements
Access the formatted values of fields from formulas and prevent persistent fields from being reset with our upcoming release. Also, apps will look better on desktops and on tablets and the app creation experience will be improved.Continue reading » -
Feature: Automatic naming of fields
Starting with our next release, fields will be given names based on the captions you type for them at all times. This makes formulas easier to read. You can still assign names manually.Continue reading » -
Feature: Send PDF reports
Starting today, you can now send reports as PDF documents. PDF files are great for storing in document management systems and can't be easily changed.Continue reading » -
Feature: Multiple lines in text fields
Our November update will enable text fields to feature multiple lines. That may not seem all that significant, but has some interesting implications which we’ll explore in this post.
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Feature: Persistent fields
We’re hard at work on a major update, one that will enable cross-references between panels, allowing one panel to reference fields on another panel. That work entails making major changes to how Calcapp works under the hood. As a result, that work won’t be ready for our November update.
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Feature: Reporting improvements
Support for sending data collected by an app through email or directly to a server you run was introduced in our October update. Based on feedback from you, we have tweaked some aspects and added a number of options. These features have been available since the beginning of November, meaning that you can use them straight away.
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Feature: Send app data to your own server
Our October update enables users of your apps to email reports to you. You can also send collected app data to a server you run.
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Feature: Send reports from apps by email
Being able to send data from the apps you build has been one of the most requested features since we launched the beta. Today, we’re happy to announce that this feature will be part of our October update.
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Feature: Reset fields to their initial values
Our October update will enable you to add buttons to your apps that reset all fields of the current calculation panel to their initial values. Having the ability to reset fields enables your users to easily experiment with various values.
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Feature: Keyboard shortcuts
Our October release improves Calcapp Creator’s support for keyboard shortcuts. We have tried to focus on common-sense shortcuts that will make using the product easier for all users. For instance, to navigate between fields, press the up and down buttons on your keyboard. To move from editing the caption of a field to editing its formula, simply press Enter – and then press Enter to move back to the field. Move to the panel preceding the panel you’re currently editing by pressing Ctrl-Left and to the panel following the current panel by pressing Ctrl-Right. There are also shortcuts for creating new items, deleting and moving them and for quickly moving to the inspector and back again.
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Feature: Formula bar
We’re getting ready to release our October update. The headline feature is reporting, which in practice means support for adding buttons to your apps that send the data your users enter. We’ll have more to say about this feature in a future blog post, but we have also taken the time to improve smaller aspects of Calcapp Creator. This post is about the formula bar.
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Feature: Hidden fields
If you have spent any length of time developing apps with Calcapp, you have likely found yourself having to include the same formula fragments in many different formulas. If you need to convert an input number to a different unit before using the converted number in three different formulas, you need to include the conversion logic three times.
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Feature: List fields
Our upcoming release will introduce list fields: fields with drop-down menus.
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Feature: Offline support
Our upcoming release has two major features, the first of which we wrote about yesterday: the ability to share apps with others. The other notable feature is that shared apps work even when you don’t have access to the Internet, like on airplanes or in rural areas with poor cellular coverage. Offline support has consistently been one of the most popular requests from our users and we’re happy we’re now able to provide it.
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Feature: App sharing
We’re finally at a point where we can share details about the major feature we’re working on: app sharing. Soon, you will be able to easily share apps through email, social media and through your own website (by embedding your app into your site). You will be able to reach a shared app directly from a bookmark or from your phone’s home screen. Also, shared apps work when you’re offline.
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Feature: Switches
Our upcoming release will feature 244 functions, support for formatting numbers and a function browser. Amid all the major new feature additions, minor features can easily be missed. One of these is support for switches, which allow users to easily toggle the value of a logical field.
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Feature: Formatted numbers
In the current release, output numbers are always formatted with two decimal places at most. Input numbers are left alone. This is obviously quite limiting, and providing you with better control has been at the top of our to-do list for a while now. To format numbers, you use the new inspector at the left-hand side of the window:
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Feature: Improved error handling
Our upcoming release significantly improves error handling. (Examples of when errors occur include when a number is divided by zero and when the wrong value is passed as a function parameter.) The current Calcapp release handles errors by failing silently, displaying nothing. That isn’t very helpful when you’re struggling to get a formula to work correctly.
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Feature: Dates
Numbers can not only be formatted as fractions and percentages, but can also be formatted as dates and as times, which enables your users to enter such data. You can use date and time functions to manipulate the data entered by users and calculate new dates and times to show to your users.
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Feature: Insert field names in formulas easily
With our upcoming release of Calcapp Creator, editing formulas will become more convenient. In particular, you will be able to insert the names of your fields simply by clicking on them while editing formulas. When you’ve reached a spot in your formula where it makes sense to enter the name of a field (such as after you’ve typed “+” or the name of a function plus an opening parenthesis), your fields will turn purple to indicate that you can click them to insert their names at the caret position. If you’re used to spreadsheets, this should be familiar.
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Feature: The function browser
With 244 functions, you need an easy way to find the function you’re looking for and its documentation. To this end, we are introducing the function browser. It will be available in the same sidebar housing the inspector.
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Feature: 244 formula functions
Our upcoming release will feature significantly expanded support for formula functions. All in all, we will support 244 functions, ranging from text- and date-manipulation functions to functions in statistics, finance, engineering and trigonometry. If you’re used to a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel, the new functions should be familiar. Here’s the complete list:
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