To begin with, in landscape mode, effectively none of the UI for the calculator is hidden. As shown in the images below, the full complement of calculator tools is visible. That includes all of the scientific calculator buttons found in the app’s standard landscape mode on mobile. Now, however, those tools don’t take up the entire UI either. The history of calculations was previously hidden away behind an upward swipe. When active, it took up the entire display. With the change, it’s shown to the left-hand side of the UI instead and not at all hidden. The new layout not only shows more of the UI on-screen at once. It still allows a more simplified view when tablets are turned upright in portrait mode.
Will more apps get support for Android Tablets after Google Calculator?
Now, Google Calculator isn’t the first of the search giant’s apps to see an update explicitly designed with Android tablets in mind. As recently as last week, the company also updated its Google Lens app to support tablets. And, again, that’s with a focus on making the app more useful in landscape mode. The changes fall in line with a much larger push from Google — and not just for the calculator but for all of its apps and third-party apps as well. Namely, in line with enhancements in Android 12L and future versions aiming to shore up efforts in the tablet space overall. Although, as of this writing, the update doesn’t appear to rely on Android 12 at all. This version of Calculator, reported as version 8.2, is simply the latest app to take advantage of that. The changes for Google Calculator, in particular, will be useful for those who need to multitask between their tablets and other devices. Since it allows both history and the full scientific calculator to be viewed and interacted with simultaneously. That means users can see more and do more. All without the potentially dozens of extra taps and swipes for every calculation they need to perform.
