# iCalc: Photo Math Calculator — user reviews > 69 indexed App Store user reviews of iCalc by Jake Elrod, rated 4.40/5 from 354 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/icalc-photo-math-calculator/id6448191549/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/icalc-photo-math-calculator/id6448191549.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 268 · 4★ 33 · 3★ 19 · 2★ 7 · 1★ 27 ## What do users think of iCalc? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 👍 Easy to use - 🚀 Efficient calculations - 💡 Helpful for math homework **Cons** - 🤑 Paywalled features - 🤥 Misleading free lifetime offer - 🐛 Crashes and bugs - 📵 Entire app is behind a paywall **Commonly reported bugs** - Upgrade to premium message blocks the calculator - Sudden app crashes on launch **Most requested features** - Free trial period - Reduced premium upgrade price for existing users - Voluntary data collection settings ## Newest reviews (10 of 69) ### 2/5 — No subscription, no $100 premium here. *2025-05-17* I was excited when I saw this calculator had a limited free lifetime offer and that it offered AI and photo capabilities, which is why I downloaded it. But these features are behind a premium paywall. What I got for free lifetime instead was a Plus tier, which doesn’t make it any better than other excellent calculators I have. No subscription and no $100 premium here. ### 1/5 — Very limited *2025-05-14* I was under the impression I was purchasing the "pro" version via Apps Gone Free today. App only does simple calculations you can do with default Apple iPhone/iPad calculator. There was no "walk through" feature as mentioned by others. Probably an "upgrade" feature as well. AI feature not available without "upgrade". No thanks. ### 1/5 — Awful misleading app *2025-05-14, version 2.2.5* Supposed to be free, but ridiculous $99 payment needed when the app is started. No way! Uninstall now!! ### 3/5 — Batteries Not Included *2025-05-14* The primary functions I wanted to test were the AI questions and the camera solving which were supposed to be free today but alas, the app only allows the “plus” functions. Thought it would be great to use with my kids as they struggle a bit in math and I need as many ways as possible to show them the usefulness of it, how it applies and the proper ways to arrive at a solution. So basically another basic calculator for me to throw in the calculator bin folder on my phone and probably never use again. Pretty bummed out but whatever. Made me write a review. ### 1/5 — Lifetime deal not available *2025-05-14, version 2.2.5* Promised discount for Appadvice not working. ### 1/5 — previously free now subscription only *2025-01-15* Previously free calculator updated underneath its users to be paid subscriptions only. Previously it frequently spammed ads and added unnecessary features. One star for forcing an uninstall and a search for a new calculator app. ### 1/5 — “Free” app requires payment *2024-11-13, version 2.1.1* BOOOOO. 👎 Who is going to pay a subscription for a calculator?! There’s also a one-time payment option but it’s also ridiculously priced. Get real. ### 1/5 — Ordinary. *2024-06-24, version 2.0.0* I wanted reverse polish ### 4/5 — Calculate *2023-10-15* I just may purchase this one it’s perfect for my needs **Developer response:** So glad iCalc is meeting your needs! Let us know if there is anything we can do to make your experience even better :) ### 5/5 — So good! *2023-09-02* This app is perfect! Love it. **Developer response:** Thank you so much for your review! If there is anything else you would like us to add to make your experience even better, please email us at support@jakeelrod.com. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Scheme/Scam *2026-01-12, version 2.2.5* You have to pay to use this app, no trial, no free use. They want you to pay either weekly, monthly or $19.99 lifetime, why not just charge to download the app? ### 1/5 — Payment model is a scam. *2025-11-26* Why let users download the app for free, but not let them get a their first look at it, forcing them to agree to pay a weekly fee in order to get the opportunity to evaluate if it fits their use case? To make money off the people who forget to, or don’t realize they have to, cancel the subscription. There’s no other reasonable conclusion. Other apps offer a free trial period that doesn’t leave them on the hook at the end, and iCalc could, as well, but has decided otherwise. ### 1/5 — The upgrade to premium message wouldn't go away and blocked the calculator, making it useless *2025-11-20* The upgrade to premium message wouldn't go away and blocked the calculator, making it useless ### 1/5 — The ENTIRE app is paywalled *2025-07-13, version 2.2.5* As soon as you open the app, it asks for a 5 star rating. Then it asks for your money. Is the rest of the app any good? Who knows. Terrible first impression. Uninstalled. ### 1/5 — Paywall *2025-05-22* I understand that pay by month for even a calculator is a new standard (I miss the time of 0.99$ apps!), but iCalc doesn’t even gives you a trial. I came here to see how to calculator works, and if the widget was ok, but I can’t even pass the paywall screen. Greedy ### 1/5 — It doesn’t work.. *2025-05-17, version 2.2.5* There is an issue with the app, a sudden exit when you open it The reason?? ### 1/5 — Dev offers lifetime premium access & revokes it just for fake metrics & rankings *2025-05-16* The developer offered a premium lifetime access to the app to increase downloads and artificially boost their five-star ratings. Afterward, they released an update that introduces a paywall, aiming to inflate their ratings with more five-star reviews. This behavior is misleading and focused solely on increasing downloads and user numbers. Practices like these are fraudulent, and the developer should be held accountable for their actions. **Developer response:** Unfortunately, this is a false statement. We offered the Plus lifetime access for free, not the Premium lifetime access! The paywall for premium access was already there and has been there for a long time! However, I understand the confusion - there were two subscription levels and you wanted to get everything for free, instead of just some stuff for free. Would you also like to be served grapes and fanned? I hear it goes well with all that entitlement :) ### 1/5 — Such an unethical scam developer 🤮 *2025-05-15* So Richard you have a promotion with app advice to give away lifetime subscription YET decide to be a grifter and data mine information WITHOUT giving any free lifetime subscription just makes you a classless garbage collector of deception and greed so sad 🤥 pinocio 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 ### 1/5 — Buyer Beware *2025-05-15* So this was offed for free lifetime to get reviews. Claimed the free lifetime. The app tells me that I have the premium version but to use the camera it wants to charge another $99. To me this is dishonest deceptive trade practice. I cannot recommend any developer who does things like this. They wanted a review, and this is my review! Now deleting the app! ### 1/5 — Was told Premium Lifetime For Free *2025-05-15* Saw this was a free down load on apps gone free and would get lifetime free. Only gives you the lower option and leaves some of the features out. Even though it was a lot for free still feel a bit lied to. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Exceptional app... *2026-06-12* In my humble opinion calculators don't get any better than this. iCalc is a highly intuitive, polished app with modern interface and advanced functionality presented in uncluttered and accessible way. The learning curve is gentle, the extensibility (by integrating other online calculators) is impressive, innovative feat. Its highly detailed and actionable ticker tape has proven invaluable to me in many projects. The "math bot" is well worth the premium subscription, the ability to do fraction and mixed numbers calculations - indispensable! Also, Premium subscribers can toggle analytics off. In a world - among my favorite applications. ### 5/5 — good *2025-02-13, version 2.1.6* lets me cheat on math homework reheheheh ### 5/5 — Spectacular app from a very talented developer *2025-01-04, version 2.1.4* This is a breath of fresh air! My long search for a calculator app that incorporates gorgeous UI, follows Apple's design principles, and manages to be full-featured without getting in the way, is finally over! Having checked all of the other calculator apps on the App Store, I can confidently say that this one surpasses them in every aspect. The Math Both in particular has been an invaluable resource for my DUY projects. One suggestion to the developer - I bought the lifetime Plus Version, thinking in time I would upgrade to the Lifetime Premium. However, I expected the price of the Premium for me to be reduced by the amount I paid for the Plus. Alas, the Lifetime Premium still costs $99.99. Other than that, I love this app! ### 5/5 — Exceptional! *2025-01-02, version 2.1.4* It doesn’t get any better than this. The only thing I would ask the developer is to make ALL data collection voluntary. Add a On/Off switch, please! Otherwise, stellar app. ### 5/5 — Simply the Best! *2024-12-02* Excellent calculator! Easy to use! All the functionality I need. More advanced than all the other calculators I’ve used! ### 5/5 — iCalc review *2024-07-21* I liked the name of iCalc I have a feeling it is not quite as elaborate as other AI bots but it is a third of the cost of the other one I consider buy I didn’t think anyone would care about Ai this much! Thanks desk help ### 5/5 — Simply the Best! *2024-07-21* Excellent calculator! Easy to use! All the functionality I need. More advanced than all the other calculators I’ve used! ### 5/5 — Awesome *2024-05-02* Easy to use and super efficient ### 5/5 — Nice *2024-02-28, version 1.9.5* Good app so far ### 5/5 — Thank you iCalc *2023-11-17* This app helped me so much with my math classes I probably wouldn’t have passed without it. **Developer response:** Thank you so much for your amazing review! We love to hear feedback like this. If there's anything we can do to make your experience with iCalc even better, let us know by emailing us at support@jakeelrod.com! --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-18.*