Comparison

Halcyon Calc vs DM50

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Halcyon Calc

A powerful calculator app for students, engineers, and scientists. It handles complex numbers, symbolic expressions, unit conversions, and matrix operations, with advanced plotting and programming capabilities.

Highlights
  • Complex number calculations
  • Symbolic expression manipulation
  • Unit conversion with custom units
  • Matrix and vector operations
  • Symbolic plotting
  • Programming of custom operations
  • Statistical data analysis
Features
Read full description

For students, engineers, scientists or people who fondly remember classic calculators, Halcyon Calc is a great application for manipulating numbers and even symbolic expressions. Features: - Use this calculator on an iPhone, iPod Touch or an iPad - Use your finger to quickly scroll through the stack to review intermediate results - Copy and paste support - Over 225 built-in operations, including trig, logarithms, real functions, complex operations and more - Allows you to work with real, complex and integer numbers. - Real and complex numbers can be displayed in standard, fixed, scientific and engineering format - Use over 120 built-in units to perform unit conversion or create your own units if the one you want is not already there - Integer numbers can be displayed in decimal, hexadecimal, octal and binary bases - Work with real and complex matrices and vectors. - Enter symbolic expressions and solve them for different values. Even better, solve quadratic formulas, collect and expand factors and terms, find minima, maxima and roots of any expression. - Plot symbolic expressions in X/Y coordinates. Pan the coordinate space by dragging the plot in any direction. Zoom in and out using a pinch gesture. - Determine symbolic derivative, taylor series or numeric integral of an expression. - Store numbers, lists, strings and expressions in symbols. Create hierarchies of symbols to allow you to organize your calculations. - Create sequences of calculator commands into programs, creating your own operations which you can then include in expressions. - Store statistical data and calculate totals, averages, standard deviations, linear regressions, etc over that data. - Calculate the probabilities associated with standard distributions like the normal, F and T distributions.

About

DM50

Features
Read full description

DM50 is a faithful tribute to the golden era of scientific calculators, bringing the legendary HP-style experience to your iPhone with modern enhancements. Whether you're an engineer, student, scientist, or calculator enthusiast, DM50 delivers the power and precision you need, with the tactile familiarity of classic RPN entry and a crisp, authentic 132×64 monochrome LCD display. REVERSE POLISH NOTATION (RPN) A true HP-style RPN engine with a dynamic multi-level stack, stack lift, SWAP, ROLL and DROP. Once you learn the flow, complex calculations become faster and more intuitive. ALGEBRAIC MODE (CAS) Type expressions the way you write them: full operator precedence, parentheses and implicit multiplication (2π, 3(4+5)). Includes numerical derivatives ∂(f,a), definite integrals ∫(f,a,b), and nine memory variables (x, y, z, A–F) for chained calculations. EQUATIONS AND INEQUALITIES Solve linear and quadratic equations — complex roots included — and linear inequalities. MATRIX ALGEBRA Matrices up to 5×5 in a dedicated editor: addition, subtraction, multiplication, transpose, trace, determinant and inverse. MORE MATH MODES • 3D vector calculations • Complex number arithmetic • Base conversion: decimal, binary, octal and hexadecimal • Formula library with pixel-art diagrams, inspired by the classics • Constants library with common physical and mathematical constants SCIENTIFIC FUNCTIONS • Trigonometry with RAD / DEG / GRAD angle modes • Logarithms, exponentials, powers and roots • Hyperbolic functions, factorials and more AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCE • Pixel-perfect monochrome LCD rendering (132×64) • Classic keyboard layout with BLUE / ORANGE • Real-time status bar: clock, angle mode, modifiers and battery • Retro sound effects BUILT FOR POWER USERS DM50 is designed for depth. The layered modifier system exposes dozens of functions without cluttering the interface — just like the classic calculators it draws in A LITTLE FUN TOO A built-in dice game to take a break between calculations. Track your high score.

Screenshots

Halcyon Calc4 screens
DM504 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: DM50 at monthly against Halcyon Calc's every 4 months. DM50 also leads on price ($0.99 vs $4.99) and device support (4 vs 2). On ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Halcyon Calc costs $4.99 and DM50 $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Halcyon Calc ships an update every 4 months, DM50 monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Halcyon Calc versus DM50: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHalcyon CalcDM50
Price$4.99$0.99 — better
Rating4.9 (18 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings18 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.615.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHalcyon Touch SoftwareJavier Bascones

In-app purchases

None

Halcyon Calc

No in-app purchases

None

DM50

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Halcyon Calc free?
Halcyon Calc costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is DM50 free?
DM50 costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Halcyon Calc or DM50 have ads?
Neither Halcyon Calc nor DM50 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Halcyon Calc or DM50?
Halcyon Calc ships an update every 4 months, and DM50 monthly. Most recently, Halcyon Calc was updated on September 22, 2026 and DM50 on September 28, 2026.

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