Magna Calc vs PALCS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Magna Calc
Calculate telescope magnification easily. Supports various eyepiece focal lengths and Barlow lens options from 1x to 5x. Essential tool for amateur and professional astronomers.
- Telescope focal length input
- Eyepiece focal length input
- Barlow lens option (1x-5x)
- Magnification calculation
- Supports millimeters
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Astronomers often need to calculate the magnification derived from their telescope focal length and eyepiece. MagnaCalc provides an easy way to calculate this value for both amateur and professional astronomers. Additionally, Magna Calc provides a 2x to 5x Barlow lens option. Whether you're an amateur or professional astronomer, you'll find Magna Calc helpful in your everyday passion for astronomy. Magna Calc Features... - Telescope Focal Length (in Millimeters) - Eyepiece Focal Length (in Millimeters) - Barlow Lens Option (1x, thru 5x) - Magnification Calculation
PALCS
This app allows parents to actively participate in their child's academic journey. It offers real-time updates on progress, personalized messages, and important school announcements and alerts.
- Academic progress tracking
- Personalized parent messages
- School announcements
- Critical notices and alerts
- Division-specific updates
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The PALCS App provides parents more opportunity to engage with their child's education. Our app helps parents get quick access to their child's up-to-date academic progress, receive tailored messages related to their child, see general and division specific announcements and also have access to schoolwide critical notices, reminders and alerts.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: PALCS at 100% against Magna Calc's 25%. PALCS also leads on price (Free vs $0.99) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 37 months). On ads and in-app purchases 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
PALCS is free to download; Magna Calc costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
PALCS holds the better App Store score, 3.3 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of Magna Calc's written reviews are positive against 100% of PALCS's.
Magna Calc ships an update every 37 months, PALCS every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Magna Calc | PALCS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.0 (2 ratings) | 3.3 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 25.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 7 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 37 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 81 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Greg Paskal | The Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School |
Customer experience
Magna Calc
PALCS
In-app purchases
Magna Calc
No in-app purchases
PALCS
No in-app purchases
