iBeams Pro vs RPN
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iBeams Pro
This app allows engineers to quickly sketch beam designs and instantly view analysis diagrams for shear, moment, and deflection. It offers rapid modification and analysis, streamlining the design process for structural elements. The file format is compatible with its macOS counterpart.
- Instant shear, moment, and deflection diagrams
- Sketch beam and loads like on a pad
- Rapid modification and analysis
- Imperial and S.I. units
- Editable material and section properties
- Cloud document storage
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Unlike traditional design tools where you have to define nodes and elements to model your structure, iBeams Pro let's you work like you normally do. You sketch out your beam and loads like you would on a design pad, and instantly view shear, moment, deflection and reactions diagrams. It is very easy to modify and view variations, and you can rapidly analyze several beams in a matter of minutes rather than hours, allowing you to finish your designs more rapidly than ever before. The file format is compatible with iBeams Pro for macOS. Features include: • Beam diagrams with multiple loads and supports, and the corresponding shear, moment, deflection, and reaction diagrams • User editable properties • Imperial and S.I. (metric) units • Editable material and section properties (ships with AISC, BS5950, CISC, and AS/NZS databases) • Multiple supports • Multiple loads • Joints and Moment Releases • Annotations • synchronize preferences and property settings between macOS and iOS versions of this application • support for storing documents on Cloud shares
RPN
This app is a photo-realistic simulation of a classic Hewlett-Packard programmable scientific calculator from the 1970s. It includes a 100-hour digital timer, clock functions, and original HP programs.
- Photo-realistic look-and-feel
- Programmable with conditional branching
- 100-hr timer and 12/24-hr clock
- Original HP programs built-in
- Extended features for enhanced usability
- Sharing via email, AirDrop, and more
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RPN-55 SD is the first photo-realistic simulation for the iPhone of Hewlett-Packard's low-cost alternative to the famous HP-65 programmable scientific calculator. Produced from 1975 through 1977, it was the "Merlin" member of the classic HP calculator series, priced at $395. HP claimed that it featured "(...) more pre-programmed functions than any other scientific pocket calculator in the world." A main feature of the HP-55 was a crystal-controlled 100-hr digital timer with the ability to store times while the timer was running and later recall them. On RPN-55 SD the timer may also act as a 12-hr or 24-hr clock, including date and weekday display. While the simulator works just like the original calculator – except being much faster and having twice the program memory – you can turn on extended features to make it even more enjoyable to use. RPN-55 SD comes complete with original HP programs built in. Features: • Photo-realistic look-and-feel • Vintage mode or Extended mode • Programmable (99 steps), conditional branching • Insert and delete steps with automatic address correction • Delete range of steps • Subroutines (4 levels) • 20 registers, "continuous", with unrestricted store/recall arithmetic • "Live" register view • Program listing view • Program library view • Store and retrieve any number of programs • 100-hr timer supporting 10 split times and 12/24-hr clock mode with date • Swap unit conversions with additional functions, e.g. hyperbolics • Sharing: e-mail, AirDrop, Dropbox, copy, paste, print • 112 programs pre-installed Calculator functions: • Statistics (linear regression, mean, standard deviation, correlation coefficient, x- and y-estimates) • Trigonometric functions (degrees, radians, grads) • Polar/rectangular conversions • Inverse, square root, logarithm, exponential, pi • Storage arithmetic (store and recall) • Percent, absolute, integer, fractional value, round • Factorial • Random number • Unit and hours conversions Details: cuveesoft.ch/rpn55
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: RPN at $1.99 against iBeams Pro's $21.99. RPN also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.7) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On review sentiment, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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
iBeams Pro costs $21.99 and RPN $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
RPN holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 8 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
iBeams Pro ships an update every 4 months, RPN every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iBeams Pro | RPN |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $21.99 | $1.99 — better |
| Rating | 3.7 (6 ratings) | 5.0 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 8 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Norm Schuster | CuVee Software |
Customer experience
iBeams Pro
RPN
In-app purchases
iBeams Pro
No in-app purchases
RPN
No in-app purchases









