Comparison

RPN vs Petal Layout Pro

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

Head to head
About

RPN

This app emulates the first pocket scientific calculator, offering a photo-realistic vintage experience. It simulates original operating speeds and unique arithmetic bugs, with optional modern enhancements like non-volatile registers.

Highlights
  • Photo-realistic look-and-feel
  • Multiple vintage skins
  • Vintage and Enhanced modes
  • Optional key-click and key-glow
  • Swipe to correct input
  • Display stack and memory registers
Features
Read full description

On January 4, 1972, Hewlett-Packard announced the HP-35, world's first scientific calculator small enough to fit in a pocket - more precisely, Bill Hewlett's shirt-pocket. The HP-35 was an immediate hit with students, engineers, and scientists. Despite its steep price of $395 (about $3000 today), it sold ten times better than anticipated in the first year. Experience this unique calculator that won HP the prestigious "IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing" in 2009. Features: • Photo-realistic look-and-feel • Three skins: version 1, versions 2 & 3 (1973) and final version 4 (1974) • Vintage mode and Enhanced mode • Key-click and key-glow, both optional • Swipe left across display to correct number input errors • Cut/copy/paste display value • Display stack registers and memory registers • All decimal points but one light when iPhone battery charge drops below 5% Vintage mode In this mode, peculiarities of a real HP-35 are simulated: - original speed of operation - stack register Z copied to T on trig functions - leading zeros may be entered; zero can be made negative - a negative number may be entered by pressing CHS before or after the number - a keyboard entry or RCL immediately following STO does not raise the stack - for version 1 only: simulation of a number of known arithmetic bugs Enhanced mode - non-volatile stack and registers - use registers 1 through 9 with HP-45-like register arithmetic - register 0 works as LastX register

About

Petal Layout Pro

This app assists in the fabrication of spherical and hemispherical heads by calculating precise petal layouts. It supports various part divisions for accurate flat pattern development, ideal for pressure vessel and storage tank construction.

Highlights
  • Sphere petal layout calculation
  • Hemispherical head petal layout calculation
  • Multiple part divisions (12, 24, 48)
  • Unit setting for mm/inches
  • Flat pattern development
  • Supports pressure vessel fabrication
Features
Read full description

Petal Layout is a professional fabrication calculator for developing petal-type layouts for spheres and hemispherical heads. It is designed for pressure vessel fabrication, process equipment manufacturing, spherical tank fabrication, and industrial sheet metal work. The app generates fabrication-ready layout dimensions that can be used for marking plates or sheet metal before cutting, forming, and assembling spherical or hemispherical components. Whether you are a fabrication engineer, fitter, workshop technician, production engineer, or pressure vessel professional, Petal Layout helps simplify complex petal development calculations and improves accuracy during fabrication. Supported Petal Layouts • Hemispherical Head / Hemi Head • Hemispherical Dish End • Sphere / Spherical Tank Hemispherical Head Petal Layout Generate petal development dimensions for hemispherical pressure vessel heads and dish ends. Enter the required head diameter and straight face length, select the desired number of development divisions, and calculate the layout dimensions required for plate marking. Sphere Petal Layout Generate petal-type development dimensions for spherical tanks and spherical shells. Enter the sphere diameter and select the required number of divisions to generate the layout dimensions for fabrication. Development Options Choose from predefined development divisions: • 12 Parts • 24 Parts • 36 Parts • 48 Parts You can also enter a custom number of development divisions according to your fabrication requirements. Features • Sphere petal layout development • Hemispherical head petal development • Dish end petal layout • Spherical tank layout calculations • Multiple development division options • Custom development line/part count • Fabrication-ready marking dimensions • Clear and easy-to-understand results • Simple professional interface • Metric and Imperial unit support • No internet connection required Fabrication Applications Petal Layout is useful for: • Pressure Vessel Fabrication • Spherical Tank Fabrication • Process Equipment Fabrication • Storage Tank Manufacturing • Dish End Fabrication • Hemispherical Head Fabrication • Sheet Metal Fabrication • Industrial Fabrication • Plate Layout and Marking Designed For • Fabrication Engineers • Fabrication Fitters • Production Engineers • Mechanical Engineers • Workshop Technicians • Pressure Vessel Fabricators • Tank Fabricators • Process Equipment Manufacturers • Fabrication Supervisors • Engineering Students For improved fabrication accuracy, the app can be used with appropriate mean dimensions when developing and marking petal layouts. Petal Layout provides a convenient solution for generating sphere and hemispherical head petal development dimensions, helping reduce manual calculations, save fabrication time, and improve accuracy during plate layout and marking.

Screenshots

RPN4 screens
Petal Layout Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: RPN at 71% against Petal Layout Pro's 0%. RPN also leads on update cadence (every 6 months vs every 41 months) and price ($1.99 vs $3.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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

RPN costs $1.99 and Petal Layout Pro $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RPN ships an update every 6 months, Petal Layout Pro every 41 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
RPN versus Petal Layout Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRPNPetal Layout Pro
Price$1.99 — better$3.99
Rating4.4 (14 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings14 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 months — betterEvery 41 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.1
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCuVee SoftwareImran Pinjara

Customer experience

RPN

All ratings14 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral21.4%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral21.4%
Negative7.1%

Petal Layout Pro

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

None

RPN

No in-app purchases

None

Petal Layout Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is RPN free?
RPN costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Petal Layout Pro free?
Petal Layout Pro costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do RPN or Petal Layout Pro have ads?
Neither RPN nor Petal Layout Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RPN or Petal Layout Pro?
RPN ships an update every 6 months, and Petal Layout Pro every 41 months. Most recently, RPN was updated on November 1, 2026 and Petal Layout Pro on October 29, 2026.

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