Comparison

RPN vs CatLabel

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

CatLabel

Create custom text and color labels for your device's home screen. Organize your pages with glanceable widgets, making navigation easier.

Highlights
  • Custom text labels
  • Customizable colors
  • Home screen widgets
  • Improved page organization
  • Glanceable information
Features
Read full description

Widget for adding labels on the Home Screen, set custom texts and color to make your pages more easily glanceable.

Screenshots

RPN4 screens
CatLabel3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: RPN at 4.4 against CatLabel's 2.7. RPN also leads on review sentiment (71% vs 50%) and update cadence (every 6 months vs every 19 months). CatLabel's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $1.99). 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 CatLabel $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

RPN holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of RPN's written reviews are positive against 50% of CatLabel's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RPN ships an update every 6 months, CatLabel every 19 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
RPN versus CatLabel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRPNCatLabel
Price$1.99$0.99 — better
Rating4.4 (14 ratings) — better2.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings14 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 6 months — betterEvery 19 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCuVee SoftwareJohan Jaderblom

Customer experience

RPN

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

CatLabel

All ratings3 ratings
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

RPN

No in-app purchases

None

CatLabel

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is RPN free?
RPN costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is CatLabel free?
CatLabel costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, RPN or CatLabel?
RPN is rated higher. RPN averages 4.4 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while CatLabel averages 2.7 from 3 ratings.
Do RPN or CatLabel have ads?
Neither RPN nor CatLabel shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RPN or CatLabel?
RPN ships an update every 6 months, and CatLabel every 19 months. Most recently, RPN was updated on November 4, 2026 and CatLabel on November 3, 2026.

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