FX-603PX Programmable Scientific Calculator for Android

[xerxes]

(01-09-2022 02:51 PM)toml_12953 Wrote:  The FX-603P could hold 6,144 steps. Were individual programs limited to 512?

IIRC I exceeded the 512 steps, while experimenting with the opcode 253 and the effect on the display. More details here.

[cdmackay]

(01-07-2022 01:28 PM)krischik Wrote:  [align=justify][size=medium][font=Times New Roman]A bit of a necro comment but the FX-603 Simulator had been updated this month.

Thank you; I've enjoyed your 602 app for some time, but somehow had entirely missed the existence of the 603 app, which I've just bought.

Thanks again for such excellent apps.

I may now have to track down a physical 603 to go with my 602. And that reminds me to get the latter out and have a play.

thanks.

[johanw]

(01-07-2022 01:28 PM)krischik Wrote:  The new version has a new file manager to support Googles stricter rules for file I/O.

Yes, unfortunately this is required for target API30 (Android 11). For my own development I profit from the case that I don't publish in Google Play so I can just use the manage all files permission and continue. And now that I finally found a working way to translate an Uri to a File my old code remains working, with some glue here and there.

However, I was wondering why did you increase the minAPI setting so much? Is there any reason why the newer FX602 / 603 simulators will not work on older Android versions? Of course I can still run the old versions there but I saw some bugfixes in the code recently that would also be useful for my Android 7 tablet that is now stuck with 6.9.2, or 6.9.1 on my old Android 6 phone.

[krischik]

(01-13-2022 08:29 PM)johanw Wrote:  However, I was wondering why did you increase the minAPI setting so much?

I did so because I needed to use some of the newer file management functions that are not available on the old devices. Note that when document management was introduced it came without a file selector and Google only supplied a file selector in the newer version.

In addition the HP 45 Emulator was removed from the Store for a perceived security violation in one of the very old versions. That was a bit of a surprise. Google isn't only checking the new versions for perceived security violations. They check APK versions that are in the store for 10 years demand that you fix it — or remove the old APK.

And in this particular case the perceived violation only needing a fix if your minAPI is below a certain threshold. On newer Android version the needed fix was part of the OS itself.

Needless to say that under those condition removing the old APK and increasing minAPK was the only viable option.

—————
PS: perceived — non of the security violation actually affected a simple calculator app.

[johanw]

(01-14-2022 09:48 AM)krischik Wrote:  I did so because I needed to use some of the newer file management functions that are not available on the old devices.

Ah ok. Keeping the old code in an if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < ...) block was not an option then?

Anyway, I know of developers who offer a crippled Play Store version and a more advanced direct download version. Like my call recorder, the play store version can't access contacts so displays only numbers, the direct download version shows the names of those who called if they are in your contacts.

[krischik]

(01-14-2022 07:25 PM)johanw Wrote:  Keeping the old code in an if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < ...) block was not an option then?

The two I/O concepts are so different hat I had to rewrite user interface. You need to use the new Google provided file selector to get access to the files outside then app private directories.

Which, BTW, is quite a horrid user experience as the Google file selector uses mime types and doesn't allow the developer to easily define new mime types. It kind of works but badly.

Note that I prefer mime types over extensions ever since my OS/2 times but the way Google did it bings me no joy.

(01-14-2022 07:25 PM)johanw Wrote:  Anyway, I know of developers who offer a crippled Play Store version and a more advanced direct download version.

I noted that as well. Minds and Telegram too have full featured versions outside the play store. If Google continues the way it does many more will have to go that way.

[johanw]

(01-15-2022 08:50 AM)krischik Wrote:  

I noted that as well. Minds and Telegram too have full featured versions outside the play store. If Google continues the way it does many more will have to go that way.

Especially if they implement a far worse thing: if they make app bundles mandatory you'll have to give your signing keys to Google. That might not matter much for a calculator app, but for security and encryption software it would be unacceptable because it gives them the option to offer backdoored versions to specific users.

[krischik]

(01-20-2022 08:17 AM)johanw Wrote:  That might not matter much for a calculator app

Speaking of Google and since this is a HP forum after all: Did you notice that the one of the two official Android emulators for the HP Prime where offline for a few a month last year? It came back online with the the update in June so you might have missed it.

My suspicion is that HP run afoul of one of Google new rules and needed the time to fix to Googles satisfaction. Just like the HP-45 emulator. Once you have been taken off it's quite a bit of work to get reinstated.

In case you wonder: You do get a warning but those warnings are automated text blocks which are not easy to understand.

Martin

[Dan C]

Is it possible to port this nice FX-603p emulator to other platforms, like Windows 10 ?

[krischik]

(01-20-2022 10:26 AM)Dan C Wrote:  Is it possible to port this nice FX-603p emulator to other platforms, like Windows 10 ?

Actually it is already ported as the calculator core is POJO (plain old java objects).

But I only give it away on request and as bonus for the Android users as the GUI quality is not so good.

   

Kind of ugly. Not good enough to be a stand alone product. I mostly use it for debugging and testing the calculator core.