A couple of questions about the HP prime app for Android

[pier4r]

I'm sorry if I'm asking something already discussed, but I could not find clear information for my questions.

- As far as I read, the HP prime for android, pro version, should have the same functionality of the real calculator. Am I mistaken?

- I read that programs for the Hp prime can be developed only on the android device, and not on the PC (with notepad++ for example) to then transfer them on android. This was a thread in 2016. Is this still valid? Is not possible to pass a file on android, like with xplore, and then read it with the prime app? Sorry I could not find anything about this.

- Is the app an emulator? I mean like this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai....x48&hl=en (droid48) or like this https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...49gp&hl=en (go49g+) . In other words, is the app emulating the hardware of the hp prime or is the app compiled natively for the android target architecture (like generic ARM)? The second case would be way more attracting for intensive computations.

Thanks again and I apologize for the possible recurring questions.

If the answers are positive, I do think that my first prime would be on android. Having a mathematical environment like the 50g (1) for 22 € on a powerful device is awesome, sure missing the physical keyboard designed for math input is a big setback (I dread tiny buttons on touchscreens) but for intensive computations involving a bit of math would be great.

(1) I always considered 50g and similar calculators "portable matlab/mathematica". Awesome systems.

[Eric Rechlin]

You can definitely do development for the Prime on the PC. I've even released a couple packages to make this easier (one, to provide command syntax help and highlighting and completion in Notepad++, and the other to provide a new AltGr plane for the keyboard layout to make typing special characters easier). You can then use the Connectivity Kit in conjunction with the Virtual Calculator to do all development on the PC.

The Android version, as well as the Virtual Calculator on the PC, are natively recompiled so they are not emulators or simulators.

I believe the free version of the HP Prime for Android doesn't let you talk to the Connectivity Kit so there's no way to load third-party programs onto it without typing them in manually. But I haven't used it to be sure; I just purchased the full version.

[Tim Wessman]

(04-05-2017 03:24 PM)Eric Rechlin Wrote:  You can definitely do development for the Prime on the PC. I've even released a couple packages to make this easier (one, to provide command syntax help and highlighting and completion in Notepad++, and the other to provide a new AltGr plane for the keyboard layout to make typing special characters easier). You can then use the Connectivity Kit in conjunction with the Virtual Calculator to do all development on the PC.

The "pro" apps can connect to the connkit via your IP network and then show up just like a "hardware calculator over usb". Then stuff can be transferred around, shared, etc.

Quote:The Android version, as well as the Virtual Calculator on the PC, are natively recompiled so they are not emulators or simulators.

Correct. The app versions are going to be much faster.

Quote:I believe the free version of the HP Prime for Android doesn't let you talk to the Connectivity Kit so there's no way to load third-party programs onto it without typing them in manually. But I haven't used it to be sure; I just purchased the full version.

The "Free" one does indeed not have the communication code in it. Also, you cannot type user programs either. You can define a function through the "define" box, you could write programs in the CAS as they are just contents stored in variables, but you can't use the Program catalog in the free one.

[pier4r]

Many thanks, I'm going to buy the app, especially if it is native and not slowed down. Thanks for the answers and great Eric for the work in np++ (it is not that trivial, it takes time). For Np++ is there a chance to contribute to the the language definition file through a repository?

One think I dread though: if I start to have very good app on android to handle intensive mathematics (1) I may keep the 50g without buying the real prime and/or the nspire.

Nah, just kidding, I'll eventually buy them. Having little portable "matlab/mathematica" is awesome.

I also saw that this is a pretty awesome post for documentation (it is a pity that is not based on a collaborative wiki so one cannot help).

(1) It is interesting that playstore does not report mathstudio or paridroid as similar app of the HP prime.

[Eric Rechlin]

There's no repository, but if you make any changes to it, just submit it to my site the normal way and I'll update it.

I haven't updated my site in a few weeks because I've been spending a lot of my free time the last 3 weeks making some new emulator skins for the RPL-based calculators. These should be "definitive", the best out there, once done. All I have left to do now is finish the keyboard mappings and then I'll publish them; there will be 31 in total.

[Jan_D]

(04-05-2017 04:25 PM)Tim Wessman Wrote:  The "pro" apps can connect to the connkit via your IP network and then show up just like a "hardware calculator over usb". Then stuff can be transferred around, shared, etc.

Hi Tim,

Can you tell me how to do this?
I have a pro app on my tablet and the connectivity Kit on my computer.

Both my computer and my tablet are connected to the internet by wifi via the same wifi access point.

But when I go to page 4 of Home settings I see:

No network available (0)
Status: looking for network.....
RF Version: No adapter found

And the Connectivity Kit shows no calculators.

[StephenG1CMZ]

(04-10-2017 03:51 PM)Jan_D Wrote:  

(04-05-2017 04:25 PM)Tim Wessman Wrote:  The "pro" apps can connect to the connkit via your IP network and then show up just like a "hardware calculator over usb". Then stuff can be transferred around, shared, etc.

Hi Tim,

Can you tell me how to do this?
I have a pro app on my tablet and the connectivity Kit on my computer.

Both my computer and my tablet are connected to the internet by wifi via the same wifi access point.

But when I go to page 4 of Home settings I see:

No network available (0)
Status: looking for network.....
RF Version: No adapter found

And the Connectivity Kit shows no calculators.

I think it needs to be connected by USB too.

[Tim Wessman]

(04-10-2017 03:51 PM)Jan_D Wrote:  Can you tell me how to do this?
I have a pro app on my tablet and the connectivity Kit on my computer.

1. In your preferences in your computer running the connkit, does it have in the "IP Networking" group the "enable network" checked?

2. Do you have a firewall running on the computer that might be blocking your connkit? On windows for example, the first time you run it there is a box that the default firewall will pop up. If you click "block" at that point, it won't let the network broadcast work.


Those tend to be the 2 problems people run into.

[Jan_D]

(04-10-2017 07:58 PM)Tim Wessman Wrote:  

(04-10-2017 03:51 PM)Jan_D Wrote:  Can you tell me how to do this?
I have a pro app on my tablet and the connectivity Kit on my computer.

1. In your preferences in your computer running the connkit, does it have in the "IP Networking" group the "enable network" checked?

2. Do you have a firewall running on the computer that might be blocking your connkit? On windows for example, the first time you run it there is a box that the default firewall will pop up. If you click "block" at that point, it won't let the network broadcast work.


Those tend to be the 2 problems people run into.

Thank you Tim.
Your second advice worked.

I disconnected the router from the internet and then turned the Windows firewall off (I have never seen a box popping up for that matter)

Then I turned off the protection of my virusscanner.

Now I see my calculator and its content in the connectivity Kit.
I am positively surprised!

[Jan_D]

By the way, it was indeed Windows firewall which caused the problems, not my virusscanner.