Apple’s iOS 11 Bug Causes Numerical Errors When Using Calculator App

An iOS 11 bug that was first discovered during the beta testing phase is now garnering attention from users who are annoyed by the Calculator app’s erroneous calculations. The bug apparently causes the Calculator app to derive wrong answers for simple addition problems.

On Tuesday, MacRumors picked up a Reddit thread on how the iOS 11 Calculator app miscalculates a simple “1+2+3” equation. Based on the thread, many iOS users are complaining about the fact that the iOS 11 Calculator would come up with 24 as the result to the equation instead of 6. This commonly happens when one enters the equation and the equals sign in rapid succession.

Some users say the new calculator animation is the culprit behind this issue. They believe the animation causes the app to ignore some symbols when adding two or more numbers together in a quick manner. The problem, after all, does not persist when users enter the numbers slowly enough for the animation to highlight the keys that are being pressed.

“Any iOS developers will see what is wrong here: the bug is that the animation that lights up the button is blocking touch events until the animation completes. This is the default behavior for animations, but to make an app feel responsive it’s best to find a way around that (it can be a one line fix, but sometimes it is complicated),” one Reddit user wrote in the thread.

Another Reddit user explained: “You have to take your time in between clicking the + button and choosing the next number to add now. What the calculator is doing is adding 1 + 23 instead of 1+2+3. I think the + button animation is too long and you have to wait until the animation (of lighting up) is over after clicking it before you can move on with your equation. It's annoying.”

While the issue is being discussed this week, MacRumors can confirm that the bug was already present during the iOS 11 beta testing period. Users of the publication’s online forums have started complaining about the bug even when Apple was still working on the pre-release version of the software update. “Throughout the beta testing process, the animation lag was not addressed, nor has it been fixed in any of the iOS 11 updates released so far. It’s also still present in iOS 11.1,” MacRumors pointed out in its news story.

The animation lag also seems to have been present in previous iOS versions. Some users claim that they have experienced the problem in older iOS versions, but it wasn’t as noticeable back then. With iOS 11, the problem is very conspicuous especially when one is making rapid calculations.

Apple is said to already be aware of the issue, so users can expect a fix to roll out with the next iOS 11 update. For now, users are encouraged to choose reliable third-party alternatives, like Calcbot and PCalc.

Softpedia reports that the Calculator bug isn’t the only problem with iOS 11. The site says many iPhone users experienced terrible battery life, freezes, app crashes and many other issues when the first public build was rolled out. The site also complained that Apple may have poorly tested iOS 11 prior the software update’s official release to the public.