[Android] Study on the go with the handy formula reference app Formulae

Quick! What’s the chemical formula for Aspartic acid? No? How about the formula for the definition of an integral? Formulae is a free app for Android that brings a handy quick reference guide to chemistry and mathematics to your device in an easy to read format–and with it, you can find the answers to both of the questions above.

What is it and what does it do

Formulae is divided up into four sections: Chemistry, Mathematics, Constants, and user favorites. Though perhaps the constants should’ve been folded into the Chemistry and Mathematics sections, it’s a layout that makes sense and makes finding your required formula easy.

Pros

Well-laid out equations for Chemistry and Math, plus a section for constants
Learn more by opening the equation on Wikipedia
Favorites for easy access to certain equations

Cons

Crashes frequently on Android 4.1
No Physics equations in free version (only Chemistry/Math/Constants)
Tablet version only available in $1.69 Pro version
Search did not work (just stayed at spinning circle)

Formulae brings dozens if not hundreds of formulas to the palm of your hand. Note that, while Mathematics section goes anywhere from Algebra to Calculus, the Chemistry section is definitely more advanced than what you might’ve learned in high school. Even with that slight downside, Formulae still brings lots of useful formulas to the table, especially for Chemistry students, including the gas constant, magnetic constant, elementary charge, and a dozen more.

Whether Formulae is of any help to you depends entirely on whether anything in it is the same as what you’re currently learning or needing to use. The Chemistry group is composed of a pile of functional groups, NMR shifts, a large number of named reactions, a few crystal structures, around two dozen amino acids, and around 30-40 actual formulas spread across various subfields such as quantum mechanics, kinetics, and thermodynamics.

The same holds true with the mathematics section, including basic calculus (differentiation, integration), algebra, vectors, matrices, trigonometry, etc. It covers information that is generally considered to be either high-level high school material or low-level college material.

Unfortunately, there is absolutely no Physics section, at least in the free version. If you upgrade to the Pro version, which costs $1.69, you’ll get not only a Physics section, but a widget and a tablet interface as well. You’ll even be able to add your own user equations.

Conclusion and download link

If whatever you’re studying has a large number of formulas or other data pieces stored within Formulae, it can be a very useful app. The lack of a Physics section makes it significantly less useful for a large number of people, and since it crashes on Android 4.1, many people many not find it nearly so useful as it possibly could be. Still, if you’re studying chemistry or calculus and find yourself looking up equations on Google, give Formulae a try.

Price: Free!

Version reviewed: v3.7.3