Porting EasyCalc to Android — Looking for Source Code and Developer Insights

[MrCow]

Hello EasyCalc developers and community,

I'm working on porting EasyCalc, the classic Palm OS calculator, to Android, and I'm happy to share that I already have a working version running on Android. I also have the original source code, which I'm using as the basis for this port.

This project is personal to me. EasyCalc was a great application that helped me a lot during my university years. It was a genuinely useful tool, and I have fond memories of using it. I've wanted to bring it back to life on modern devices so that I can continue using it and hopefully allow a new generation of users to enjoy it as well.

My goal is to preserve the functionality, simplicity, and spirit of the original application while adapting it to the Android platform. I believe good software deserves to live on, even as the devices it was originally designed for become obsolete.

In particular, I'd appreciate your feedback on a few things:

Original design and functionality: Are there any features or behaviors you consider essential to preserving the original EasyCalc experience?

Project history: I'd love to learn more about the decisions behind the original implementation and any details that might not be documented in the source code.

Licensing and distribution: I'd like to make sure the Android port respects the original project's license and any applicable requirements before distributing it publicly.

Community feedback: Would anyone here be interested in trying the Android version and sharing suggestions?

I'm doing this partly out of nostalgia and partly because I believe useful software deserves a second life. EasyCalc helped me during an important stage of my life, and bringing it to Android is my way of giving something back.

Thank you for creating EasyCalc and for the work you've contributed to the community over the years.

Best regards

[Mapi Bid]

Hello @MrCow, after having ported it to Windows Mobile based PocketPC more than 10 years ago, I have the same project than you to port it to Android since some time, but I am just lacking time for it right now.

The most recent code base that you can use is the one of PocketPC, with some additional fixes compared to the Palm version. It is all on this Sourceforge project, so everything is available.

The main problem I have been pondering is the UI:

• the Palm OS one is very outdated, it was using Palm typical widgets, and it is very crude / simplistic compared for modern apps on Android or IOS.
• the PocketPC version is more graphical, emulating the look and feel of a calculator of that period, and it was borrowing some code that I adapted from another calculator project at the time, allowing anyone to change the skin and buttons with simple adaptations and text file + bitmaps, and to easily add translations, but I believe it is not well adapted either to the Android (or IOS) world.

Therefore, the first point to address in my view is the graphical design of the new port, taking into account the modern functions and widgets available on Android. The rest is C based and can easily be adapted to java, I had already made it more modular than the initial code base to get closer to object oriented (although not yet close enough to my taste).

=> Do you have skills and ideas on the field of UIs and on how EasyCalc could look like in the Android world, to be attractive enough while keeping all its richness ?

Let me know your views.