Convert - the unit calculator

For the most part, the apps that come with the iPhone are highly polished, smooth running machines. You may or may not ever use them, but at least you know the build quality is there. Rarely do I see an app that matches Apple's build quality, and it's even more rare to see an app that should probably be adopted by Apple as its own. I really think that Convert deserves this honor because it is ever so functional and polished beyond necessity, things that Apple have been known for since their inception.

For those of you that haven't guessed yet, Convert is the unit calculator to end all unit calculators. Want to change Dollars to Yen? Not only is it done, but the currencies auto update themselves when you open the currency menu. Want to change centimeters to light years? Done, although I'm not sure why anyone would need that measurement. The app really will convert any unit of anything to anything else... in style I might add.

Because the functionality of the app is relatively straightforward (and works correctly), the basic reason why this is a must have app is the seemingly flawless polish that Convert oozes from its pores. The design is pretty straightforward, (if you want to see the design evolution of the app, check out this video) with a num pad on the bottom half of the screen and the conversion tools on the top. The num pad looks and feels much like the calculator app that is included with the iPhone, which was a good call. The top half of the screen is where it gets tricky.

There are three sections in the unit conversion area, type of conversion (i.e. length, power, force, area), what you are converting from, and what you are converting to. Typically, you would first pick what type of conversion you need, then fill the other fields. Everything is slidable, so navigating these menus is a breeze, just flick up and down until you find what you want. The other nice design feature is that in the fist conversion pane, you can type in a number, lets say 8, for a currency conversion. Instead of spending time doing multiple calculations, Convert does everything at once, quickly letting you know that $8 equals 14.961 Brazilian Reals and 1,510.28 Hungarian Forint.

I suppose that there really isn't much more to a conversion calculator than functionality and style, things that Convert does flawlessly. The app is only $0.99 at the time of this review, and at that price it would be pretty dumb not to pick it up. It may never be your most used app, but you have an iPhone... it's almost your responsibility to be able to quickly tell someone that 88 Kilowatts is 118.009944 Horsepower. Yes friend... of course there is an app for that.