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MacBook Air - / is reflected as when using formula. How to fix

When using formula, the / key reflects the + symbol. Have reset to factory defaults and sticky keys are set to "off". What to do?



Posted on Apr 13, 2021 9:38 AM

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mselizzie wrote:

When typing the character "/" in formula format, the "+" sign is what is reflected.


Are you sure what is reflected is a + and not a ÷ ? Look closely!


Once you "see" it as a ÷ a couple of times you won't have any more trouble.


SG


Posted on Apr 14, 2021 7:41 AM

9 replies

Apr 13, 2021 9:35 PM in response to mselizzie

On computers a / became the norm for the convenience of typists using keyboards with no separate division symbol. The early spreadsheets adopted that.


But the division symbol in Numbers is the same symbol that has been used on most models of electronic calculators for decades, with little complaint.


Numbers is used not just on the Mac, but also on mobile devices where the virtual keyboard does include a separate division symbol.


To me it makes little sense to use different conventions on mobile devices and the computer for the same software. My eyes quickly got used to the division symbol. Yours may too.😀


SG




Apr 14, 2021 5:22 AM in response to SGIII

It is not the ÷ symbol that is the problem, per se, it is the size of the font. I can distinguish the ÷ key on the calculator app perfectly fine and have no complaints with it. Below is the size comparison. I've gotten used to it but it is still not the optimum choice if the target demographic includes people with less than perfect vision. Maybe they could make it an "accessibility" setting, allowing us to choose the slash.


Apr 14, 2021 8:42 AM in response to mselizzie

Yes, I believe the ÷ was introduced during the transition from Numbers 2.x to Numbers 3, some years ago now. That roughly coincided, if I recall correctly, with the development of Numbers for iOS devices. To the dismay of some long-time users many interface features like this were changed, and capabilities temporarily removed, in order to engineer a cross-platform application. Now we are at version 11 on the Mac. Steady development has largely diminished complaints about the app's capabilities; to me it is far more powerful and easy to use than it was in its early versions, and of course it now works on iOS too, which can be handy. But some complaints/questions about the interface still persist, among them the question of the ÷ .


Anyway, my eyes quickly adjusted to "seeing" a division sign (even though the font is a little too small sometimes to be sure at first glance).


SG


MacBook Air - / is reflected as when using formula. How to fix

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