Calculator widget on notification panel

Parker Smith,

I too was very frustrated that Apple Engineers changed the way the macOS calculator in Notifications works now. Many people state that it is "broken", but people need to understand the difference between software being coded with an error ("broken"), and intentional programming to function as directed. The macOS calc is not broken, it was altered to function resetting the total to "0" whenever you close and reopen the Notifications window or switch to another program, then go back to it. Unfortunately, they did overlook that those upgrading from Sierra to High Sierra would have the issue of the .plist not being deleted, therefore causing the total in the calc to repopulate to the last total that was present in Sierra.

Many in this thread are mentioning the "solution" mon.fractus gave, and although it does delete the .plist file so that the calc now resets to "0" (as Apple Engineers programmed it to do now), it isn't the solution that the majority wanted. We wanted it to continue functioning as it did in Sierra where the last total given would always be present, unless we cleared the calc. But, as I stated after receiving the reply the Engineers forwarded, this is now the "normal" function of the calc in Notifications, and not a "bug".

Lastly, many also keep suggesting to use PCalc which does appear as a widget within the Notifications side window, but I don't really want to spend $10 on a calculator app/widget. Also, it has way too many scientific functions that I personally do not use. That's why I gave the suggestion of using the free app/widget PEMDAS. I don't see the issue of setting it up in Dashboard as an overlay and choosing a Hotkey for it. It actually is better, at least for me, than having it in the Notifications sidebar which would close the moment you go to any other window. My suggestion at least allows you to see your current window underneath as you enter your calculations.

In closing, the macOS High Sierra calc in Notifications will no longer function as it did in macOS Sierra. You can spend $10 (PCalc) to have a calculator in Notifications that keeps the previous total, or you can install a free app/widget like PEMDAS (or similar) and set it up as an overlay in Dashboard as I explained before.

In God's Harmony

I haven't experienced the 475, but I have a bug where hitting enter sets the value to 1. So when I open the notification panel, it shows 0, but if I hit enter 1 is added , then if I hit Enter again, it's 0.01, then 0.0001, then 0.00001 and so on. This has happened ever since I updated to High Sierra.

Parker Smith,

My comment is based on information I received at the end of December 2017 from 2 Senior Advisors at Apple after several phone conversations discussing the issue with the calculator and Notifications panel after upgrading to macOS High Sierra. They informed me that after reaching out to the engineering department in charge of this, they informed them that this will now be the intended behavior. I forwarded the link to this discussion thread, as well as two others with similar complaints. My conversations with them lasted over a week.

In God's Harmony

Perhaps if the majority of the users who post their complaints across this forum would also consider investing the time (and I understand it takes a lot of it!) to call Apple Support and voice their issues and complaints, their would be a greater possibility to have things either fixed or work as they used to. The advice almost all give, including Apple Support is to use the Feedback source. From my experience, trusting that the number of users who state they submitted feedback is accurate based on comments, I haven't really noticed that Feedback resolves much of what we complain about. Some issues date back years with numerous feedback to include, change, or re-instate function(s) with no changes ever being made. I've experienced somewhat better results from confirmed phone calls of users phoning in complaints. In the end, as with the majority of companies, whatever changes are made are usually based on internal decisions due to corporate vision.

In God's Harmony

I get how in some situations, some people would want the result to persist when the panel is closed, but for my uses, I open the notification window, perform the math I wish to perform, then I'm done, so I don't need a persistent result. Therefore, the posted fix worked just fine for me, as I was tired of seeing it populate to 1160 every time I opened it. (Must have been the value being held when I upgraded to Sierra).

Honestly, if one needs persistent results, simply open the built in full application rather than the widget, which can be minimized and maximized as needed, with the current result in tact. No need to go blow $10 just to have a widget with persistent results in the notification panel. At that point, I suggest, that one is getting too picky, and I recommend learning how to code if your needs are THAT specific.

blahbalah,

I hope you realize that I did state that I am not in favor of paying $10 for a calc, as others wrote; that is why I suggested a free alternative.

The deleting of the .plist file is what zeros out the total, and I did mention that the last total will carry over to High Sierra when upgrading due to an oversight from Apple Engineers. So it is not really a question of "must have", it will do that because they didn't include a script to run that would delete the file when upgrading to High Sierra. This has caused all the confusion and frustration mentioned in this and other similar posts.

Hopefully the deleting of the proper files will be incorporated in some future update.

In God's Harmony

John Laury wrote:

So, again, quite picky, and most people don't need such a hard level of persistence for calculator results. If you need such a level of persistence, write you own app, it's free, and it's not too hard to do.

I'm very familiar with how Macs work. Again, making excuses for what can only be seen as a bug and forcing users to use a workaround doesn't seem "picky". Yes, "most people" don't, some however prefer the old behavior.

Personally I just use PCalc, which works.

I am having the same issue that you are. Running High Sierra 10.13.3 on on 2017 MBP. My start value is always 444,444,444. I have executed below suggestions with no favorable results. All I can do is clear before using. It will retain the calculation until I exit the window but on return my work is lost and the start value will have reverted back to 444,444,444. Please update if you get a viable solution. Thanks.

Same issue here, with the number 8,100

The fix proposed with ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.ncplugin.calculator/Data/Library/Preferences/ does not work for me so I don't even have the 'reset to zero' option. I just use my phone now!

Found an even better solution...just use your iPhone! Clearly Apple has messed up with this one...can you really trust the calculations anymore? The notifications calculator has always been glitchy, for me at least. As annoying as this new bug is, I find it amusing that I'm always stuck at 34.2592952 and going no where fast.

@rawsaky - How can you insist that the new functions of the calculator are by design when they have clearly specified there was an oversight in one instance. One oversight + excuse of a newly designed function = BUG!

Hi. You said "...we will need to replace the .appex file with a fresh one from Sierra. If you happen to still have one (I can provide you with it, if you don't)."

I'm not sure where to find a fresh .appex file from Sierra. Are you saying to download from Apple, the High Sierra [10.13.4] iso or dmg file, and then use Pacifier to find that .appex file? If possible, could you email me the .appex file you mentioned to ****@ ntcf.org?

Much appreciation

Uriel

[Email Edited by Host]

Paulo,

You are one smart guy! I replaced the .appex file with the one you sent me, after turning off the System Integrity Protection as directed in your post, and the calculator works like NEW! It saves the calculation state and resumes any operation regardless of how long it was before I last used it.

Kudos to you, for discovering and publishing your solution!

Uriel

I haven't seen this behavior, paulo555, nor does it happen if I follow your your two scenarios.

That said, I usually launch the calculator.app instead of using the Notification widget. Maybe that explains the difference?

cjr

Hi Krigan

Thanks so much for posting this solution, the calc resetting to 0 every time I open it has been driving me mad.

Is there any chance you could also send me a link to, or the calculator.appex file please?

Regards Paul

How is this .appex file installed so as to replace the one not working properly. In High Sierra there is a permissions problem renaming the old and copying the your older .appex file to it's folder due to SIP (system integrity protection) i'm guessing.