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Your iPhone Is Getting a Small But Useful Upgrade

It’s a simple upgrade for one of your iPhone’s most popular apps.

A smartphone screen displaying a folder with nine app icons: Compass, Measure, Calculator, Voice Memos, Fitness, Home, Wallet, Watch, and Settings with a red notification badge showing the number 2. The phone is held in a hand.Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol
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By Tucker Bowe

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Last year, when Apple released iOS 18, it introduced several significant changes to the iPhone’s Calculator app. Basically, it gave it a bunch of new abilities.

The headline new feature was Math Notes, which allows you to type or write math equations, and then the app will solve them for you. It also introduced a Converter function for quickly converting things like currencies, lengths, volumes and temperatures.

That said, one smaller thing that Apple did with iOS 18 was tweak the button layout of the basic Calculator app, which irked some people.

And now, with iOS 26, it seems to be looking to right that ship.

A button returns

A smartphone with a clear protective case displaying a calculator app on its screen, placed on a light wooden surface. The calculator app shows a zero on the display and has gray number buttons and orange operation buttons. A white wireless earbud case is partially visible in the upper left corner.
Behold, the new keypad layout of the Calculator app in iOS 26.
Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

Specifically, iOS 18 removed the traditional AC/C (stands for “All Clear” and “Clear”) button from the calculator and replaced it with a back button. If long-pressed, the new back button did the same function as the previous AC/C button, but it can also delete one digit at a time, like the Delete or Backspace button on your keyboard.

Still, as highlighted by this article in The Atlantic, not everybody was thrilled about the Calculator app’s new layout. And Apple seemingly took notice. In subsequent iOS 18 updates, Apple brought back the AC button … but also deleted the back button, which, as it turns out, is a pretty useful button, too.

Wouldn’t it be great if both AC/C and back buttons could exist simultaneously on the Calculator app? Well, thanks to iOS 26, that’s exactly what’s happening.

A smartphone calculator app displaying the result 18,499,926 from the calculation 55,556 × 333 - 22. The calculator buttons visible include clear (AC), percentage (%), division (÷), multiplication (×), and numbers 7, 8, and 9. The division and multiplication buttons are highlighted in orange.
Yep, there’s space for both back and AC/C buttons on the top row.
Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

As initially spotted by 9to5Mac, iOS 26 updates the layout of your iPhone’s Calculator app once again. Most importantly, it puts the AC/C and back buttons right on the top row.

The previous +/- button (which lets you switch between positive and negative numbers) has been moved to the bottom row, all the way to the left. And the Calculator icon button (which lets you quick-access Math Notes or the Converter function) that had previously been on the bottom left has been moved to the top-right corner of the screen, which was vacant before.

Basically, Apple made space for AC/C and back buttons, put them in prime keypad locations, and moved around the other buttons that you probably use less often.

Consider this a significant victory for Calculator app enthusiasts.

iOS 26 is expected to roll out to all compatible iPhones next month, coinciding with the announcement of Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup.

About the Author: Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol’s editorial team since 2014. With a passion for consumer tech and hi-fi, he tracks everything from headphones and turntables to smartphones and wearables. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.

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