Chennai-based app developer reimagines calculator; wins Apple design award

Chennai-based app developer, Raja Vijayaraman has won a design award for his app ‘Calzy 3’ at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), 2018 at San Jose, California, according to a report by The Indian Express.

'Calzy 3' is a highly customisable calculator that uses iOS technologies to offer features like multitasking, Face ID and Touch ID.

According to a statement released by Apple, “This helps privately viewed saved history and bookmarks, drag and drop to share results in other apps, iMessage integration, Spotlight search for bookmarked results, iCloud Sync and Handoff, to help you perform day-to-day mathematical calculations in a more elegant way.”

Raja was unaware that he would be receiving the award when he was invited to visit the conference.

A mechanical engineer from Theni, Tamil Nadu, he switched to VFX a few years on and moved to Chennai where he worked on few films.

Raja adds, “That’s when I bought my first iPhone and used apps. I taught myself about apps and even learnt to code.”

‘Memory Area’ is one of the features of Calzy 3 using which users can store multiple numerical values and reuse them across different calculating sessions with a simple drag and drop interface.

The app can spell out calculation result in English and 65 other languages.

Ron Okamoto, Apple's Vice President of Worldwide Developer Relations said, “The Apple Design Awards have been launchpad for developers who have made beloved apps on the App Store, like Procreate, Zova, djay Pro and Monument Valley, and we know these winners will continue that tradition.”

This years, the winners in different categories were from across the globe, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, India, Netherlands, Turkey and the United States.