Frequently asked questions
About Soulver - the world's best notepad calculator
If your question is not answered here, send us an email or a tweet. We're happy to help.
Availability & platforms
Where can I get Soulver 3?
Soulver 3 for Mac is available as a one-time (non-subscription) purchase of $34.95 on the Mac App Store and as a direct download on our website.
Soulver 3 for iPad ($20) and Soulver 3 for iPhone ($14) are available on the App Store.
All versions of Soulver are also available on Setapp (240 apps for $9.99/month).
What are the system requirements for Soulver 3?
Soulver 3 for Mac requires macOS 12 (Monterey) or later, and works great on the latest macOS 14 (Sonoma).
If you're still on macOS 10.14 (Mojave), 10.15 (Catalina), or macOS 11 (Big Sur) you can download an older version of Soulver 3.
Soulver 3 for iPhone & Soulver 3 for iPad require iOS/iPadOS 16 or later, and work great on the latest iOS/iPadOS 17.
Can I try Soulver before purchasing?
Yes: we offer a no-commitment 30-day trial.
You are not charged when the trial ends. You may purchase or delete Soulver at any time, during or after the trial.
After the trial ends, you can continue to view any sheets you have created (although they will no longer be editable).
Should I get Soulver directly from you, or from the App Store, or from Setapp?
Benefits of the direct download version
A single serial number works on up to 5 Macs, even with different App Store accounts
We make slightly more per sale than from the App Store (and supporting indie developers is a good thing).
We are able to refund your transaction if required, issue tax invoices, and offer student discounts
Benefits of the Mac App Store version
Automatic updates in the background & no serial number to keep track of
Family sharing included
Subscribe to optional data services, like AI, Live Stocks & Advanced Weather ($26/year)
Benefits of the Setapp version
Get all platforms (Mac, iPhone & iPad) as part of your Setapp subscription
Never pay an upgrade fee for a major update (Soulver 4, Soulver 5, etc)
Complementary access to AI, Live Stocks & Advanced Weather (ordinarily $26/year)
Purchasing & licenses
Why are Soulver 3 for Mac, iPad & iPhone all separate purchases?
It's standard practice in our industry for non-subscription productivity apps like Soulver to set appropriate prices for each platform (see Things, iA Writer, etc).
It's also worth noting that we we craft individual versions from the ground up for each platform we build for, rather than using inferior cross-platform technologies.
Soulver is a best-of-class native (AppKit) Mac app, and a best-of-class (UIKit) app for the iPad and for the iPhone.
Do you support family sharing on the App Store?
Yes. Share Soulver with your family when you purchase through the App Store.
The direct download version of Soulver can also be used on up to 5 Macs in a household (so feel free to share the license code with your family).
Can I transfer my direct Soulver 3 license into an App Store license?
Unfortunately Apple doesn't offer developers a way to do this.
My App Store purchase of Soulver 3 is not being recognized on a new Mac or after an update
Please ensure you're signed into the same App Store account that you used to purchase.
If you're confident that you're signed into the same account as you used to purchase, you may try purchasing Soulver 3 again.
The App Store will not allow you to purchase the same item twice on the same account, but will register the fact that you've already purchased Soulver, and restore your access.
Can I use my serial number with the Mac App Store version of Soulver?
Unfortunately Apple doesn't allow this, or offer developers a way to migrate customers from other sales channels to the App Store.
Use the direct download version of Soulver if you have purchased a serial number.
Sheets & Syncing
How do I sync my sheets using iCloud?
On Mac
Go to the General Settings (⌘-,) and select In iCloud under Sheetbook Location
Why can't I see my sheetbook file in iCloud Drive?
You might be wondering why the sheetbook file doesn't appear inside iCloud Drive or Files (on iOS).
This is because it's stored in a private (not user visible) part of iCloud Drive reserved for Soulver.
You can still reveal the sheetbook in Finder in the Mac version, by clicking the little arrow button in the bottom right of General settings.
On iPad & iPhone
Tap the cog to go to Settings > then Sheets & Syncing and select in iCloud under Store Sheetbook
Alternatively, if you just need to sync a single sheet, export it (by dragging it out of the sidebar, or going File > Export > Soulver 3 File), and save it to a synced location, like Dropbox or iCloud Drive.
How do I import my Soulver 2 files into Soulver 3?
On Mac
Go File > Open, click Show Options and tick "Import to Sheetbook".
If you synced your Soulver 2 files with iCloud, you can probably find them under iCloud Drive / Soulver.
On iPad & iPhone
Tap the Files button and choose "Import Soulver Files"
If you synced your Soulver 2 files with iCloud, you can probably find them under Files / Soulver.
Why isn't Soulver for Mac remembering my sheets' window positions?
Soulver supports "Resume", a feature in macOS which restores the position of your windows on launch.
For Resume to work correctly:
Don't close your window manually before you quit Soulver
Ensure "Close windows when quitting an app" is disabled in the macOS Desktop & Dock settings
Common questions
Can I get Soulver to ignore certain numbers in my text?
Sure, use a comment (// this is a comment), or a label (this is a label: ):
Additionally, if the number is surrounded by parenthesis and accompanied by at least one other word, it will be ignored by Soulver.
Soulver tells me 1 GB equals 1000 MB. But 1 GB is actually 1024 MB, isn't it?
Soulver conforms to the industry standard binary prefix system, which you can read about here:
The gist of it is that units like kB, MB & GB behave like normal base-10 SI units.
Additional units have been introduced to represent base-2 binary units (KiB, MiB, GiB, etc)
Can I turn off notation in answers?
By default Soulver formats your large answers with SI notation:
To disable this notation go to the Format menu and untick Notation for Large Numbers .
You can also access line specific formatting settings by clicking the action button on an answer:
To turn off notation for all lines, go to
Settings > Calculator > Number Formatting
and disable Notation for Large Numbers
History & design goals
Was Soulver the first notepad calculator?
Soulver (first released in 2005) was the first notepad calculator to use an answer column on the right side of a text editor, and the first notepad calculator to let you use words alongside numbers.
The first notepad calculator we know of is MathPad by Mark Widholm, originally released for Macintosh in 1993.
Calca is a modern version of the MathPad design. Like MathPad, Calca prioritizes commenting over math, and uses a special symbol (=>) to manually invoke calculation.
We prefer the Soulver approach though, with your expression being evaluated as soon as you type it.
There is no extra calculation step required.
Soulver is a natural language calculator. Is it using machine learning or AI to achieve this?
Actually, no. Soulver does not use machine learning algorithms, or even regular expressions.
Soulver is powered by a natural language calculation engine called SoulverCore.
SoulverCore scans text for particular phrases (much like a data detector), and evaluates the last valid mathematical expression on a line of text.
If you're curious about how we built SoulverCore, check out the wonderful Crafting Interpreters by Robert Nystrom.
What were the original design goals for Soulver?
For the first Soulver (back in 2005) our goal was to invent a better calculator interface for computers, where:
Answers would be calculated as you type - no extra "equals" step required
A way to see, edit & reference previous calculations (unlike a traditional calculator)
Support for commenting words alongside numbers (for added clarity & context)
Support for declaring variables to be used in further calculations
We succeeded in these goals by placing an "answer column" alongside a notepad inventing a new kind of notepad calculator in the process.
This approach also takes advantage of the powerful document & text editing available infrastructure on modern Macs.
What are the current design goals for Soulver?
For subsequent Soulver versions our primary goals have been to:
Add more useful calculation phrases & functions to take a load off your brain when working through problems
Allow you to personalize your calculation environment (with global variables, custom units, & lots of settings)
Make best-in-class native apps (deep OS integration, and keeping up-to-date with interface design trends)
Windows & Linux
Will Soulver ever be available for Windows, Android or Linux?
Soulver is written in Swift, and we don't have plans to bring it to other platforms where Swift is not supported.
However there are numerous clones of Soulver available for these platforms.
For the Web
For Android
For Windows
Cross-platform Electron (Mac, Windows & Linux)
We welcome Soulver clones on other platforms. Everyone benefits when new UI concepts like Soulver are copied, evolved and innovated upon.
However, if you do make a product inspired by Soulver's interface, please leave an acknowledgment of Soulver as the source of the idea somewhere on your website, or in your application credits, and let us know so we can feature it here.
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