Hands-On Mac 175 transcript
Please be advised this transcript is AI-generated and may not be word for word. Time codes refer to the approximate times in the ad-supported version of the show
0:00:00 - Mikah Sargent
Coming up on Hands-on Mac. Let's take a look at the math you can do in the Notes app on macOS. Stay tuned.
0:00:11 - Leo
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0:00:25 - Mikah Sargent
Hello and welcome to Hands-on Mac, or welcome back if you've been here before. I am Micah Sargent and today we're taking a look at a newly added feature in the Notes app on MacOS Sequoia, which gives you the ability to do some number crunching without needing to use a separate calculator or anything like that. It's called Math Notes and it is possible to use in well, the Notes app. So let's head over to macOS and take a look. So here we are on macOS and let's take a look. The important thing to note is that the equal sign is the magical symbol that kind of makes math notes actually work, that lets you start to calculate values in math notes. So, as we are in notes, we'll go ahead and give this a title and we'll call this math notes example, if I can spell that. And because I have my notes app set to create a title first, then I want to get that out of the way. Now we're in the body of the document, so we can kind of work with this.
Now, when it comes to math notes, it, the notes app will solve all sorts of expressions, so you can solve these expressions that have parentheses, that have basic and that have scientific operations in them. And of course, it's important to understand that, as you might imagine, the Notes app is going to follow the standard order of operations PEMDAS please excuse my dear Aunt Sally Parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition and subtraction. So if you want certain parts of your expression to be solved first, obviously you need to put those in parentheses. So when it comes to this, let's do something fun. We'll start with parentheses, because I love to throw some of those in there and you are probably familiar with kind of the standard keyboard options that are equivalent to things like the true division sign and the true. You know having an exponent that is in the superscript. You know. The true multiplication sign using the slash key will give you division. Using the caret will give you whatever the number is afterward is the exponent and, of course, using an X will give you times or you can also use asterisk. So in the parentheses we're going to do 24 divided by six and let's do that to the third power. Now you'll note nothing has happened. Remember what I said before.
The important aspect of this is that equal sign. We hit equal and boom, 64 appears. Now this appears in orange and that is because it is currently a suggestion, so you can set it up in different ways. Here I'm going to hit return, because that is what turns the suggestion into an actual final answer. But let's say you just want math to, or the notes app rather to automatically provide. You want the notes app to automatically provide you with the answer afterward.
If we go up to format and we go down to math results, we can choose to just insert the results. Suggest results requires you to hit return to actually save it and then, last but not least, is off, which says I don't want you doing any of that. My notes are just my notes and the math there is not math that I want you calculating. I'm going to choose insert results because I want it to give that answer every time. Now we could also do something as simple as 23 times 4. And you could see there that it went ahead and not only gave me the answer, but it didn't even require me to hit equal, and it also changed the asterisk to a multiplication symbol. And that is a true multiplication symbol, not just the X key. Then we can do one more. Let's do 24 divided by five Sure, that's what I accidentally typed times 32 over 8 equals 19.2. So once again it changes to that multiplication sign and we see 19.2.
You can also define variables. Now, variables are only available and used when you create them using the Latin alphabet, and it's important that in order for notes to recognize the variable, it has to come before any expression that uses the variable. So define your variables first, and then you can use those variables in different ways. So what I'm going to do is hit return a couple of times in different ways. So what I'm going to do is hit return a couple of times. And you also need to note that the only way that a variable works is if you define the variable, then hit equal and then put the value, so no spaces between those equal signs. So let's go with oranges equals 12. Apples equals 15. Bananas equals 2. Cherries equals 8. Now on the next line, because I have defined those variables, I can do oranges plus apples plus bananas plus cherries, and then, because it's smart enough to realize that I am trying to add those values together, I can hit return to accept it. It now turns those words above into the orange color, letting me know that it has truly created variables. Now I could go up and change this to 17, which automatically changes the value below 28, and we can do six instead. Now you'll notice that each of these values oranges plus apples plus bananas plus cherries equals 63. This is great.
If you are maybe trying to split up the values of a specific trip that you're going on, and so you know that the tickets are this amount each, that the hotel is this amount, so on and so forth. Being able to go through and say, okay, you know you're paying this, you're paying that, divide all of that by this amount and then have that appear at the end is a great thing, because then you can also share this with another person. And then, of course, as we mentioned before, you do have the ability to use those variables however you want. And then you could also, if you'd like, just double click on a value and then you can raise it or lower it using this special little tool, essentially like a number line, that can increase the value. So personally, I like just typing it as opposed to using this number line, but perhaps that is good for you If you are trying to kind see quickly how subtle shifts to those values will make a difference in the actual answer. Now, one last thing that I'll note is, again, if I were to put oranges plus apples plus bananas plus cherries equals, above those values, those variables, then it would not calculate, because math notes needs to see what the variables are first. So it either needs to be to the left of, so we could define it on the same line and then do that expression at the end or equation at the end, or we need to put it above it. So before and then, last but not least, as I mentioned before, if you don't like math notes anytime you can go up to format, go to math results and change it to off, with suggest, of course, being in the middle where, if you want to have it, solve it it will, or you can just simply move along and not have it saved. So that is a very cool feature added in macOS Sequoia that will let you do kind of simple back-of-the-napkin math, if you will, right there in in the Notes app.
I want to thank you all for tuning in to this week's episode of Hands on Mac. I bring the show to you every week and look forward to another episode next week. If you have any questions related to macOS or iOS or, frankly, any of Apple's operating systems, be sure to reach out. Micah at twittv is how you get in touch, and I'll catch you again next week for another episode of Hands on Mac. But before I go, let me remind you twittv slash club twit $7 a month, and when you join the club you gain access to some awesome things ad-free episodes, our special TwitPlus bonus feed and the members-only Discord server. We'd love to have you as part of the club, so be sure to join us there. But now it is time to say goodbye and I'll catch you again soon.
0:09:50 - Leo
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