Most people struggle with math and they can’t find a way to solve the problem. Photomath is an application that helps you in solving any kind of math problem without having any calculations on your side. You just need to take a photo of the question, and Photomath will do all the work for you.
You don’t even need to be connected online as it is available offline too! This app not only solves problems but also calculates them step by step so that students get a better understanding of what they are doing. The interface is very easy and intuitive so every type of user can easily use it, no matter their age or skill level. It has been designed for both Android and iOS devices with more than 2 million downloads. Download it from the app store and solve any kind of math problem with Photomath!
How to Download and Install Photomath? (on both Windows and Mac)
Step-1 – First, you need to download an Android Emulator (Android App player) on your Windows PC. You can download either Bluestacks or LD Player
Step-2 – Install the Emulator by running the installation file you just downloaded and follow the instructions in the installation wizard.
Step-3 – Open the installed Android Emulator, then go to settings and tap on Add accounts and tap on Google on the next window.
Step-4 – Login with your Gmail Credentials.
Step-5 – Open Google PlayStore and click on Accept to agree with the Terms and Conditions.
Step-6 – Search for Photomath app.
Step-7- Install the Photomath app and open it after the installation completes
Step-8 – Select your language of preference on the Photomath app and click on Let’s Go
Step-9 – On the next windows click on Skip or go through the featured slides and click Done
Step-10: The app requests your information like age and profession. Provide the information and click on Done! Given Camera Permission when prompted.
How to Use the Photomath app on a Windows PC and Mac?
To solve a math problem, take a picture of the question that you want to be solved and tap the “Solve It!” button. Follow the below steps to scan the question.
How to Scan the desired equation?
To scan the question using the phone’s camera open up the Photomath app, tap on the “Use Camera” option and place your math problem in front of you as shown above. Now, shoot the image as per its shape. Once done, tap the “Solve It!” button to get your results. This method works best for small equations like quadratic equations or arithmetic questions.
- You should get an external webcam for your PC for capturing the snapshots of equations if your PC doesn’t have an inbuilt webcam
- Once the app is installed and camera permission is given you can scan equations by pointing the webcam towards the equation and taking a snapshot of the equation.
- There is a marked rectangle where the equation should be when you take a picture
- You can resize the viewfinder (red box) by dragging from the bottom right corner to accommodate larger equations as per your need
- Once you take a snapshot, it will automatically scan through the equation and provide solutions in the Solutions window
How to enter the equation manually?
- There is a Calculator icon on the left bottom corner of the app’s home screen (the camera screen). Click on it.
- A scientific calculator opens up and you can manually type in your equation using the keyboard and click Show Solution.
What to do if the scanner scans the problem incorrectly?
- In case, the scanner scans the equation incorrectly, you can always edit the expression or equation by clicking on the pencil icon on the right side of your equation on the Solutions window
- Clicking on the pencil icon will open the calculator with the scanned equation which you can edit to fix any error and click on Show Solutions
How to view the solution steps and plots?
- On the Solutions window, click on Show Solving Steps. This will take you to Solving Steps window
- Your equation can be plotted (like trigonometric or algebraic equations)then the graph with the plot will appear below the solutions on the Solution window
- You can click on Explain Steps at the bottom of the window and it will expand the solution in the Solving Steps window
- In the Solving Steps window, there will be information about the exact methods used in the solution
- In case you want to know about the individual methods, click on the Explain how to box. For this, you need to have a Photomath Plus Subscription
- There is a History icon on the Camera screen, at the top right corner, which can be used to access your recently solved problems
What is the advantage of getting a Photomath Plus Subscription?
- With the Photomath Plus Subscription, you can also get textbook solutions from 100s of textbooks in the Photomath archive.
- With Photomath Plus, you can get boiled down explanations of every step of the solution
- For accessing the textbook solutions click on the book icon at the top-right corner on the home screen of the app (the camera interface screen)
Common FAQs
How does Photomath work?
The App Photomath uses an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) algorithm which is part of an AI Computer Vision (CV) technology developed by Microblink.
The algorithm is trained to recognize both handwritten and printed characters in a mathematical equation.
The recognized characters are fed into another sophisticated algorithm (again AI) that checks and determines each character’s relationship with another one and defines the whole problem.
After that, an advanced problem-solving algorithm works on the problem and gives out the solution and related solving steps.
Does Photomath need Wifi to work?
This is the best part of using Photomath! Photomath works offline and you do not need an internet connection to work with it.
Is an Android Emulator like Bluestacks legal and safe?
Since Android itself is an open-source operating system, running it on an emulator is legal and safe.
Is using Photomath will be deemed as cheating?
Teachers and parents might be concerned due to Photomath. Photomath can tempt students to use it frequently to solve their homework rather than solving themselves.
Students should be allowed to use Photomath under parental or adult supervision only.
Students can use Photomath to check their works but not copy the solution from Photomath.
But at the same time, it can be really useful in research works and academic tasks like teaching where you can find solutions to simple to advanced problems instantly.
What problems can be solved using Photomath?
Photomath can be used to solve problems of calculus, trigonometry, geometry, algebra, and statistics.
It might fail at advanced and transcendental differential equations or equations that are not well conditioned or stable (like complex matrices or inconsistent systems of linear equations).
