u/PilotSpecial5322

I'm a solo developer, not a surveyor, but I kept getting pulled into survey-adjacent work and kept hearing the same gripe: the good COGO tools are either heavy desktop software or clunky programs you key in by hand. So I built a small iOS app for the everyday coordinate geometry math, and made it run fully offline since the field usually has no signal.

What it handles now:

• Traverse with closure, Compass (Bowditch) and Transit adjustment, loop and link traverses
• Horizontal and vertical curves, plus stakeout tables
• State Plane (SPCS83) with scale factor and convergence, grid to ground, and UTM
• COGO intersections and Tienstra resection
• Level book (HI method, arithmetic check), sideshot reduction, area, and DXF/CSV/PDF export

It's a calculator for quick field checks, not a data collector or a replacement for your full package.

I'd rather hear one blunt thing than a polite list. If you opened this in the truck, what's the single feature or fix that decides whether you keep it or delete it? The last few additions came straight from people in this line of work saying what they needed, so answers here genuinely steer what I build next.

Link in the comments so this stays about the feedback, not the download.

Full disclosure up front: I made this, so this is self-promotion, but I'm genuinely here for feedback, not a sales pitch, and the link's in the comments so the mods don't have to look at it if they'd rather not.

I got tired of construction calculators that spit out a number with no context — "6.7" and good luck figuring out which cut that is. So I built TrueCut, an iPhone app that tries to show the answer: the actual rafter cut, the stringer layout, the saw-dial setting, not just a decimal.

What's in it right now:

- Rafters — common/hip/valley/jack with per-jack shortening, pitch as 7/12, degrees, or % grade, ridge + overhang, and a cut-sheet PDF with the diagram

- Stairs — code-limit presets (IRC/IBC, plus UK/Canada/AU), headroom + stairwell checks, framing-square gauge settings, shareable stringer PDF

- Decks/baluster — an equal-spacing baluster solver (this part is free forever), max-gap presets, on-center counts with a "burn an inch" offset

- Crown/miter — compound miter + bevel for out-of-square corners, gives the exact saw setting

- Materials — concrete/footings/bag counts, roofing squares, drywall, board feet, block, plus a running estimate with waste factor

It's offline, makes no network calls, no account, no ads, no subscription — $24.99 one time with a 14-day trial. iPhone only for now (no iPad/Android yet).

What I actually want to know:

1. What's the one calc you reach for daily that I either got wrong or don't have?

2. Are the regional code presets right for where you work, or did I botch them?

3. Glove/sunlight usability — is the keypad usable on a real site, or too small?

4. Is $24.99-once fair, or does the free baluster tool feel like a bait?

Roast it. I'd rather hear "this is useless because X" than nothing. Happy to answer anything about how the math is calculated.

Version 1.3 includes the following:

• State Plane Coordinates (SPCS83) - Lambert & Transverse Mercator zones, with grid scale factor, convergence, and grid-to-ground.
• Horizontal Alignment - chain PIs into tangents, curves, and spirals; stationing, station & offset, and stakeout.
• Predetermined / Hinged Area - solve a bearing, distance, or sliding line to hit a target parcel area.
• Legal Description - generate a metes-and-bounds description from a closed traverse.

First time posting here. I've been building a small offline COGO and geometry calculator for iPhone, and most of the early feedback came from the surveying side. I'd like a read from civils, because the things I keep adding (vertical curves, profile grades, station & offset) are really alignment and grading work, and I'd rather hear where it falls short from people doing plan/profile and site design daily.

The parts relevant to civil work:

• Vertical curve solver: PVC/PVT, K value, high/low point, elevation at any station.
• Horizontal curves and full traverse with closure, area, and a plot.
• Station & offset against a reference line: foot of perpendicular, left/right, stationing.
• Grade & slope: rise/run, grade %, slope distance, slope angle, ratio (2:1, 3:1, etc.).
• Inverse/forward, bearing DMS to decimal, area by coordinates, intersections.
• UTM to lat/long and back (WGS84), fully offline. No account, nothing leaves the phone.
• DXF/PDF export and a point list with CSV in and out.

Every calc is checked against published textbook examples to the last decimal. I'd rather it be boringly correct than have a slick UI that lies to you. It's meant as the quick field-or-desk check, not a replacement for Civil 3D or your data collector.

The actual question: for civil work specifically, what's the next gap? State plane (SPCS) zones and grid/ground scale factor are the two I keep hearing. Are those what you'd reach for, or is there something more day-to-day I'm missing, like earthwork volumes, pipe slope and invert tools, or sight distance checks? Blunt is good.

Last week I posted about a COGO calculator I've been building, and a bunch of you actually tried it and told me what was missing. Between the comments here and a pile of old RPLS/SurveyorConnect threads, the same gaps kept coming up, so I went and filled them.

What you asked for, now in:

• Curves as traverse legs. Drop an arc straight into a traverse; closure, area, and the plot all account for it.
• Station & offset against a reference line: foot of perpendicular, left/right, stationing.
• Vertical curve solver: PVC/PVT, K value, high/low point, elevation at any station.
• UTM to lat/long and back (WGS84, works offline).
• Grade & slope: rise/run, grade %, slope distance, slope angle, ratio (2:1 etc.).
• Triangle solver: SSS/SAS/ASA/AAS and the ambiguous SSA case, with area and perimeter.

That's on top of what was already there: traverse with closure/adjustment (Bowditch & transit), inverse/forward, bearing DMS to decimal, area by coordinates, horizontal curves, intersections plus Tienstra resection, a point list with CSV in/out, and DXF/PDF export.

Two things I tried hard to get right, because this crowd will call it out:

• Every calc is checked against published textbook examples to the last decimal. I'd rather it be boringly correct than have a slick UI that lies to you.
• It's fully offline. No account, no sign-in, nothing leaves your phone.

Same idea as before: the thing you pull out for a quick check in the field, not a replacement for your data collector or office package.

What I'd actually like to know is what's the next gap. State plane (SPCS) zones and grid/ground scale factor are the two I keep seeing. Are those what you'd reach for, or is there something more basic I'm still missing? Blunt is good.

I work in tech but got pulled into the surveying world through some projects, and I kept hearing the same complaint: the good COGO tools are either expensive desktop software or clunky calculator programs you have to key in by hand. So I built a small iOS app to handle the everyday coordinate geometry math right from your phone.

What it covers right now:

• Traverse and inverse calculations
• Bearing conversions between decimal and DMS
• Area by coordinates
• Point-to-line offset and chainage
• Curve and intersection calcs

It is meant to be the thing you pull out for a quick check in the field, not a replacement for your data collector or full survey package.

I am posting here because feedback from people who actually run traverses beats anything I can test on my own. If something is missing, mislabeled, or just plain wrong for how you work, tell me. I would rather hear it bluntly now than ship the wrong thing.

Link is in the comments to keep this from looking like a drive-by ad.