Mathway

First Impression

I downloaded Mathway on my Samsung Galaxy S23 last Tuesday night while I was stuck on a calculus problem for my night class. I’d seen it pop up in the app store with a 4.6 rating and figured, why not give it a shot before I spend money on a tutor. Opening it up, the interface is clean and simple — you type in your problem or use the camera to snap a picture. I liked that I didn’t have to create an account right away to try it. But my first red flag came fast: after solving one problem for free, it showed me the answer but not the steps. To see the steps, you need the premium subscription. That felt a little bait-and-switch to me.

What It Does Well

When you do pay or use a free trial, the step-by-step solutions are actually clear and easy to follow. I tested it on a few algebra equations and a trig identity, and it broke everything down in a way that made sense. The graphing feature is nice too — I could type in a function and see the curve pop up instantly, which helped me check my homework. The app handles a huge range of topics, from basic arithmetic to calculus and statistics, so it covers most of what a student would need. It’s fast, too. No lag on my phone. I also liked that you can type problems using math symbols instead of weird text codes; the keyboard layout is pretty intuitive.

Where It Falls Short

Here’s the big problem: the free version is basically a tease. You get the final answer for one problem, then it locks up and asks you to subscribe. Even basic stuff like showing a simple step for a fraction problem requires a paid plan. That’s $9.99 a month or $39.99 a year — not cheap for a student. I also tried using the camera feature for a handwritten problem, and it got the equation wrong twice. I had to retype it. Also, there’s no built-in calculator for quick checks, so you have to rely on the app’s entire system every time. If you just want to verify a single answer, it feels like overkill. And if you don’t have internet, you can’t use it unless you’re a subscriber, which is annoying.

Is It Worth the Price?

For me, no. I’m the kind of person who tests every free feature before paying anything, and Mathway’s free tier is so limited that I couldn’t really evaluate if it was worth $10 a month. I’d rather use a free website like Wolfram Alpha’s basic version or ask a friend. If you’re in a math-heavy program and you need step-by-step help nightly, maybe it pays off. But for a casual user like me who just needs occasional help, the subscription feels expensive. I tried the three-day free trial (yes, they offer one), but they ask for your payment info upfront. That always makes me suspicious. I canceled before it charged me.

Developer & Support

I had a problem on day two — the app froze when I tried to graph a polynomial. I contacted support through the in-app chat. Honestly, the response was slow. I got an automated reply after a few hours saying they’d get back to me, and then nothing until the next afternoon. When they did reply, the agent just asked me to restart my phone and reinstall the app. That’s a basic troubleshooting step I could have found on a forum. I was hoping for something more specific, especially since I’d given them the exact equation. It left me feeling unsupported, like they just wanted to close my ticket. For a paid app, I’d expect better.

Privacy & Safety

Mathway asks for access to your camera (for the photo feature) and your storage. That’s reasonable for a math solver app. But they also require you to create an account eventually, and the privacy policy says they collect usage data and might share it with third parties for advertising. That’s pretty standard, but it made me pause. I’m just using it for homework — I don’t love the idea of my problem history being tracked. On Android, the app doesn’t ask for too many weird permissions, which is good. But I’d recommend reading their privacy policy before you subscribe. I didn’t see any option to opt out of data collection without uninstalling.