Photomath App Teaches Math to All Ages with Step-by-Step Explanations

This post is sponsored by Photomath

School poses a multitude of challenges for our kids. Being in a virtual classroom fits some learning styles well but some subjects are harder to understand online.

Last spring many of my 8^th graders told me math was much harder to learn through a screen than in person. Despite instructions via Zoom and demonstrations using a document camera, they missed being in class. They missed having a teacher to provide step-by-step instructions that helped them understand algebra concepts and solutions. Without support at home, they felt lost and their confidence in their skills diminished.

As parents, we always want the best for our kids. It’s hard to see them struggle and stressed about academics as their grades slip. It’s even more difficult when we’re not confident in our own math skills to help them but fortunately there’s an app for that!

Introducing Photomath

 

Photomath was created in 2014 out of an engineer father’s personal frustrations while helping his own children with their math homework. The company’s goal is to help our kids understand math by providing step-by-step instructions. The free easy to use app (available for iOS and Android) builds math confidence by teaching how to solve equations. It fosters independence by providing a better understanding of math concepts.

Once your kids start using it, it becomes easy to see why it’s the most used math learning app in the world!

How Photomath Works

Photomath leverages artificial intelligence (AI) technology to recognize math problems and produce sequential explanations to the problems for instant help as your child works.

The app features a camera and calculator mode to solve problems and get step-by-step instructions. Here’s a look at how both modes work.

Camera Mode

If your child is trying to solve problems on a worksheet, in a textbook, or even notes taken in class, they can use the camera on their phones to take a photo of any math problem.

Thanks to AI, Photomath recognizes handwritten or print-based problems. It solves equations almost instantly and provides provides step-by-step explanations that help understand how to solve the problem.

Calculator Mode

Photomath’s scientific calculator lets you input or edit math problems.

Hold down any keys with a red dot to reveal more functions

The free Photomath app provides:

• Camera recognition of handwritten or printed problems
• Detailed step-by-step explanations
• Multiple solving methods for problems that can be solved in different ways
• Multi-functional scientific calculator
• Interactive graphs

Photomath works without being connected to the internet, data, and wifi. This means kids can get help with their math homework anytime and anywhere, without parents having to worry about data overages and strength of a home wifi connection. 

These helpful features are why students rely on Photomath to help them solve over a billion problems each month. The in-house team of math experts (many of whom were previously math teachers) make it their full-time job to think through the best way to explain and solve problems. They lay the foundation for how the app shows and explains math problems to users.

Photomath vs Photomath Plus

There are many fans of the free Photomath app but if you’ve considered getting your child a tutor, try upgrade to Photomath Plus first.

For $9.99/month, upgrading to Photomath Plus provides additional support that puts help at your child’s fingertips. These features include animated tutorials, textbook solutions, math terms and concept definitions, and explanations of behind the “how” and “why” of certain steps at the fraction of a cost of a tutor’s hourly rate.

Here’s a closer look at the Photomath Plus features and how they can help your child become more math confident.

Animated Tutorials

If your child is missing how math teachers explain how problems are solved in class, animated tutorials can help. The Photomath Plus animated tutorial feature was inspired by how teachers draw and break down solutions on whiteboards in live classrooms.

Animated tutorials are detailed animations that help users visualize and understand each math step. Parents with children in grades 4-8 find this feature to be especially useful!

Textbook Solutions

There are times when our kids are assigned practice problems from their textbook as practice problems only to feel stuck when attempting them as homework. It’s incredibly frustrating to not find the help you need with the problems you’re struggling with but fortunately the textbook solutions feature can help.

Photomath Plus has created custom explanations to problems for over 75 textbooks used at the elementary, high school, and college level.  These explanations include rich visuals and graphs to help kids learn how to break down and approach different types of problems such as word problems.

Math Terms and Concept Definitions

Sometimes our kids can be mid-problem and suddenly forget a term or a concept. This is disruptive to the problem-solving process. Photomath Plus’ math terms and concept definitions provide help to reinforce concepts to help kids learn and tie the material together. These terms and concepts are embedded in the app and pop up when steps to solve a problem appear.

Term that are written in bold text and underlined in yellow provide additional details and context directly in the app.

Additional Details and Context

The “How” and “Why” certain steps are done to deepen understanding of math concepts and solutions.

This helpful feature lets kids tap to get the information they need as a refresher and quickly move on to solve problems.

Summary of Photomath and Photomath Plus

Photomath and Photomath Plus have a wealth of features that help all ages learn and understand math concepts. The step-by-step explanations written by math teachers help kids develop a deeper understanding of the problems they’re solving to feel more math confident.

Download Photomath for free or upgrade to Photomath Plus to help your child realize they can be good at math!

I was compensated for the post and received a month of Photomath Plus for the purposes of this review but all opinions are my own and based on our family’s personal experience.