iPad User Magazine - UK (2019-10)

Capabilitiesaddedrangefromformattingchartswith

betterspacingandtrendlinestodecoratingtextwith

gradientfillsandimagecrops– somethingforeveryone!

Using the Numbers app’s

latest new features

Numbers 5.1for iOShasextraoptionsforpresentingdata

ITWILLTAKE

30 minutes

YOUWILLLEARN

How to tweak charts,

make text headings

pop and add internal

or external links

YOU’LLNEED

iOS 12 or later with

Numbers installed and

updated on your iPad

There’s some evidence that

brain teasers can ward off

cognitive decline, so anyone who

uses both the Mac and iOS/

iPadOS versions of Numbers should be

grateful that Apple keeps you exercised by

arranging the same features in completely

inconsistent ways. Several useful

enhancements to the iPadOS app this summer

(see bit.ly/numios13) continue the trend,

matching existing options in the Mac app, but

leaving you guessing where they might be in

the differently organised Format panel.

Whether you’re a Numbers veteran or new

to the whole thing, we’ll save you a bit of head-

scratching here with a closer look at some of

the additions, based on the handy Charting

Basics template document that comes

included. To get started, update the app,

launch it, tap Create Spreadsheet and select

Charting Basics from the Basic templates.

Decimal point

A less visible but important innovation in

Numbers 5.1 (and 6.1 for Mac) is that Apple has

switched from binary coded decimal (BCD) to

128-bit decimal floating point (DFP), meaning

non-integers are represented much more

accurately. Previously, if you entered the

formula ‘10-9.8’ into a cell, the result would be

0.2, as you’d expect. Go to Format and

increase the decimal places displayed,

however, and when you hit 15, the result

would flip from 2.

to 1.999999999999999, revealing the

underlying inaccuracy. (You’ll see the same in

Microsoft Excel.) Now, Numbers really does

store 2.0. You’ve probably never seen a BCD

error in practice, but it’s nice to know Numbers

is thinking the same, er, number that you’re

seeing. Adam Banks

Geniustip!

Link is a standalone

option, not a formula,

and can only reference

sheets, not cells. It

would be useful to be

able to autofill links

between sets of cells, or

calculate a linked cell,

but for the moment it

APPLE APPS New Numbers features