Algie Touch
A tablet and phone app that lets middle and high school students solve algebra problems by dragging terms across the equals sign, expanding powers, and pulling factors — backed by a sound math engine that prevents illegal moves and shows why a step failed.
Middle and high school students struggling with symbolic manipulation, and their parents helping with homework
- Gesture-driven equation canvas: drag a term across the equals sign, tap a power to expand, pinch terms to factor — every move the engine can verify is offered, illegal moves are blocked
- Step-by-step hints that surface only moves the student could legally do next, plus an 'Explain why' toggle that unpacks the rule in plain language
- Word-problem translator that turns a typed scenario into an equation the gesture canvas accepts and re-explains
- Parent/teacher mode with a dashboard of which rules each student has used, struggled with, or skipped
Symbolic algebra is where most students hit a wall in middle school math, and the standard answer — pencil-and-symbol manipulation — has barely changed in decades; a touch-based interface backed by a soundness engine finally makes it possible to teach moves, not answers.
Existing touch-based algebra app (Algebra Touch: All Ages by Regular Berry) already has 1M+ downloads and 4.66/5 rating from 1K reviews, and the broader step-solver market is dominated by Photomath, Symbolab, Mathway, and Microsoft Math Solver — demand is real but actively captured.Algebra Touch - Math Without Mistakes ↗These 10 apps like Photomath make studying much easier ↗
The exact concept — drag terms across the equals sign with a soundness engine — is already shipped as a 1M-download consumer app (Algebra Touch), and the inspiration source itself (Wyrm on HN) is the same idea. The category is not empty, but the specific niche is occupied.Algebra Touch: All Ages - App Store ↗Show HN: Wyrm - Solve algebra by touch, built on an open-source soundness engine ↗
Parents do spend on math help (Photomath Plus, Symbolab Pro, Brilliant all monetize), but the dominant touch-algebra app is free to download with in-app purchase, and the source trend's own creator plans $4.99 one-time — modest revenue ceiling per user in a crowded freemium category.Algebra Touch: All Ages on the App Store ↗GitHub - dicroce/wyrm_math: Algebra engine ↗
Symbolic manipulation is a stable part of middle/high school math curricula and has changed little in decades, so the learning need is durable; risk is that AI tutor apps (Photomath, Khanmigo) subsume the niche rather than the topic disappearing.
The core soundness engine already exists as MIT-licensed TypeScript (wyrm_math) and the incumbent Algebra Touch proves the touch UI is buildable; remaining work is a polished consumer app and content layer, which is tractable.GitHub - dicroce/wyrm_math: Algebra engine ↗Algebra Touch: All Ages - App Store ↗