UnitGrid Support
How UnitGrid works, plus troubleshooting and privacy details.
The idea in 20 seconds
One number in, every unit out.
The row at the top marked START is the unit you type into. Every row below it converts your amount live. To convert the other way, just tap a row: it swaps places with the start row and keeps its current value, so every other row stays where it was until you type. Modes (Length, Weight, Temperature and so on) run along the top; each one remembers its own list of units and last amount. Settings is the gear (⚙) beside "+ Add Unit"; the UnitGrid logo opens it too.
Quick troubleshooting
Common fixes.
The units I want aren't there
Check the mode strip first: swipe it sideways to see all fifteen modes. Then use + Add Unit and search. If a unit is genuinely missing, email us and we will add it.
Tapping a row does nothing
A row showing "—" (for example pace at 0 km/h) has no value to start from. Type a non-zero amount first.
The app opened with the wrong system (metric vs US)
First-launch lists follow your iPhone's Region setting. Add the units you want and hide the rest; your lists are kept from then on.
A value looks slightly off
Compare at 10 digits in Settings → Precision. If it still disagrees with a trusted source, email us with the exact input, the two units, and the value you expected.
My lists are gone on my new iPhone
Your lists come back from an iPhone backup (iCloud or computer) or a Quick Start transfer. A fresh install with no backup starts with the default lists. There is no sync between devices yet.
Does UnitGrid go online?
Only to check for updates, at most once a day, while Settings → Check for updates is on (it is on by default). It asks utilava.com whether a newer version exists, and asks updates.utilava.com for signed fixes, which it downloads and uses the next time the app opens. These requests send no information about you; like any web request, the server sees your network address, and nothing is logged or kept. Converting never needs a connection. Turn the switch off and UnitGrid makes no requests at all.
Restart the app
Close the app completely and open it again. Your lists and amounts are saved as you go, so nothing is lost.
Update your device
Make sure your device is on the latest iOS version available.
Typing an amount
The keypad and the calculator.
The first digit replaces
When you open a mode or tap a row, the value shown is carried over, and the start row says "Type to replace". The first digit you type replaces it, so you never have to clear first. After you copy a value or press =, the next digit starts a new amount too. ⌫ deletes one character; Clear resets to 0.
Math in the field
Use + − × ÷ to type a sum such as 3×2.5+1. The result converts as you type, × and ÷ are done before + and −, and = replaces the sum with its result. % works like a calculator: 35+15% adds 15 percent of 35 (40.25), and 200×15% is 30.
"Cannot divide by zero"
Shown while a sum ends in ÷0. The rows keep the last valid amount until you fix the sum.
Negative values
In Temperature and Angle, a ± key flips the sign of the amount.
Hide the keypad
Tap "Hide keypad" to see more units at once. Tap "Show keypad" or the start row to bring it back.
Feet + inches and other compound units
ft in, lb oz, st lb, h:m:s, min/km.
Entering 6 ft 2 in
Make "ft in" the start unit (tap its row, or add it from + Add Unit). Type 6, tap "Next: in ›", then type 2. The part you are typing is underlined. To change only the inches of a carried-over value, tap "Next: in ›" first.
Reading the result
Compound rows show whole units first and round the smallest part: 180 cm reads 5 ft 10.87 in, and a value that rounds up carries correctly, so you will see 7 ft 0 in, never 6 ft 12 in. Astronomic values (a light-year in feet and inches) show as one number, 3.10391 × 10¹⁶ ft, instead of being split.
Inches the way a tape reads
For woodworking, the Inches row also shows the tape reading when there is a fraction: 600 mm reads "≈ 23 5/8 on a tape". For a row in sixteenths, add "Inches (to 1/16)" from + Add Unit in Length. To type a fraction, use the keypad: 23 + 5 ÷ 8.
Durations and running pace
"h:m:s" in Time and the "min/km" and "min/mi" pace units in Speed use the same next-part key and show as 1:30:00 or 5:30. A speed of 0 has no pace, so that row shows "—" until there is a speed.
No math on compound units
The + − × ÷ keys are greyed out while a compound unit is the start. Switch to a plain unit such as inches to use them.
Your unit list
Add, hide, reorder, copy.
Add a unit
Tap "+ Add Unit" at the top right. Search by name, symbol or a nickname (for example "kilos", "microns", "tire"). The unit lands right under the start row, and the list scrolls to it. Each mode starts with the units most people need for your Region; the rest are in + Add Unit. Searching for a unit that lives in another mode says where it is.
Hide a unit
Swipe a row left and tap Hide. It is only removed from your list, and Undo is offered until your next change; add it back any time. A mode always keeps at least two units, so the last two cannot be hidden.
Reorder
Press the ☰ handle on the right of a row and drag it up or down.
Edit list, without dragging or swiping
Tap "Edit list" under the rows for up, down and Hide buttons on each one. Tap "Done editing" when you're finished.
Copy a value
Touch and hold a row. Only the number is copied, without thousands separators (for example 1234500), so it pastes cleanly into other apps; compound values copy as shown (6 ft 2 in). The message quotes exactly what was copied (Copied “62.9921”).
Reset a mode
Open Settings and, in the Reset section, tap "Reset … to its default units and amount" to return the current mode to the units it started with. Undo is offered until your next change.
Cooking mode
Cups to grams needs an ingredient.
Pick the ingredient
The bar under the mode strip shows the current ingredient (Water to begin with) and what one cup of it weighs. Tap it to choose flour, sugar, butter, honey, rice, oats and more. Volume-to-volume conversions (cups to tablespoons) do not depend on the ingredient; anything involving grams, ounces or pounds does.
Cups are US cups
"cup" is the US cup (about 237 mL). Metric (250 mL) cups and Australian (20 mL) tablespoons are separate units you can add.
Sticks of butter
A stick is ½ cup, whatever ingredient is picked; with butter, that's 113 g.
Oven gas marks
Temperature shows gas marks as oven dials have them: 180 °C is Gas 4, 120 °C is Gas ½, and halfway temperatures read Gas 3–4, as recipes write them.
Kitchen figures are approximate
Ingredient weights are spoon-and-level values from common baking tables. Packed brown sugar or sifted flour will differ; for baking that needs precision, weigh directly.
Precision and formatting
Settings → Precision.
Digits or rounded
Settings → Precision has two choices. Digits shows 4, 6, 8 or 10 figures (6 to begin with); whole numbers are never rounded away, and trailing zeros are trimmed. Rounded shows whole numbers, 0.1 or 0.01, as you'd write them (113 g, 38.1 °C), always keeping three figures, so 1.25 cups never reads 1.
Very large and very small values
Values from a trillion up, or below a millionth, switch to scientific notation (1.60218 × 10⁻¹⁹) rather than a wall of zeros.
Surveying units
Length has chains, links, rods and US survey feet; Area has square chains, square rods and US survey acres. Add them from + Add Unit.
Gigabytes and gibibytes
Data units say what they count: Gigabytes (1,000 MB), Gibibytes (1,024 MiB). That is why a 256 GB phone shows about 238 GiB.
"1 in = 2.54 cm" lines
Rows show the rate against the start unit where that is meaningful. Temperatures, fuel economy and pace do notscale that way, so those rows leave it out.
Contact
How to reach us.
Email support@utilava.com for support requests, bug reports and feedback; we usually reply within one business day. You can also use the Contact page.
Include your device model, iOS version, the mode you were in, and what steps led to the issue.
Data & privacy
What we collect: nothing.
UnitGrid has no accounts, analytics or ads, and converts without a connection. Its only network requests happen at most once a day, and only while Settings → Check for updates is on (it is on by default). It asks utilava.com whether a newer version exists, and asks updates.utilava.com for signed fixes, which it downloads and uses the next time the app opens. These requests send no information about you. Like any web request, the server sees your network address, and nothing is logged or kept. Your unit lists, amounts and settings stay on your iPhone. They are included in your own iPhone backups (iCloud or computer), so they come back when you restore one or move to a new iPhone, and they are deleted if you delete the app.
For full details, see the UnitGrid section of our Privacy Policy.