Check your maths working from a photo

Getting a final answer wrong is easy to see. Finding the exact line where it went wrong is the hard part, and it is the part that teaches you something. This guide shows how to get that from a photo.

How to send it

Write your working on paper, take a clear photo and send it to the Settle bot on Telegram. A few tips that help:

• Put the whole question and all your steps in one photo.
• Use good light and keep the page flat, so the writing is sharp.
• Number your steps if you can. It makes the feedback easier to follow.

What comes back

Settle copies your working into numbered steps, then checks each one. You get:

• The first wrong step, boxed in red on your own photo, with the step number next to it.
• A plain explanation of what went wrong, for example "you multiplied x by 2 but forgot to multiply the 3 by 2 as well".
• The correct next step, so you can carry on from where you slipped.
• Three practice questions on the same idea. The answers are hidden behind Telegram's tap to reveal, so you can try first and check after.

If every step is right, Settle tells you so and does not invent a mistake.

Why the first wrong step matters

Later lines often look wrong only because an earlier line was wrong. Pointing at the first slip tells you what to fix, instead of leaving you to hunt through the whole page. Settle also names the kind of mistake, such as a sign error or an expansion error, so you can see whether the same one keeps coming back.

Keep a record of weak spots

When Settle finds a mistake, it remembers the topic and schedules a short review for you. See the guide on spaced review for weak spots for how that works.

Limits and honesty

Settle's reading of handwriting and maths is good but not perfect. If the feedback looks wrong, trust your teacher and your textbook over the bot, and try sending a clearer photo. It is a study helper, not a marker.

The free plan includes 3 maths checks each month. Chat forwarding and the weak spot tracker are not limited.