Imagine that you're in the middle of composing an email on your smartphone or tablet. Suddenly, you realize that you need to quickly verify a calculation before clicking send. Normally, this would require you to return to your launcher (or sidebar launcher), find the appropriate calculator app, perform your calculations, and finally return to your email in progress. All of this can be avoided through the use of floating applications.

Floating apps are not only cool; they can also help us be more productive. Thankfully, XDA Forum Member Floatricks created a nifty floating calculator app to make situations like the example above a thing of the past. Floating Calculator can be launched by clicking on a movable bubble that can be placed anywhere on your screen. Once summoned, the calculator slides out from the side of your screen and allows you to quickly perform any calculations needed.

The calculator itself is based upon the stock Android calculator that first appeared in ICS, and only relatively basic operations are covered. So if you're in need of something a bit more heavy duty, check out the previously covered Complex Numbers.

If you're looking to streamline your basic arithmetic, head over to the Floating Calculator application thread and give this a whirl.