Photomath, a Croatian company that launched in 2014, pioneered pointing a phone camera at a printed or handwritten math problem and getting an instant, step-by-step solution, years before that camera-based interaction became a common feature across competitors like Gauth and Mathway, also covered in this directory.
Google announced its acquisition of Photomath in May 2022, framed at the time as a strategic response to the rise of ChatGPT and AI-powered homework tools, and the deal closed and fully integrated into Google's own Play Store publisher portfolio by early 2024, a landmark acquisition for Croatia's technology sector.
Photomath remains free for basic use, with a paid tier for deeper step-by-step explanations. For anyone specifically wanting the original camera-based math-solving pioneer, now backed by Google's resources following its 2022 acquisition, Photomath's founding role in this exact interaction pattern remains its clearest historical credential.
