Chaos On The iPhone

Fractals are complex geometric forms that display detailed structure over a range of different scales. Despite their complexity all the fractals in Chromatic Chaos are generated by very simple mathematics. Chaos theory - characterized by the famous "butterfly effect" - relates to systems where small changes in input cause dramatic changes in output. In Chromatic Chaos the consequences are the intricate and often beautiful structure of the fractals.

Some fractals such as the Mandelbrot initially look like inkblots, but zoom in on the delicate structure around the edges and chaos comes into play. Chromatic Chaos enables zooming to magnifications of several thousand billion. At these magnifications the size of the initial Mandelbrot "inkblot" is comparable to that of Jupiter's orbit around the Sun.

Linda Saul, the app's developer, says "although fun, this app was difficult to write, it was too easy to get distracted exploring some amazing new fractal".


Chromatic Chaos enables fractals to be saved in the built-in "gallery" to return to later, or images can be saved in the photo album. The app is distributed with initial gallery entries giving examples that can be used as the basis for further exploration. The app provides low and high resolution settings. On the iPhone 4 or the new iPod touch the high resolution setting makes full use of the Retina display. The app supports iPhones and iPod touches running IOS 3.0 or later.

Pricing and Availability:
Chromatic Chaos 1.0 is $0.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Entertainment category.

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