Welcome to Fractal Factory!

Fractal Factory is an entertaining and educational program that draws Mandelbrot fractals. First released in 1990 on the Macintosh, Fractal Factory has now been re-written for the iPhone and iPod touch!

Fractal Factory allows you to plot the Mandelbrot fractal set in detailed, vivid colors. By swiping a rectangle on the plot you can magnify the area that is plotted. You do this by drawing two opposite corners of a rectangle with your finger on the screen. Fractal Factory enlarges the area you made with this rectangle for the new plot. This can be repeated to an almost infinite level! Through repeated magnified rectangles that you draw with your finger, it is easy to ‘inspect’ a section of the Mandelbrot plot that is millions of times smaller than the original drawing. The aspect ratio or ‘scale’ is automatically kept constant, so you don’t have to worry about distortion when you draw a rectangle.

You can also plot Julia sets around a fixed point on the Mandelbrot set. When you tap the screen, Fractal Factory remembers that single point. When you then tap the “Plot Julia” button, Fractal Factory uses your tap to identify the x and y coordinates to hold constant and then draws the Julia set for those point. More detail on the math used is included in the information screens in Fractal Factory.

Fractal Factory allows you to explore this fascinating and beautiful area of mathematics. Each fractal is plotted using a complicated mathematical formula, so we ask your patience since each new plot can take up to 20 seconds to appear.

Features include:

• Basic Mandelbrot plotting.
• On-screen expansion to enlarge Mandelbrot plots.
• Ability to hold x and y coordinates constant to draw Julia sets.
• Three color schemes to plot fractals.
• Display of the mathematical coordinates used for the plot.
• “Back” button to return to previous Mandelbrot enlargement.


Visit our web site for support, help and information on new features in upcoming versions of Fractal Factory.