LaTeX on mobile

LaTeX on mobile in 2026: how to write, compile and preview LaTeX on a phone or tablet, with the editors and apps for iPhone, iPad, Android and Chromebook.

In the browser, no app, no login

LaTeX.to: A free online LaTeX editor that compiles to PDF in Safari on an iPhone or iPad and in Chrome or Firefox on Android, with no login and no compile timeout. Projects stay in the browser: import one as a zip or start from one of the templates, then compile with pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX, LuaLaTeX, ConTeXt and more, with BibTeX, biblatex and Biber. On a phone a symbol row above the keyboard supplies the characters LaTeX needs, and the KaTeX engine turns a formula into a PNG without a compile. No real-time collaboration. Open LaTeX.to
Overleaf: The mobile version is the web editor in the phone's browser, and Overleaf's own help page lists the limits: small touch targets, keyboard and zoom surprises, missing shortcuts and a restricted PDF viewer. The free plan's 10 second compile timeout applies on the phone too. There is no Overleaf app for iPhone, iPad or Android.

Apps that compile offline on iPhone and iPad

Texifier: $29.99 on the App Store, formerly Texpad. Its own typesetter runs offline and covers BibTeX, TikZ and Beamer, with a free cloud typesetter for the rare document it cannot handle.
VerbTeX: Free with a limit of two projects, which an $8.99 upgrade lifts. Local Mode compiles pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX and LuaLaTeX with BibTeX or Biber on the device, and syncs with iCloud, Dropbox, Box or Git.
TeX Writer: $14.99. Compiles pdfLaTeX offline with BibTeX and MakeIndex and syncs with iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and WebDAV; XeLaTeX and LuaLaTeX run online behind a subscription. Last updated in 2020.
a-Shell: Free. A terminal that ships TeX Live 2026 with pdflatex, lualatex and TikZ, for people who compile from the command line anyway.

Apps that compile offline on Android

VerbTeX: Free on Google Play with a limit of two projects; VerbTeX Pro is $9.49 one-time. Local Mode compiles pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX and LuaLaTeX with BibTeX or Biber on the device, and syncs with Dropbox, Box or Git. Runs on a Chromebook with Google Play too.
Termux with TeX Live: Free. The F-Droid build of Termux installs a real TeX Live with tlmgr, a multi-gigabyte download, run from the command line with any editor.

By device

LaTeX on iPad: The free editors in Safari, the App Store apps that typeset offline, handwriting to LaTeX with the Apple Pencil, and how to get an Overleaf project onto the iPad.
LaTeX editor for Android: The free editors in Chrome, the apps that compile offline, Termux, and Android tablets.
LaTeX on a Chromebook: The editors that need nothing installed, and TeX Live with TeXstudio or VS Code in the Linux environment.

FAQ

Does Overleaf have a mobile app?

No. Overleaf's mobile version is the web editor in the phone's browser, and its help page lists the limits: small touch targets, keyboard and zoom surprises, missing shortcuts and a restricted PDF viewer.

Can you write LaTeX on a phone?

Yes. LaTeX.to compiles in Safari on an iPhone and in Chrome or Firefox on Android with no app and no login, and a symbol row above the keyboard supplies the characters phone keyboards bury. Writing a chapter is still keyboard work; a phone is for the fix, the read and the formula.

How do I turn a formula into an image on a phone?

On LaTeX.to, pick KaTeX as the engine: the formula renders as you type, and the image menu saves it as a PNG or copies it, with Unicode and MathML as text alternatives. Nothing compiles and nothing downloads.

Which phones can compile LaTeX?

Any recent iPhone in Safari and any recent Android phone in Chrome or Firefox. The compiler needs memory that an older phone may not have.

Is there a LaTeX keyboard for phones?

LaTeX.to shows a symbol row above the keyboard while you edit on a phone, with the dollar sign, backslash, braces, underscore, caret, equals and parentheses one tap away, on iPhone and Android alike.

Last updated September 2026.