PCB design on mobile

First, the honest answer about KiCad

If you landed here searching “KiCad on Android” or “KiCad on iPad”: KiCad is desktop-only, and there is no official mobile version. That is not a criticism of KiCad — it is a powerful desktop tool. It just was not built to run on a phone. The rest of this page is about what does.

Device by device

Can you run KiCad on Android or a phone?

No. KiCad is a desktop application for Windows, macOS and Linux — there is no official KiCad mobile app. On Android you can find third-party viewers to inspect .kicad_pcb files at the bench, but you cannot design in KiCad on a phone. A browser-based editor is the practical way to actually work on mobile.

Can you use KiCad on an iPad?

No native iPad app exists either. iPadOS cannot run desktop KiCad, and viewer apps only let you look, not edit. What does work on an iPad is a PCB tool that runs entirely in Safari or Chrome — no install, no desktop required.

What about a Chromebook?

This is the biggest gap. A Chromebook cannot install KiCad, Altium or most desktop EDA at all. A browser-based tool is not a compromise here — it is the only option that works, and it works fully.

Is designing on a phone actually usable?

For a full dense board, a larger screen is still easier. But for sketching an idea, editing a small board, reviewing a layout, or running a design-rule check on the go, a phone or tablet is genuinely useful — provided the tool is built to run there.

Why a browser-based tool is the answer

Runs on any device with a browser

The same editor opens on a phone, tablet, Chromebook, Mac, Windows or Linux machine. Nothing to install, no licence, no OS compatibility to worry about.

Real design, not just viewing

Place components, route copper across layers, run design-rule checks and export Gerber, drill, pick-and-place and BOM — the outputs a fab actually accepts — all from the browser.

Describe a board in plain English

On mobile especially, typing a description beats fiddly manual placement on a small screen. The AI chooses parts and drafts the board; a deterministic engine places and routes it.

Nothing to lose on your device

Because it is browser-based, your work is not trapped on one machine. Start on a laptop, review on your phone, keep going on a tablet.

Doing it on mobile

1. Open PCBEditor in your phone, tablet or Chromebook browser — no app store, no install.
2. Describe the board in plain text, or start one by hand.
3. Let it place and route, or adjust the layout yourself.
4. Run the design-rule check and review the unrouted list.
5. Export Gerber, drill, pick-and-place and BOM to send to a fab.