# Using LaTeX on the iPad: A review of the best and worst apps for writing mathematics.

LaTeX  is a powerful markup language that allows you to generate beautiful equations like this:

$\left\{\begin{matrix} n \\ k \end{matrix}\right\} =\sum_{j=1}^k (-1)^{k-j} \frac{j^{n-1}}{(j-1)!(k-j)!} =\frac{1}{k!}\sum_{j=0}^{k}(-1)^{k-j}{k \choose j} j^n$

Without cumbersome "equation editors." You simply type the TeX code for the equation and it appears. (And it looks as good as what you'd find in any research paper since LaTeX is what most publishers use for their typesetting.)

Naturally, if you do math and if you have an iPad you want to find ways to use LaTeX on your iPad. As it turns out there are a few great options, though each leaves a little more to be desired. At this time there is no full LaTeX engine that runs on the iPad that will let you use every typesetting and graphics command that LaTeX offers. But there are a few work-arounds that give you access to that full engine. And there are a myriad of small apps that let you typeset equations. (I often forget that there is far more to LaTeX than just writing equations!) So, here is the round up:

## MathBot

Overall: A bare-bones equation editor that shows your LaTeX equations in real-time as you edit. Most of the important keys for writing mathematics are handy, but, annoyingly, the numbers (0,1, 2, 3,...) are on a a separate screen so typing equations can be quite tedious.  Once you have your equation ready you can export it as an image to email, to the photo album or to other apps.  It also has an "export as TeX" option that lets you move the code in to another editing environment as text. (Though copy/past would work just as well for this, so I don't really see the point.) If you are new to LaTeX you'll find the short-cut keys for most of the basic math symbols  helpful, and the way the keyboard shifts from one view to another is smooth and delightful, fitting well within the iPad user interface.  There are no folders and it is slightly cumbersome to rename files. This app is really for people who are just looking to write one or two quick equations to paste in to an email or document. Naturally, it has no full LaTeX engine and can't make pdfs or postscript files.

Ease of Use: Short-cut buttons are great for beginners. Real-time editing gives instant feedback. However, switching screens to type numbers is annoying.
Customization: Only one font size. Few options for advanced users.
Aesthetics and Flow: Simple clean design, intuitive sliding shortcuts on the keyboard. Classy, no distractions. Designed for the iPad. Uses the full screen.
Price: Free!

## Tex Touch

Overall: Tex Touch is the only LaTeX app (available right now) that will allow you to type documents of any size in LaTeX and generate pdfs as if you were using your desktop... sounds amazing right? Well, the catch is that you ARE using your desktop! The app uses Dropbox (an excellent, free, "cloud" style remote hard-drive) to send .tex files to your desktop computer where a second application installed (and always running) will pick up the file and compile your pdf. Hence, you can create and edit exams, research papers and even books from your iPad. But, as the review implies, the instillation and set-up process, along with the complexity of the program may be too much for some. Once running, it works like a charm and I use it often to revise my exams, (though typing an entire exam in LaTeX on the iPad is perhaps too much even for an enthusiast like myself.) I give it high marks for being the only "real" LaTeX application. But, I and many others, look forward to the day when we can compile our pdfs directly on the iPad without an internet connection, and without leaving a helper application running on our home computer.

Ease of Use: Hard to set up. Not for novices. Requires multiple applications on multiple computers and an account with Dropbox. However, if you were able to install TeX on your iMac you should have no trouble getting this set up. Once running it works like a charm. (Though you must remember to turn the helper application on or you're out of luck.)
Customization: You have access to everything LaTeX can do including things like the picture environment, that lets you use LaTeX to draw graphics on the fly. If it's on your home computer you'll have access to it with TeX Touch.
Aesthetics and Flow: Well designed for editing .tex files, though it would be vastly improved if the code were color coded.

## Formula

Overall: I want to like this app, but there are so many little infuriating things about it that I find it unusable. First the interface design: Much of your screen is taken up with cheesy greek columns, it feels like a bad CD rom from the 90s. But, once you get past that, there are a few nice touches: equations appear in real time, copious short-cuts will make this app appealing to the LaTeX beginner.  However, whoever designed it did not test it for writing actual equations. Most  equations contain both numbers and letters, but on the main keyboard you are given access to only a numeric key pad. Try writing something simple like:  $x= \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}$ and you will end up switching keyboards 7 times! It's very tedious. The app is packed with useless flashy features like voice recognition. In theory you say the name of the symbol and the application will provide the correct short-cut keys... To say this feature "dosen't work" is an understatement. It doesn't work and it is an incredible waste of time!  I have decided that this app is not for people who do math, but rather for people who would like to look like they are doing math.  It's very serious and impressive to look at, and nothing says 'mathematician' like loudly shouting Greek letters into your iPad's built-in microphone. You will be pleased with this app until you try to use it to get any kind of work done. Stay away.

Ease of Use: Looks fancy but poorly thought out.
Customization: You have no control over font size, there are no maros.
Aesthetics and Flow: 1990s CD ROM look. Feels junky.
Price: $3.99 • http://owen.maresh.info Owen Maresh I will probably just end up getting a linux tablet so that I can put the entirety of TeX live on it (because I've got wacky font customizations). • futurebird That will likely be a good move for you, though I have not bothered to see what "jail broken" iPads can do in this area (could be some good stuff) as all of my needs are met with TeX Equation for emails and TeX Touch for the times that I want to make changes to my exams, resume syllabus etc. The advantage of the iPad is sheer momentum for now. More people use it so it has more stuff. A Linux pad sound intriguing... though I can't stop thinking of Linux as an interface that's more command line than GUI. The joy of a tablet is being able to swipe zoom and grab things. Makes reading pdfs and such as much fun as reading the paper if not more. • futurebird What kind of font customizations? • http://owen.maresh.info Owen Maresh I use pdflatex and not computer modern roman-- I can pretty much make any arbitrary postscript font work appropriately with pdflatex and have been shoring up my stack for years. The stuff that I've emailed you has been done with my stack. I also use TeX live proper instead of the OS-provided TeX live dist. • http://www.scribtex.com James Allen It's not a native iPad app, but I've developed ScribTeX [1] which is an online LaTeX editor. It supports the iPad and iPhone reasonably well and since you can compile your documents online, you don't need to worry about not being able to install a TeX distribution on the iPad. It runs a proper compiler which lets you create complicated pdfs just like on your desktop. I'm also working on making an iPad/tablet specific version with a better editor and nice features like a customised keyboard. That's still just in the planning stage, but I think it's quite usable as an iPad editor now. • futurebird Thanks for letting me know about this. I assume that we can't install our own packages with the website, we need to use the LaTeX you have loaded there? • http://www.scribtex.com James Allen You can't install packages directly into the LaTeX distribution, but you can use your own class and style files alongside your tex files. The compiler comes with the full TexLive distribution which includes a huge number of packages by default. I'm also happy to install non-standard packages if people request them. • Benjamin Schuster-Böckler Hi James, let me first say that I love ScribTeX, it's one of those simple yet brilliant ideas. I especially appreciate the fact that everything sits on top of a git repo so I can keep everything nicely synced and tracked. In fact, I think that this is an ideal setup to create an iPad app. Once objective-git is able to push/pull from a remote repo, it'd be feasible to create an API where you use git to sync with the ScribTeX webserver and then download the compiled PDF onto the iPad app. So, you'd basically need a nice code editor and some fancy keyboard tricks, and could then turn ScribTeX into a semi-desktop app for people who don't want to download and install TeX themselves (which is probably a lot of people!). I'm guessing you could easily offset the cost by offering subscriptions to ScribTeX via in-app purchase and/or even just make the app a paid app. Only people who know what they want will buy it, but they (like me, for example will be willing to spend more than just$0.99 on a working TeX for iPad app!

• Jinho

Thanks James. I have used scribtex for a while and it is a good website to support latex.I will try in ipad, too

• litchie

How do you like the new accessory keyboard in TeX Equation? Do you need the same symbol input shortcuts as you find in other apps like TeX Touch/Formula? Personally I prefer to type every character myself, but I'd like to make it simpler if there is a need.

• futurebird

I love the new numerical keys... They speed things up quite a bit. I'm looking forward to future updates... Which I'll review again most likely!

• DaveG

hi
check out deTexify for the iPhone - you draw a math symbole and it recognizes on on the server and returns a list of matching symbols with their LaTeX code(s).
I have found it works well and now I use it not the all symbol PDF I have on my desktop machine.

Enjoy
DaveG

• http://mandyallen.com Mandy Allen

That's really helpful since iPad is becoming the must have technical aid.  There is such a variety of quality in the apps available, and often their functions are not clear before you download, so this guide is great, thanks for sharing!

• Vitor Soares

Thanks for your review. I agree with apl. Your comments and remarks. However, MathBot is free only if you can Liverpool with one watermark under your typed equations. The watermark goês away only after payment.

• Amin Saied

Can 'TeX Equation' handle code like $mathbb{Z}$?

• Hugues Talbot

No it can't it is limited to standard TeX. No amstex, no amssymb...

• Guest

Do you even know what latex is?

According to the description, only TexTouch does some of the job. The rest are equation generators, not latex editors!

Mathematicians use latex to write papers, the .tex files are shared with coauthors, sent to publishers, etc.

What am I supposed to do with the crap created by things like MathBot?

• Bill Cheswick

Check out iTeX, my humble attempt at a LaTeX reader - Bill Cheswick
http://www.cheswick.com/itex

• Pingback: LaTeX on the iPad [Ask AstroBetter]

• Francis

The workaround: CloudOn
This app loads your Word documents from Dropbox and opens them in a Microsoft Word workspace which allows you to use the Microsoft equation toolbar.

• User

Are you nuts? This is not by any stretch of the imagination a way to use LaTeX on the iPad.

• Lango

Any ideas as to how far away we are to having a LaTeX app that will allow us to generate PDFs on the iPad without having to use a computer and cloud combination?

• Litchie

You might be interested in TeX Writer. A full plain TeX and LaTeX app. Lets you compile tex files right on your device.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tex-writer/id552717222?ls=1&mt=8

• King Queens

A free alternative app that let's you manage LaTeX projects and generate a PDF from your code is iVerbTeX. It's currently in an early stage but the key features are present: Manage projects, create/delete .tex files, generate PDF, export existing projects, import existing projects, etc.

Link to App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iverbtex/id560869163?ls=1&mt=8
Link to Support: http://www.verbosus.com

• http://iflotech.tumblr.com/ Daniel Tung

Thanks...these apps allow us to hand write equations? or do we still need to type in equations using keyboard?

• http://twitter.com/hermine_potter hermine potter

Another LaTeX app for the "best apps for writing mathematics" would be iVerbTeX. It uses the cloud service available at http://www.verbosus.com

• Arga

Is in Tex Touch polish fonts? answer: arga@o2.pl

• back6

Now, there is two very interesting products: texpad and tex writer.

• Richard Mark

For editing photos or adding special effects like filters, try Photosplashfx Editor app. This app is one of my
favorites for photo-tweaking thanks to its straightforward interface and powerful effects.The app’s interface has been improved to align with iOS 7’s clean, simple look. A few improvements have made it easier to use,
The inclusion of free new effects packs is also a great touch.This app comeswith all basic and advanced features with great user interface for entry level

• Anon

Well, Why haven't you mentioned Texpad? Its work amazing for my macs and now I have it on my ipad.